Not All Things are Written in Stone: How to Find Flexibility in Your Writing Career

By Risa de Rege

The summer after I completed all my coursework for Humber’s Professional Writing and Communications graduate certificate was pretty representative of how my life has gone since.

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I finished an internship that offered me a few cool opportunities scattered through three months of boring ones and, after a too-brief visit to England to perform, went back to school part-time at UofT. I have a BA in history, art, and medieval studies, and always wanted to learn more sciences and anything else of interest. After spending a few months convincing myself that if it was what I wanted to do, then it was worth it, I went for it. It’s been great.

So since graduating, I have balanced a bit of school, a bit of opera, and a lot of work. I am living out the millennial dream of working three part-time jobs, but it actually works well for me. I have more flexibility in my schedule, more diverse work, and more time to myself. When doing my internship I found that a Monday-to-Friday, nine-to-five office job is not for me. I like a bit of interaction and variety. I don’t want to get bored, and by only being at a job ten hours a week (times three), I can mostly avoid the downfalls of being full-time while still earning enough.

To answer the question I would obviously have asked former graduates if I hadn’t been in the first cohort to graduate from the PWC certificate: yes, I did find work in my field after graduating. Thanks to a combination of talking to the right people and focusing on the right skills, I have been editing professionally for about two years. I initially went into writing and editing because there are opportunities to cover so many different areas and interests (these days I edit for the condo industry, but I still hold this statement to be true).

(A side note about working from home, for anyone considering it: it’s what you’d expect. It’s great to have flexibility in your hours and to be able to work wherever. But sometimes it’s hard to find the motivation or to have to cancel plans because you let yourself get behind and have deadlines the next morning. Generally, I like it and it works for me, but I’m not enough of a self-starter to make it work full time).

One of my jobs is editing, but the other two are at libraries. Earlier this year I made the decision to pursue this field more seriously; I’ve worked at UofT libraries for the better part of the past six years, but to land any real full-time work in the industry you either need credentials or to have been born well before the early 90s. I considered applying for a master’s but decided, for now, to do my library technician diploma instead. There is lots of merit in both, but the diploma program offers a more hands-on, technical approach than a master’s – and the tuition is much more affordable. After graduating university I actually almost went to Seneca for this program, but ultimately chose Humber – in part due to its close location and gentler schedule.

I don’t really see this as a career change from what I studied at Humber; all of my communication skills are transferable, and there is more crossover in course material than I expected. Library workers (and, arguably, most workers) won’t succeed if they aren’t good communicators.

I never wanted to be the kind of person who used the metaphor of a “career path” unironically, but I can’t emphasize enough how it doesn’t have to be a straight line from education to an entry-level job to a better job in your field that you work at until you retire. For most people, that’s not a realistic expectation these days, anyway. And for someone like me with more interests than I know what to do with, it’s boring! It’s worth it if you can manage it, to try new things, learn new skills, and see what works for you (and, equally important, what doesn’t). Every experience will be worthwhile, one way or another.

Risa de Rege is a Toronto-based copy editor/student/library worker/musician. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto (BA, history, art, medieval studies) and Humber College’s Professional Writing and Communications certificate. Interested in the intersections of technology, culture, and information, she is now studying digital humanities at UofT and working on her library technician diploma through Mohawk College. An active classical soprano, past roles include Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, and Leila in Iolanthe at an opera festival in England.

“Never Flinch, Never Weary, Never Despair”: Winston Churchill and The Incredibles

“We’re superheroes. What can happen to us?”

– Elastigirl [Helen Parr]

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“The Incredible Family” by TEDDY NEWTON

It’s unusual for a movie to create as much controversy as The Incredibles did after its November 2004 release. Brad Bird’s defiant cri de coeur on behalf of promoting excellence instead of mediocrity has led to heated debate about the role of education in society. Bird has even been accused of supporting Ayn Rand’s theory that the gifted elite should rule for the benefit of all. However, this viewer thought that Bird’s influences weren’t Randian – but Churchillian.

Continue reading ““Never Flinch, Never Weary, Never Despair”: Winston Churchill and The Incredibles”

5 Things Successful Millennials Do Outside of Work

Using your spare time constructively could help improve your work performance and advance your career.

