Learn About The Rebounding BC Job Market

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The Rebounding BC Job Market

Written by: Ben de la Fosse

We made it! We know 2020 has flown by, with every day rolling into one another like a never-ending Groundhog Day. It has also seemed to linger like a bad smell that just will not go away. It really has been quite the year, but the good news is that we should go into 2021 with optimism about the local job market.

Now that the holiday season is in our rear-view mirror, it’s the perfect time to take a step back and reflect. It is also the time to look forward to the possibilities in front of us as we embark on a new year.

We are here to tell you that the new year brings us hope!

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STRIVE Provides Frontline Workers in Canada

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STRIVE Recruitment Inc. is proud to have partnered with a local manufacturer who has pivoted their business to support the healthcare workers and those on the front line by building official PPE for Canada.

Our team received an urgent request on Saturday morning to deploy 15 production workers across 3 shifts for an indefinite period, to start this Monday morning (April 20th, 2020) – we are happy to report that we were able to fulfil this need. STRIVE is grateful to have the opportunity to support our healthcare workers during this crisis.

If you are looking for temporary, contract or permanent recruitment support for your manufacturing & operations team please contact Phuong Vu, Practice Lead for the operations & manufacturing division here at STRIVE Recruitment.

Contact: phuong@striverecruitment.ca

2019 Annual STRIVE Awards

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We love a little friendly competition among our corporate divisions! This year we are proud to announce the 2019 Award Winners at STRIVE Recruitment.

Drum roll, please…

We are thrilled to announce the Top-Earning Division of 2019 was none other than our Corporate Administration Division led by Sarita DeVries, amazing job team!

Next, our Top-Earning Recruiter of 2019 was our lovely LeTing Cheong; keep up the amazing work!

Our “Rookie of the Year” was awarded to the incredibly-talented Samantha Kent

The “Team Player of the Year” was awarded to Ben de la Fosse for his ongoing support to go above and beyond for STRIVE.

Thank you all to our awards winners and of course, thank you to the rest of the team for all of your hard work in 2019.

DailyHive Interview with our MD: Tap Into Vancouver’s Hidden Job Market

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We’re extremely excited to mention of a recent interview that our Team Captain, Michael just held with the fine people over at the Daily Hive Vancouver.

Michael let fly with some of his well-kept secrets on how to tap into some lesser-known resources for jobs in Vancouver. What he means by hidden are those jobs that aren’t listed in the traditional locations. You won’t find these jobs on Company websites, job boards, LinkedIn or those types of resources.

We’re not going to give away Michaels secret sauce because that wouldn’t be right. Head over to the Daily Hive where they were so kind as to invite us to join them for a sit down.

Helpful Tips to Survive Busy Recruitment Season

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Author: Ben de la Fosse – Recruitment Specialist at STRIVE Recruitment

Contributions: CPA designated public practice accounting professionals

So, it is that time of year again! We are already well into the busy season and for those of you in audit, the end is near and, if you are in tax, the home stretch is almost upon you – you got this, just hang in there!

I can’t honestly say that I have had the pleasure of working a busy season but, I have some sort of idea from my time at University. I remember the library becoming somewhat of a second home in the last month or two of my final year. My days pretty much consisted of classes, exam preparation and writing my final year dissertation. I pretty much fueled all of this with coffee, cold pizza and instant noodles (I won’t lie, I may have had the occasional beer as well).

Now, I am sure you all have your own little tips and tricks to help make the days a little less painful but, I have surveyed fellow public practice CPA’s who have been there, done it and got the grey hairs to show for it. These generous professionals have provided some insight into things they do to ensure they are at the top of their game. I hope they are of some help.

Maintain a healthy diet

This came at the top of everyone’s list of things to be mindful of. How we fuel our bodies has a massive impact on our mental performance throughout the day. The following link may provide some helpful advice for you. Diet Tips For Optimal Brain Function. Our professionals say:

  • Make sure you are eating sufficiently and taking the time to have a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner.
  • Consider using your meal allowance to cover a meal and healthy snacks for the remainder of the day.
  • It is very important to drink enough water (6 to 8 cups a day). This really helps with concentration. Also use this as an opportunity to get up from your desk and stretch your legs as you walk to the water cooler.

Stay active – it’s the little things

I have to admit, I am definitely not a fitness fanatic but agree with the majority of my network who said that making time for exercise is very important. I know it feels like you don’t have time to stop and think, let alone exercise but, keeping active helps alleviate stress and boost brain activity. For more information on how exercise affects your performance you should read; Exercise and Work Performance.

Here are some tips from the pros on how to fit exercise into your day:

  • Your firm may provide an on-site gym. Try and utilize this, even if it’s just for 30 minutes before work, at lunch or in the evening.
  • Stand up often: It is most likely documented in your employee handbook, which is now lying somewhere in your drawer collecting dust but, for every hour you work, you should take a 5-minute break from the screen. Go grab yourself a glass of water, get a snack, interact with your team and ask if they need support.
  • Using your Fitbit/ Apple Watch or a timer and set an activity challenge that makes you to get out of your seat.
  • Stretch: Cater a stretching routine and/or take an afternoon walk, even if it’s around the client’s office.

Take control of your work life balance

It is very important to keep some level of work/ life balance. You need the time to disconnect from work and partake in activities that you enjoy. This will drastically help improve your mood. You Only Get One Life!

