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For Immediate Release

June 15, 2007

Popular program for newcomers gets new name

Burlington, ON - A program to help internationally-educated professionals find work in Canada is getting a new name. Offered at The Centre for Skills Development & Training in Burlington for the last two years, Enhanced Language Training is now called Career LINC.

“Our new name better reflects our role in helping professionals from other countries link up to a career path in Canada,” says Melissa Pedersen, Career LINC Coordinator. “Often professionals have a hard time because they have an education but lack the Canadian work experience and the knowledge of Canadian workplace culture to make a go of it here.”

Funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, The Centre offers two eight-week, full-time programs: Career LINC for Internationally Educated Professionals and Career LINC for Residential Construction. Each program provides English language training and job search skills to give students a better opportunity of achieving their goals.

“The program helped me to understand the Canadian job market and how to adapt to it,” says Roman Cipic, a supply chain manager originally from Croatia. He says the resume and interview preparation helped him to improve his job search dramatically. A few weeks after the program, he was hired by the CFL, where he is now a manager-in-training.

Building confidence is what most participants think is the key to this program. “When I came to Canada, it was very hard looking for a job,” says Victoria Watters, a bank manager and accountant from Manila who took a job as a nanny and retail store cashier to survive. She says the Career LINC staff was supportive and encouraged her to keep searching even while she was in the program. Before the eight-week course ended, she landed a job as a tax analyst at Deloitte and Touche LLP.

“The fact that 82% of our students are employed shows that this program works,” says Pedersen. After the program, students find jobs with Canadian companies, become self-employed, or go on to further training and education.

Career LINC provides advanced training in business English and job-specific language, employment preparation workshops, practical constructions skills training in the Residential Construction program, and one-on-one help with career planning and job search from the Career LINC Student Advisor. Both programs are free to qualified applicants and take place at The Centre for Skills Development & Training, 860 Harrington Court, in Burlington.

For more information about Career LINC, call 905-333-3499, ext. 264 or visit www.thecentre.on.ca.

The Centre for Skills Development & Training is a leading provider of quality career and workforce development programs, products and services specializing in Pre-Apprenticeship Trades and Technology, Career Planning and Development and Language Skills and Academic Upgrading.