By: Mitali ColabawallaMitali Cover Image

Success has always had an ambiguous definition, but most millennials associate it with happiness, health and social networking, which provide the foundation for a balanced lifestyle.

Work-life balance seems to be especially important to this particular generation, however, only five per cent of 20-somethings are thriving across all these elements based on a 2017 Gallup survey.

According to experts, how you utilize your free time plays an integral role in your ability to have a successful career. Employees who are thriving in their personal life perform better at their daily tasks, miss fewer workdays, and are able to adapt to change at a faster rate, empowering them to stay with companies longer.

In a 2017 interview with Forbes magazine, Ryan Harwood, CEO of PureWow, said, “It’s whatever allows you to sleep well at night that you’re balancing your wants and needs properly to be a happy person. There is no wrong or right. Time off is important to avoid burnout.”

So, how exactly do successful millennials spend their time away from work?

  1. Exercise.

Good health and regular fitness is a consistent part of a successful person’s lifestyle for mental and physical well-being.

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Exercising everyday forces you to create—and stick to—a routine, which is a versatile mental discipline to master.

Elyse Goetze, 24 year-old nurse at Toronto General, says, “Working out your muscles promotes blood circulation throughout your body improving the overall strength of your heart. I like to call it 30 minute of magic. It’s also a lot of fun, because you can do it with a friend and there’s so many unconventional ways to exercise like hiking, snowboarding, rock climbing…even bungee jumping for those adrenaline junkies.”

Plus, the energy boost provided by eating healthy and exercising daily acts as a stress reliever and makes you more productive throughout the day.

  1. Network.

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Networking is more important now than ever; meeting new people can open doors to exclusive contacts, opportunities, and information.

“I have met a lot of people at my job, but I have met more people outside of it. Networking events are free and a lot of them are well-organized,” 26 year-old financial advisor at TD Bank, Rahul Kanda, recommends websites such as Eventbrite and Meetup for millennials looking to expand their social spider-web.

Millennials also understand the importance of keeping up with their online community to stay connected with their peers, so feel free to Instagram, Tweet, Facebook and Snapchat in the name of success!

  1. Spend time with loved ones.

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Successful millennials take time out of their busy lives to enjoy the people who make working so hard worth it all.

Sometimes we get so consumed with making money and advancing our careers that we forget about the importance of appreciating family and friends.

“I have met people who focus only on work and although they do move up the ladder, they alienate themselves from experiencing the basic human emotion of love,” Elyse points out.

Making an effort to check in with your family and friends can go a long way in your overall happiness and well-being.

  1. Travel.

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Travel is a unique way to push yourself outside your comfort zone and hone your ability to handle change.

Yes, travel can be pricey, but utilizing your thrifty and creative side can help you figure out ways to explore the world on a budget.

Not only that, but travel, especially backpacking, exposes you to a world of problem-solving, team-building, culturally-rich experiences.

“Learning is essential to our success, but learning through travel is just plain fun. Even if you’ve somehow become a pro in your field already, there’s always something new to learn and travelling exposes you to things you wouldn’t normally see at home.” Connor Campbell, 28 year-old foreman at Danik Electric, puts aside time to travel every year in order to appreciate everything life has to offer and utilize his money in a productive manner.

  1. Relax and Recharge.

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Being well-rested and focused is essential to success so that your mind is also being nourished and cared for.

Sleep is not just for the dead. Take the time to get some proper shut-eye every night—a lack of sleep results in lower productivity and a higher chance of sickness.

Meditation, yoga, even just a simple bubble bath, are great ways to reconnect with yourself and recharge your batteries.

“Meditating even just 10 minutes a day can help you clear your mind, improve your memory, and reduce stress,” Elyse informs us.

Journaling, drawing, colouring, and musical arts are great ways to unwind and unleash your creative side. Don’t be afraid to embrace any activity that helps relieve stress; there is no wrong answer when it comes to what you need!

But word to the wise, merely doing these things in your spare time does not guarantee success. If you choose to maximize on leisure time, then there is no room for complaints at the lack of accomplishment. However, finding that balance between working and living will help guide you toward a more rewarding professional life—and keep you sane at the same time.

