KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Sara Struthers, Manager, Individual Learner Services, DX Talent Hub at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT)

To transition into a new career and industry doesn’t mean that you need to begin from the bottom of the ladder. It is just a process of reinventing yourself. The reason for one to reinvent yourself can be a plenty. Maybe they lost a job, maybe they wanted a career change or maybe they believe there are better opportunities elsewhere. 

There are so many people who have successfully transitioned from their previous careers into a new path that is nowhere close to what they did earlier. Pivoting into a new course can be exciting, but it can also feel overwhelming.

Transitioning has its advantages too. While you are opening doors to better opportunities, you are also acquiring “transferable” skills that are highly valued in today’s job market.

To inspire and motivate us, we had our keynote speaker, Sara Struthers. During her initial days, she was looking after her family business. She slowly transitioned into being an HR professional and today she has found success in the tech world and is currently spearheading the Individual Learner Services of DX Talent at SAIT.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Mahesh Makkar, Engineering Manager at Helios Consulting

SUCCESS STORY: Murtaza UI Hassan – Business Intelligence Specialist at University of Calgary

The increasing concerns of environmental pollution as a result of human activities, such as the use of fossil fuels for power generation, has driven many organizations to tap into alternative renewable energy sources and “cleaner” fuels and use more effective technologies, to minimize emissions that are produced during the life cycle of conventional energy sources.

The renewable energy market is changing – thanks to the increased demand for cleaner energy sources. Alberta, being one of the largest producers of natural gas, has seen evident growth in this sector. Experts anticipate a surge in projects that could make the province a leader in utility-scale wind and solar capacity as early as 2025.

With many sectors aiming for a greener footprint, socially conscious investors are now turning into ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) criteria to help them avoid companies that pose a greater risk due to their environmental practices. Canada boasts of a world-leading record for overall ESG; however, many companies are still improving these assurance systems. A strong ESG helps Canadian resource companies maintain their production in this increasingly competitive global trading system, improve their market share and become a responsible source of renewable energy for the world.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Serge Boudreau – Talent Acquisition Director, Robots and Pencils and Recruitment Podcast Host

SUCCESS STORY: Elijah Oluwapojuwo – Senior Forensic Project Schedule Analyst at Trans Canada.

2020 has changed many rules forever. One of the most profound realities of the pandemic is how recruitment procedures were impacted. Current trends – many accelerated by the pandemic – have changed the rules of recruiting and hiring, requiring organizations and job seekers to adapt and embrace new practices to compete and triumph in the future war for talent.

Most organizations have had to rethink their recruitment strategies to perform well in the virtual environment. The whole idea of recruiting, assessing and hiring someone without meeting them in person is challenging for both hiring managers and candidates.

For candidates, their experience with virtual interviews is going to be very different from in-person interviews. The procedures in place are more streamlined to find the right fit. Companies are now using artificial intelligence recruitment- software such as Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to filter out the 'cream of the crop' candidates using veritable data. The initial phone screening remains the same, but the in-person interview has moved online. Video interviews, whether live or pre-recorded are the way to go. The change may be uncomfortable at first, but talent acquisition professionals and candidates are up for the task.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Serge Boudreau – Talent Acquisition Director, Robots and Pencils and Recruitment Podcast Host

SUCCESS STORY: Elijah Oluwapojuwo – Senior Forensic Project Schedule Analyst at Trans Canada.

2020 has changed many rules forever. One of the most profound realities of the pandemic is how recruitment procedures were impacted. Current trends – many accelerated by the pandemic – have changed the rules of recruiting and hiring, requiring organizations and job seekers to adapt and embrace new practices to compete and triumph in the future war for talent.

Most organizations have had to rethink their recruitment strategies to perform well in the virtual environment. The whole idea of recruiting, assessing and hiring someone without meeting them in person is challenging for both hiring managers and candidates.

For candidates, their experience with virtual interviews is going to be a whole lot different from the in-persons. The procedures in place are more streamlined to find the right fit. Companies are now using artificial intelligence recruitment- software such as Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to filter out the 'cream of the crop' candidates using veritable data. The initial phone-screening remains the same, but the in-person interview has moved online. Video interviews, whether live or pre-recorded are the way to go. The change may be uncomfortable at first, but talent acquisition professionals and candidates are up for the task.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Anup Srivastava, Canada Research Chair at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary

SUCCESS STORY: Amal Attallah

With AI, robotics and automation taking over the tech industry, job polarization has become a real threat. Our scholarly keynote speaker, Mr. Anup Srivastava, who is the Canada Research Chair at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary, was able to address the ever-changing dynamics and how one can successfully maneuver through this obvious situation in their career and stay relevant.

The solutions he provided to evade this situation were realistic and proven. One may need to upskill, juniorize and lateralize their work in order to avoid difficult situations with the managerial post later.

Apart from networking, CCIS clients took back learnings that they can apply into their professional lives and save themselves from job polarization.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER- Fernando Valencia - Senior Procurement at Parson Corporation

SUCCESS STORY: Shaista Sheikh

Our celebrated keynote speaker Mr. Fernando Valencia spoke and enlightened us about the ways to move forward skillfully to find success in our careers. The topic being “Adaptability: A permanent key to success”, the importance of adapting into the new work culture with skills par excellence was highlighted. There are many ways one can start a career in a new country, but one must be ready to adapt and move around according to the needs of the market.

Mr. Valencia also spoke about the hard and soft skills required to succeed in our careers. The clients were happy to take back a key learning that will always come handy in life.

