Women helping women

Choosing a career can be a daunting task, as it is a decision that will most likely affect you for the rest of your life. Luckily for young women in Manitoba, there is an event that can help them find out more about a career they’re interested in, or even help them decide on a profession if they’re unsure of which direction to take.
Women As Career Mentors is an annual event during which career mentors are paired with “mentees”—young women aged 16 to 30—to provide them with information that will help them make career choices and establish networking contacts in a variety of sectors and industries.

“Women are becoming a larger part of our labour force in Winnipeg and we want to show women there are a lot of career opportunities in this city,” says Tracey Ediger of the Winnipeg Transition Centre (WTC), which puts on the event. “Nobody else is doing an event like this.”

Staff at the WTC first heard of a similar event in Burlington, Ontario from a contact with the provincial government. “He called our executive director in 2007 and said, ‘This is something I think we need to take a look at for Winnipeg,’” recalls Ediger.

The centre flew a staff member out to Burlington to attend the event, who lauded it as a great opportunity in line with the services the WTC already provided to the community. After putting a call out to various community agencies, the WTC gathered a planning committee to see if it could launch an event here in Winnipeg.

First held in 2008 and now every year since, the Women As Career Mentors evening sees about 200 professional and young women coming together and exchanging information regarding their career goals and aspirations. The fourth annual event takes place at the Delta Winnipeg on March 1, 2011.

At the event, tables are comprised of an equal number of mentees and mentors, with the goal of matching the occupational interests of the mentees with the mentors, making the discussions more relevant. The mentors provide their young female counterparts with information relating to workplace attitudes, skill shortageareas and employment trends. They also discuss the challenges and barriers faced by women, as well as effective methods to overcome those obstacles.

“The whole idea is to connect young women with a potential mentor to ask how she obtained her current position, what were the successes and challenges she encountered along the way, the education she needed, etc.,” says Ediger. “It’s actually a very emotional event. These girls develop ongoing relationships with the mentors.”

And those relationships are mutually beneficial, as they provide the mentors the opportunity to share their savvy with the young women. “This event is good for women like me because we often don’t appreciate the knowledge we have and the help we can give young women,” says Carmen Neufeld, a promotions, networking and marketing expert who has acted as a mentor and whose company, Planners Plus, has helped organize the event.

The event also includes speeches by several “spotlight speakers”—women who work in a wide variety of professions. “The first event had a very diverse group of people, ranging from a nutritionist to an air traffic control specialist to a woman in the Armed Forces,” says Ediger. “Allof these women came out and volunteered their time to speak to women about how they got to where they’re at.”

The idea is that once introduced to the opportunities and support available, more young women will see the value of staying in Manitobato live and work. “We’re looking to retain our youth in the province,” says Ediger. “We want to show the government we have a very viable labour market here.”

And women like mentee Jessica Dyck cannot say enough positive things about the event. “I was able to talk to women that I otherwise wouldn’t have gotten the chance to talk to,” says Dyck, who first heard about the event through her university’s student services office. “I think it’s a pretty cool opportunity, especially for people who may not be very good at networking. The way the tables are arranged, they really make an effort to place you with people you’ve expressed an interest in meeting (based on their professions).”

Over the past two years, Women as Career Mentors has undergone a few changes, including a change in venue and a decrease in the number of people at each table from eight to six, along with the matching of tables by occupational goal. Last year also saw a pre-event called Dress for Success for the young women who may have been too shy or unable to attend the evening event.

“It’s pretty daunting when you’re in a formal setting like that and it’s hard to break the ice,” says Ediger. “We developed this pre-event, gathered a smaller group of mentees and did a luncheon at a local restaurant, where the girls came and learned everything from dinner etiquette to job search preparation.”

Though much time and planning goes into the event every year, Ediger says the positive feedback they receive is well worth the effort. She remembers one young woman in particular who impacted her. “There was a girl who was seated at my table—a single mom, with three kids and a fourth on the way. She was in the process of taking her GED and her goal was to get into bookkeeping. You could see that she was so impacted by the chance to be able to connect with someone in that industry,” she says. “It kind of puts things in perspective when you hear those stories and know there are women who want to do better for themselves and are facing a lot of struggles. That, to me, is what makes it all worthwhile.”

For more information on how to register for the 2011 event, visit www.winnipegtransitioncentre. com/women-as-career-mentors.