Mitali is a student in the Professional Writing and Communications (PWC) program at Humber College that has always been engrossed in the world of literary fiction and non-fiction. It was at the University Of Ontario Institute Of Technology (UOIT) she was able to seriously start to hone her skills as a writer. At UOIT she realized her talent for research-based writing. This sense of accomplishment and genuine joy led her to Humber’s PWC program. Humber’s PWC program has pushed and pulled her abilities, stretching them far beyond imaginable measures, teaching her that you really don’t know what you don’t know. In short, writing makes her incandescently happy. That happiness inevitably echoes through all paths in her personal life, enriching it entirely. 

Real talk: how the PWC program will actually help you succeed

April 3, 2018 | Laura Billett

For its first three years, the Professional Writing and Communications (PWC) graduate certificate program has attracted many aspiring writers. The program’s value hinges on whether those graduates become what the title implies: professionals. So, before forking out another year’s worth of tuition, you deserve to know: is this program truly what its website describes? Importantly, will you get a job out of it?Home office large

2017 PWC alumni Ardo Omer, Leticia Rodrigues and Sean White share their perspectives on the outcomes of the program.

Omer applied to the PWC program because it offered practical writing development. “Communications for me was more stable. It was a more career-oriented thing that would also give me the leeway to possibly pursue things like fiction,” Omer says.

The program opened her eyes to the nature of a communications role, and it gave her a better understanding of different sectors within communications. She was initially interested in writing for magazines but, after listening to the experiences of instructors and guest speakers, realized that it was not the industry that would bring her satisfaction.

The PWC program’s diverse classes exposed Omer to types of writing that she enjoys and uses in her job as festival assistant in communications with the International Festival of Authors (IFOA). “What you thought wasn’t your thing, becomes your thing. I never thought I would like writing press releases, but I know that’s probably the most fun I had writing anything, and I was really good at it,” Omer says.

In her internship with the IFOA, Omer was responsible for a range of activities—including writing and editing news releases. Now, she leads the IFOA’s social media activities, writes their blog and helps with research and marketing. As one of three on the communications team, Omer says her education brings weight to her voice: “I think both of [my colleagues] appreciate my insights with social media, which from an organizational stand point came from Humber.”

Rodrigues says the range of PWC courses has given her knowledge that helps her succeed. She completed her internship with the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) before moving home to Curitiba, Brazil. There, she works as a copywriter for Nossa Causa, writing copy for blogs, email marketing and social media.

“I would say everything [from the program] somehow added up to what I am doing now,” Rodrigues says. “[PWC] helped me with not only my own work, but it gave me the right tools to be able to help other people with their work. For example, we have another person in the agency who is responsible for the planning of the campaigns, and I have things that I teach her from the [PWC] project management class to improve her management inside the agency.”

The broad scope of the program could also be seen as a downfall, White admits, but it’s what gave him the skills to succeed in the multi-faceted world of communications. As an intern with Prostate Cancer Canada, he wrote materials like news releases and articles. In his current role as a communications officer with CBC/Radio Canada, he writes more reactive communications, mostly on social media. White says every career requires constant learning, and “I like that [PWC] gave me options. It had a robust description of what the program entailed and that turned out to be really true.”

More than a range of skills, the program provides an opportunity to build a strong network of friends and professional contacts. PWC instructors encourage students to network with professionals in the writing community, but “the best networking is really [with] the people at your level,” White said. “I establish an actual network that is not based on ulterior motives; it’s just based on genuine human connection and friendship, and then that becomes a network.”

When White was looking for work after his internship, it was the Humber network that helped him find opportunities. PWC instructors recommended him for jobs, and friends from the program passed on freelance opportunities. In interviews, “I had a lot of response like, ‘oh wow, that program a reason why we called you,’” White says.

Omer agrees. “I find that a lot of organizations, especially if you’re just starting out in a communications role, want to be able to see that you have that school credit.”

Learning continues after the program, so you’ll have to be prepared to ask questions and show initiative, Omer says, but “[the certificate] is something now that I can go into any organization with, saying, ‘Hire me because I know this stuff’.”