 

KEYNOTE SPEAKER- Pablo Silva - AVMAX Human Resources Advisor

Diversity and Inclusion are key to healthy businesses. The value diversity adds to business strategy and the shared responsibility between the employee and the employer gives a competitive edge to the organization. Diverse organizations are more successful at recruiting and retaining talent and inclusive workplaces maximize talent and productivity.

Pablo Silva, our keynote speaker at the event was able to explain the hidden value of diversity and inclusion in detail. Mr. Silva, an enthusiastic Human Resources Advisor, shared with us his vast knowledge with strategic experience creating, developing and implementing programs and processes in Recruitment, Diversity and Inclusion, etc. He discussed the importance of establishing strong and trusting relationships with leaders and employees and how this can make a difference in organizations to help leaders and employees reach their potential.

With this insightful presentation, clients developed a new perspective regarding how diversity and inclusion can be advantageous and a positive change for a healthier organization with increased productivity.

 

KEYNOTE SPEAKER- Daniel Monzon - IT Director at Supply Chain Canada

The Economist published an article titled “The world's most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data” in 2017. Since the release of the article there has been a great deal of discussion among the ‘who’s who’ of the economy. Decisions today are dominated by data at all levels. It is said and proven that data in the 21^st century is like oil in the 18^th. We are all living in a digital economy where data is more valuable than ever before.

To give us an insider’s view and to help us understand data better, we invited Daniel Monzon as our keynote speaker. He is the Digital and Customer Experience Director at Supply Chain Canada and is responsible for generating awareness, engaging membership and improving the digital experience through data and online systems. He was able to share with us insightful information about the value data, analytics and systems have in making data-driven decisions to reach a goal and enlightened our clients about how to use their data to manage customer service relations and business operations, to help businesses create an online digital presence, drive employee engagement and profit from their data.

 

KEYNOTE SPEAKER- Malorie Reimer – SI Senior Recruiter

Multiculturalism unites a diverse set of cultures and ethnic backgrounds within the workplace. People from various socio-ethnic backgrounds or different countries offer many advantages, such as more creativity, greater respect among employees, improved customer service and the promotion of a positive work environment.

For a better understanding of multiculturism, we had Malorie Reimer as our keynote speaker. Malorie is an outstanding and talented recruiter with tremendous experience in the Technology and Business transformation Space, where she has been very successful working with talented candidates and hiring managers at large companies in Calgary. During this event we had the priviledge to learn from topics such as  as Hiring Privileges, Discrimination, and Best Recruitment Practices among many others, and we were thankful to have her sharing her expertise with us.

By the end of the event, our clients were able to understand how their multicultural backgrounds can be a powerful tool to market themselves. They learnt how to pitch this aspect as a positive quality during interviews.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER- Michael Olutola-Support Manager at Reach

The new norms of the modern workforce have been shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic. We have long passed those days when the workplace used to be a mere physical space. Today's ever-connected instant access environment has blurred the lines between the physical office and the workplace. As the lines between professional and personal life disappear, and the workplace becomes truly digital, employees are communicating and collaborating in unprecedented ways.

But humans are wired to live in a ‘physical’ world and few of us are waiting to go back to the pre-covid situation. So, what will the world look like post-covid? What role will technology play as workers return to office spaces? What does “New Normal” mean for businesses and Employees? What will future work look like post-pandemic?

To answer these questions, we invited Michael Olutola Obembe to be our keynote speaker for the event. He is a Professional IT Solution Architect/Product Manager with over 10+ years of experience in ICT and Telco space designing innovative technical and business solutions. He was able to summarise for us that the “new normal” workforce is looking for systems and people to be pandemic proof and that it would be a blend of remote and physical working. Our clients understood that they need to add more “pandemic proof” skillsets to their resume as remote work is here to stay and will only increase in the future.

 

KEYNOTE SPEAKER- Dr. Anup Srivastava, Canada Research Chair for the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary

The way we work has changed quicker than we could imagine. The global health crisis has accelerated this change and now improving the workforce is pretty much a never-ending business. As we evaluate the latest trends, it’s clear that many of them have been shaped by the Millennial and Gen Z generations entering the workforce where we see a common desire among employees for their work to align with their ideals. Given the dramatic change in the workplace over the years, workforce management strategies have had to adapt to meet the needs of these trends.

The quality of your workforce has a direct impact on performance; the better an employee feels, the more likely they are to increase productivity and earn businesses more money. As more and more businesses turn to freelancers and private contractors for specific tasks, employees are requesting more control and flexibility with their schedules.

To break down the nitty-gritty of the new trends, we invited Dr. Anup Srivastava, who is the first Canada Research Chair at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary. He is one of the foremost researchers on the evolution of the knowledge economy and the rapidly changing landscape of business. Beyond scholarly publications in top academic journals, he has published over twenty practitioner-oriented ideas in Harvard Business Review. His work is frequently cited in Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Economist, New York Times, Forbes, and Barrons. He brings to his research a unique lens with over 14 years of corporate experience.

Anup was able to take us through the new trends in the workforce and how our clients can manoeuvre through these ‘remote’ demands for a successful professional career. Our clients now feel more prepared to face the demands of the new workforce trends.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER- Angela Nguyen- Employee Services Advisor & Human Resources Specialist at Suncor The global pandemic called COVID-19 has affected economies and will continue to reshape our world even in the future. While the repercussions of this situation will magnify the potential for job loss, change at this scale also creates new opportunit...