To find out how you can apply to the Professional Writing and Communications Ontario Graduate Certificate, visit our website: https://liberalarts.humber.ca/programs/professional-writing-and-communications.html.

Laura is an aspiring writer and avid reader. She graduated with a BA in English from the University of Regina and is completing Humber College’s Professional Writing and Communications program. Stories have always been a source of inspiration for Laura, and she hopes that her own writing will open new worlds and perspectives for readers.

 

Hashtags and Rabbit Holes: Confessions of an Academic Writer

“Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” – Alexander Pope

“I want you to take a Post-It and write, ‘Don’t write like an academic.’” said my new Digital Communications professor. “Stick it on your desk, your wall, your computer. Anywhere you’re working. And don’t forget it.”

I blinked. But, ever the conscientious student, I slowly wrote it out in my notebook. (Yes, in ink, on paper.) I underlined it twice.

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As a mature student, I had enrolled in Humber College’s Professional Writing & Communications post-graduate program. I came armed with 6 years’ experience as a teaching assistant in Brock University’s English department, and a Master’s degree which focused on 18th and 19th century literature and gender studies. I loved studying that period, where manicured sentences wound long and lush as a garden path, heroic couplets were the chosen form of intellectuals, and you could stand on a Richardson novel to change a light bulb. Sadly, no one ever did beat down my door after graduation to discuss Judith Butler or Mr. Darcy’s masculine performance in Pride and Prejudice. So here I sat in this classroom, fluorescent lights buzzing, OSAP accruing, determined to bridge the distance between the ivory tower and the landscape beyond.

And, over the next eight months, my writing changed. Write for screens! Know your audience! Drop those adjectives! Bullet points! I ducked red pens and track changes, as my clauses fell away like petticoats. Watched as my murdered darlings dropped breathless to the floor, certain I’d never recover from the sacrifice. In time, I learned to step over them.

But if I bristled at changing my writing, I positively shut down when I was told to sign up for Twitter. As part of a teeny generation that has recently been dubbed “Xennials,” I grew up with the luxury of picking and choosing the parts of digital life in which I participated – and Twitter was not one of them. I dutifully claimed my handle, but I certainly didn’t see how I would ever need it in the workplace.

Is a tweet different than a heroic couplet? Yes, that’s a silly question. And no, it’s not silly at all. Alexander Pope may not have constrained himself to 140 or 280 characters, but he did know how to pack a nice, salty punch into two short lines. I learned to make my peace with the fact that a tweet is a similar burst of information, deliberately chosen to display its author’s worldview. As with any writing, both form and content are debated. Some are written poorly. Some are politically charged. Some will send you careening down a bot-peppered rabbit hole into chaos. Some are profound, impactful, and memorable.

When I did my internship at House & Home Media, in the third term of Humber’s program, I was surprised at how many of my days were spent focused on their social media and online presence. From there, I did a short contract at the Toronto International Film Festival, where my work was solely for web. And when finally, happily, I was hired for the Journals Division at the University of Toronto Press, it was as their Digital Marketing Coordinator. Now, one of the largest parts of my job is to run their Twitter accounts. And I’ve been pleased to find out along the way that Alexander Pope and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu both have hashtags, and that a “Swiftie” not only refers to songstress Taylor, but satirist Jonathan.

I slid back into the academic world like a hand finds its glove. I knew this world. I loved this world. But what was different now was that I knew how to promote this world. And I also knew that, in some ways, it would be a challenge. Part of each day is spent finding newly published contributors on Twitter in order to market their articles and gain a wider reach. I search for the handles of their university departments. I track and promote the work of grad students. Though they are often quite sparing with their words, I try to get scholars talking on social media. Much like I once balked, some don’t see the point of being on the platform at all.

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As humanities majors, we’re told we have a wide variety of skills; we just need to market them. But we are rarely taught how, and many of us are more comfortable curled up with a good book than we are singing our own praises to potential employers. One week into my job at UTP Journals, I went home to my own academic, a quiet historian who’s writing his dissertation in Russian history, and told him to make sure he uses social media to promote his research. That when the time comes to apply for one of those coveted academic positions, to show not only that he can write, teach, and produce, but that he can help promote the department on its digital platforms. Useful advice? Academics on hiring committees would know more than I.

Is the debate about writing for social media similar to the heated debates about the potential dangers of the novel when it first appeared? Poetic license with the sonnet? The modern, post-Victorian aesthetic?

Today I saw a man reach out to another I follow on Twitter: “It grieves me that I’ve had to degrade myself to contact you over Twitter. Is there really no other way to reach you?” I trust by this point you know I understand the sentiment, but here is the truth, the raw truth for those of us who, as author Tim Bowling puts it, are “dragging the bloodied pelt of the twentieth century” behind us: social media is simply an exchange. A hand reaching out across a shrinking globe to create and participate in community. How does Alice not fall down the rabbit hole? If I ever find out, I’ll let you know. Sometimes I feel like I’m leasing space down there.

But here is what I also know to be true, as the world in which I once belonged shifts shape into something new: there is a way to marry the two, and still retain the integrity and traditions of the former.

I was recently in Washington at the American Historical Association meeting, and my colleague was attending the Modern Language Association convention in New York City. As I was tweeting from both, what struck me was just how many academics were reaching out to each other in kind and positive ways. During the worst of the January storms, there were offers of child-minding services for presenters if daycares were closed, promises to post grad student papers online if they couldn’t attend their sessions, and gentle reminders to tenured professors that a drink and a chat with a vulnerable adjunct can go a long way.

Can you fall down the rabbit hole, Alice? God help you, yes.

But you can also find support in an online academic community that will help you market your research, increase your career options, and put you in contact with new publications. You just need to make sure you’re opening the Twitter handle to the right door.

Tanya Rohrmoser is the Digital Marketing Coordinator at University of Toronto Press Journals, a freelance writer, and a graduate of Humber College’s Professional Writing & Communications Program. She holds an M.A. in English Literature from Brock University. Tanya currently lives in Toronto, Ontario, and is a lover of basil, toile, and William Morris wallpaper. You can follow her on Twitter at @TanyaRohrmoser.

Calling All Greasy Girls!

How women can and should be in control of their car’s maintenance

Google “girls and cars,” I’ll wait. All the hits are not safe for work, right? The narrative of girls being the ones who wash and model cars is indicative of a larger idea: women don’t know as much about cars as men do. I didn’t want to believe it — what does my gender have to do with anything? — but I was proven wrong at my car’s last six-month service appointment.

In early October, I took my 2016 Hyundai Elantra to the dealership for its regular service. In the final year of a three-year lease, I’ve had no issues with these services in the past.

During my appointment, the waiting room was unusually warm, like the temperature outside, and the seats as uncomfortable as expected. Just as I was getting drawn in to the CP24 story of Justin Trudeau and Stephen Harper being in Washington at the same time, they said my car was ready.

“Hey Savoula, everything looks good,” the ever-affable Ben reported. I had to give the guy kudos—he repeated my difficult name a lot.

“Since I put on my winter tires last week, you guys didn’t charge me for tire rotation, right?” I jumped in.

I felt proud for knowing what usually comes in these six-month services. Truthfully, my knowledge of cars isn’t as detailed as I want it to be, so whenever I’m dealing with car-related checks, I pay close attention.

“Don’t worry, we didn’t rotate the tires. Here’s your total.” Ben showed me the invoice and I nodded. “Savoula, just so you know, usually every two years, cars have to go through a more extensive service where we perform a lot more maintenance. It’s usually $2,000 of work. Since you’ve reached that point in your lease, I’ll go ahead and add that total here and schedule you to come back.”

My eyebrows hit the ceiling; I couldn’t pick which expletive to start with. He spewed out words I didn’t understand, trying to explain why my car needed several different fixes. Ben’s geniality levels plummeted like a rock climber on a slippery foothold when he told me it didn’t matter what year the car was made—this service was standard procedure.

Thoughts 1 through 10 ran through my brain at the same time: should I just agree? But why wasn’t I warned about this upcoming $2,000 service before today? Is he just doing this because I seem naïve? Is it because I’m a girl? Wait…why is he typing right now?

“Sorry, Ben, I’m not going to be paying extra today. I need to think about it. Is there a pamphlet I can take home?” I meekly asked, feeling like not even his thick-rimmed glasses could shield the skepticism in his eyes.

“Sure, but you’re going to see it’s the right thing to do. Give me a call when you change your mind,” he replied, looking back to his computer and dismissing any other questions I might have had.

 

I couldn’t help but wonder if the same thing would have happened if I was an older driver. Or a dude.

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I’m not alone in feeling like my gender played a role in how I was treated that day. Studies still show women leave dealerships feeling uneasy, uncomfortable and uneducated about cars.

A study released in December by CDK Global highlights 43 per cent of women who completed online reviews for dealerships found their experiences differed from the experiences of men. The most common words used in their reviews included “stressed,” “overwhelmed” and “panicked.” Rather than wait around for a dealership services manager or mechanic I found trustworthy, I put faith in myself and got educated (largely with the help of WikiHow).

Most recently with the bad weather, I found where the washer fluid reservoir is under the hood of my car and learned how to replace the fluid when I run out. I also discovered where to get fluid from (you can’t just mix soap and water and use it as fluid….I asked).

Ladies, try a more worthwhile Google search, like “girls learn cars,” and arm yourselves with knowledge from like-minded women. Those Google hits look more encouraging: let the Vroom Girls share how much to pay a mechanic; watch Jessica Chou show you how to negotiate the price of a car; or read Grease Girl’s Garage DIYs on how to perform some simple service tasks for yourself.

If more girls learn the basics about car maintenance, we can hopefully make a dent in the current narrative and prove women can be just as knowledgeable about cars as men.

Spoiler alert: my car is still surviving without the $2,000 service.

Savoula Stylianou, Author 

Savoula is a writer, traveler, music lover and Harry Potter fan. She graduated from Queen’s University with her BAH and MA in Religious Studies before entering Humber’s Professional Writing and Communications program this year. The thing Savoula loves most about writing is finding the most creative ways to share an experience with readers, as so many writers she loves, like Judy Blume and Alice Munro, have shared with her.

Millennials in the Workplace

Integrating a blend of older and younger workers in a workplace presents managers with unique challenges.  Differences in values, interests and communication styles are just a few of these challenges.  A lot has been written about the generational clash that’s occurring in work places today as the boomers struggle to accept millennial hires.  For the first time in history, there are five generations of employees sharing office space: traditionalists, baby boomers, generation X, millennials, and generation Z, so it’s bound to feel crowded.

The dynamics have shifted as many boomers are reluctant to retire and are working longer than ever before.  The latest census data from Statistics Canada show more and more Canadians are working past 65 “whether for their health, their finances or just for the fun of it.”  This means that there simply hasn’t been as much room for millennial hires, and that the lucky ones who do get hired are unlikely to be making salaries commensurate with their qualifications.

It is unfortunate that millennials have gotten the short-end-of-the-stick so to speak.  Adjectives such as “lazy,” “disloyal,” “self-interested,” and “entitled” are used with abandon.  The reality is that millennials are the best-educated yet worst paid generation, and they are the ones with something to gripe about.

Derek Thompson, a contributor to The Atlantic, writes in his article “The Unluckiest Generation: What Will Become of Millennials?”, “Finding a good job as a young adult has always been a game of chance. But more and more, the rules have changed: Heads, you lose; tails, you’re disqualified. The unemployment rate for young people scraped 18 percent in 2010, and in the past five years, real wages have fallen for millennials–and only for millennials.”

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Millennials are a by-product of an unstable job market where part-time and contract work proliferates.  Companies downsized drastically in the second half of the last century and this trend continues today.  Only this past October we were reading about Loblaw laying off 500 office workers in an effort to cut costs.  Millennials have heard the message loud and clear; job security is no longer the norm.

Gone are the days of defined benefit pensions that workers can count on in retirement.  The Sears fiasco illustrates this uncertainty as long-time Sears employees learned that their severance and pension payments are in jeopardy and that it’s very likely they won’t be able to recoup the full amounts owing to them.

In her Toronto Star article “Will the defined benefit plan disappear?” Vanessa Lu writes,

“Things were good in the 1980s and 1990s, but after the 2008 financial crisis, companies were hit with huge deficits thanks to poor stock market returns, and many employers got out of the defined benefit pension business.  Some switched to defined contribution plans, where individuals have investment accounts, but the payout at retirement depends on how those investments fare.  Other employers simply don’t offer a pension plan at all.  Nearly 1.3 million workers in Ontario do not have access to any type of employer-sponsored workplace pension.  In Canada’s private sector, only one person in five has a workplace pension.”

It’s clear that times are tough and millennials are feeling the pressure.  They have been forced to adapt and have come to see themselves more as freelancers.  This doesn’t make them disloyal; it makes them adaptable.  Although they value job security, they have low expectations, and who can blame them?

Adding insult to injury is the cost of post secondary education.  As millennials well know, a bachelor’s degree is often no longer enough and a master’s degree is no guarantee.  This phenomenon is called credential inflation and its costing millennials big time.  A recent survey from the Bank of Montreal found that most students expect to graduate with more than $20,000 in debt, and more than a fifth are anticipating debt of more than $40,000.

A 2012 HuffPost article entitled “Generation Y vs. Boomers in Canada: Is it Tougher for Millennials to Get Ahead Today than Past Generations?” summarizes as follows:

“Yet a high school diploma today is hardly a guarantor of success in the workforce, as most are well aware. So Canadian millennials now face a new financial obstacle in life: While their predecessors struggled with the costs of housing and transportation and food, millennials find themselves struggling with the cost of education as well.”

By the time millennials enter the work force it’s likely they have at least one degree and a variety of jobs under their belt that helped pay for that degree.  They have also likely worked for free as they completed unpaid internships.  Boomers tossing around the word “lazy” should keep these things in mind.

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Millennials have a lot of positive traits to bring to the table.  They are collaborative by nature and work well with diverse groups of people; they are tech-savvy and multi-task with ease, and they care about the kind of work they do and want work with a purpose.  Unfortunately, a large percentage of millennials don’t feel they are being used to their full potential and say there’s a lack of mentorship available to them.

The problem stems from the top and it’s not the boomers or the millennials fault that the system is broken.  Issues like ageism, internal competition, and a fragile sense of job security are infecting workplaces.  Companies are focused on profit margins, not people.  As Dani-ElleDubé writes for Global News, “Companies decided it wasn’t worth investing time and money into recruiting and retaining millennial employees.”

It’s therefore high time the boomers cut the millennials some slack and stop making them the scapegoats.

Shawna Wynne, Author

Shawna is a Humber graduate who has worked as a legal assistant since graduating from the paralegal program in 2013.  The part about law she enjoys most is writing, and after careful consideration this past summer she decided to pursue a career in writing, as opposed to becoming a licensed paralegal.  When she is writing, she is content and utterly in the moment.  She also enjoys reading and reads a bit of everything.  She’s read thousands of books throughout her life and always has one (or two) on the go.

Why I Write

I started to write because it was the only way my friends would let me tell stories.

It was 1970. Like many young Baby Boomers, I was a big Star Trek fan. So were my friends. We wanted to pretend that we were Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Lieutenant Uhura, and all the others. The biggest fan of all, I even made 3D cardboard phasers, communicators and tricorders for us to use as props.

We lived in a half-finished subdivision, and so would go adventuring among the pits dug for the foundations of houses that were yet to be built. Down into the depths of the pit we’d climb (today’s parents are getting more horrified by the syllable as they read this), phasers at the ready to face any aliens we encountered or foes we conjured up in our imaginations.Paul Keery Blog Image

The real foe we met was me.

“Look!” Henry playing Spock cried, pointing towards a pit wall. “There’s a bunch of bad aliens over there.”

“Spock wouldn’t say it that way,” I as Kirk put in, the pre-teen writer/editor at work. “He’d say ‘Those aliens may present a danger to us.”

“No he wouldn’t!”

“Yes he would! You’re not saying it logically.” And the debate would go on from there, allowing the aliens to go uncontacted and ruining the game.

The same thing happened with other friends playing other characters, with me correcting their dialogue as Uhura, McCoy or Scotty. Finally, I was told to cease and desist, or risk mutiny by being pushed into one of the pits. Grumbling, I went along.

That night, I started writing my own Star Trek fan stories, two-finger typing on my mother’s old manual typewriter. At least the paper couldn’t answer back.

Spock_at_console

The writing bug never went away. In high school, my friend Kevin and I managed to persuade the English Department to let us publish a science fiction magazine, The Reticulum. We used one of the old hand-cranked ditto machines to run off 100 single-sided copies of a 40-page issue (any more and we risked getting high from the fumes emitted by the copying chemicals, and the English Department wouldn’t let us have any more paper, anyway). To our surprise, it was a hit. We published another issue the following year, then The Reticulum came to a sad end; we graduated, and went our separate ways. In those pre-internet days, there was no way to work together across a 2000-kilometer separation.

When I went to university, I found that I enjoyed writing history, politics and other non-fiction essays for my courses. Writing for my undergraduate and graduate courses took up all my time, and so I stopped writing anything that wasn’t for school.

But I remembered. After I established myself as a teacher, I started to write again. I began with more newspaper articles at first. A foray into fiction brought some very nice personal rejection letters from fiction editors, though no sales. Then I returned to writing non-fiction and expanded my repertoire to include advertorial and educational writing.

Dissatisfied with many of the texts I was using in class, I tried writing books in my classroom teaching style, using humour and anecdotes to make history more interesting. I enjoyed writing the books, and they were both warmly received – though the first had very limited distribution, as the publisher went bankrupt the week after publication. Only later did I learn I was writing creative non-fiction, which, of all the styles I can write in, is the one I most enjoy.

Writing has always been a big part of my life. I always wanted to write for a living, and admired others who did. My goal now is to become a full-time writer, and taking Humber’s Professional Writing and Communications program is a big step towards achieving that goal.

Maybe at last, after five decades, I’m doing what I was meant to do.

PWC information session June 12

link to article

You have questions. We’re holding an info session.

Please join us on Monday, June 12, 2017 from 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM at Humber’s Lakeshore campus. Room location to follow.

At the information session, you’ll have a chance to meet members of the PWC team and talk to us about the program’s courses and internships.

RSVP via email by June 7th to PWC’s student advisor Beth-Anne Chansavang Beth-Anne.Chansavang@humber.ca. We look forward to meeting you.

PWC Q&A: Professor Nathan Whitlock

This year we’re taking you behind the scenes to see how PWC operates and hear from key people on the administrative and teaching staff. Professor Nathan Whitlock teaches PWC’s Storytelling and Narrative course in first term and the Professionalism Skills: Internship Preparation course in second term. We asked him what he likes about teaching writing, and our usual favourite question about grammar rules!

Nathan Whitlock
Nathan Whitlock

How did you get started in writing? What has been your career trajectory so far?

I wrote stories, reviews, and articles in high school and in university, but didn’t really start writing for real until I got a job as the managing editor of a literary quarterly in my mid-twenties. By that point, I had piles of unpublished stories and ideas for novels, but no real connection to the world of books and magazines. I have made my living as a writer and editor, in one form or another, ever since. I have written about books, movies, music, cars, parenting, ice storms, and more – anything that fits the bill. I have also published two novels, A Week of This (2008) and Congratulations On Everything (2016), and am at work on a third.

What do you like about teaching writing?

I like demystifying the process. I always try to connect an abstract rule or concept to as many real-life examples as I can – especially the idea that writers cannot count on editors to catch their mistakes, for which I can always find a lot of egregious examples. But I also enjoy exposing students to pieces of writing that are fun and surprising, to show that it’s not all about drudgery and sweating the rules of grammar.

What is your best advice to students as they enter the writing world?

Write for free for a while, than at some point, stop writing for free. Both are important steps. (But don’t ever pay to write.)

What is your favourite grammar or writing rule?

It’s a bit abstract, but every piece of writing should work like a body part – with bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves and veins, and skin. Every part has to have some function. I read a lot of work (including my own early drafts) where I can feel the writer going over the same idea over and over again, without adding anything. Like an arm that is all bone. Or the writer leaves out a crucial detail or element – an arm with bones but no muscles to make them work. In my classes, I overuse the word “organic” to describe how a good piece of writing – fiction, non-fiction, even pr copy – should work. Nothing should feel stitched in, everything should work together as a seamless whole.