  • Flex hours: If your job allows for flex time, plan ahead and use this to do something besides work. For example, make use of your RMT massages, spend time with the family, start that book you’ve been wanting to read.
  • “It is a marathon, not a sprint”. Ensure you take breaks throughout your day. Utilize your lunch break. Go grab that coffee you want.
  • I can be a culprit of this next one. Ensure you work Make sure you are not just running around like a headless chicken. Plan your day out and prioritize your workload.

Embrace working as a recruitment team

During the busy season, it’s inevitable that you’ll be spending significant time with coworkers or engagement teams. The fact that everyone is in the same boat for 3-4 months is an incredibly effective way to build team camaraderie and lasting relationships.  Take full advantage of this opportunity.

  • Share your struggles with your team. “A problem shared is a problem halved”. Lean on the experience of your Managers or discuss issues with your team and find a common solution together.
  • Come together as a team. Grab dinner with your engagement team, have a coffee with your coworkers, find a way to unplug from the work for 15-30 minutes and just get to know each other on a more personal level.
  • Building these relationships will carry you so much farther in your career than finishing a certain engagement on time.

Learn from your experiences

Busy season is exactly that. A season. It comes and goes. Just think, soon enough you will be done and those long summer days will be just around the corner. Try and concentrate on the positives of this experience and learn from it.

This is a prime-time for accelerating your learning and professional development. Accounting professionals with a public practice background bring technical and soft skills to the table that are highly desirable to an employer, and the challenges brought about by busy season fine-tune many of these skills.

Contact STRIVE Today

STRIVE opens up their 4th specialty division – Corporate Administration

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We are now your destination for Corporate Administration recruitment! An exciting time for STRIVE as we open our 4th specialty recruitment division in ten years. STRIVE has previously excelled in permanent and contract placements within our existing divisions: Accounting and Finance, Manufacturing and Operations and Construction and Design. We are now actively working on several temporary and permanent Corporate Administration positions that include the following areas:

– Reception
– Administrative Support
– Executive Assistant Support
– Data Entry
– Customer Service
– Bookkeeping
– Office Management
– Sales Support
– Marketing Support
– Human Resources
– Legal Support

If you are looking for talent within this area, please contact Sarita DeVries, Director of Business Development at 604.545.0467 or sarita@striverecruitment.ca.
If you are looking for your next role within this area, please contact LeTing Cheong, Senior Recruitment Specialist at 604.336.8847 or leting@striverecruitment.ca.

Children’s Wish Foundation 2018

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Another day well spent at the Richmond Oval – STRIVE Recruitment Inc is extremely happy to have participated in The Children’s Wish Foundation annual event: Heroes Challenge. We raised an amazing $13,339 for our wish kid Saiyaan. We competed with 11 other teams and played numerous games from “Face the Cookie” to “Marsh-mellow Chopstick”! Ultimately, fulfilling Saiyaan’s wish was definitely one of our proudest moments. Saiyaan got to experience the Disney Alaskan Cruise with his family and thoroughly enjoyed his trip! STRIVE will continue to keep fulfilling wishes with the Children’s Wish Foundation BC. It’s been a blast and STRIVE will be back for more!

CPABC Summit 2018

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CPABC Summit 2018 was a definite success! We gave away a free Samsung tablet, engaged with hundreds of CPA designated professionals and had a great time! We look forward to being back next year!

About CPABC

The Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) is the training, governing, and regulatory body for over 38,000 CPA members and 6,000 CPA candidates.

CPABC carries out its primary mission to protect the public by enforcing the highest professional and ethical standards and contributing to the advancement of public policy.

CPAs are on the front lines of business in BC, and they see firsthand the issues that are affecting investment and the economy. Our members advise multinational corporations, small businesses, not-for-profits, government agencies, and countless individuals. They are highly regarded for their leadership in the field of public accounting, their strategic insight in the boardrooms of top corporations, and their guidance in government and public sector accounting.

Each provincial CPA body is a member organization of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada), which represents more than 217,000 professional accountants across the country and around the world.

Canada’s lowest unemployment rate on record with BC performing best

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Statistics Canada released a historical point of goods news today (January 5): the country is experiencing its lowest rate of unemployment for as long as comparable records exist.

“The unemployment rate continued on a downward trend, decreasing by 0.2 percentage points to 5.7%, the lowest since comparable data became available in January 1976,” reads a Statistic Canada media release.

For B.C., the percentage is even lower.

“In the 12 months to December, the unemployment rate in British Columbia fell by 1.2 percentage points to 4.6%, the lowest among all provinces,” the release continues.

“In 2017, British Columbia closed out the year with an employment growth rate of 3.4%. The gains in 2017 were almost all in full-time work, and were mainly in health care and social assistance; construction; and finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing.”

Things also continue to begin to look better in neighbouring Alberta, where the province’s oil-based economy has been slow to recover since fracking and horizontal-drilling technologies took off across the United States.

“The unemployment rate fell from 8.5% at the end of 2016 to 6.9% at the end of 2017,” the release states.

“Following a slide in employment from the autumn of 2015 to the summer of 2016, the labour market in Alberta added workers in 2017, with a growth rate of 2.4% ,” it continues. “The employment gains were attributable to manufacturing; wholesale and retail trade; natural resources; finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing; and transportation and warehousing. The unemployment rate fell from 8.5% at the end of 2016 to 6.9% at the end of 2017.”

STRIVE Pub Night – Fundraising for the Children’s Wish Foundation

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A night of success for the STRIVE team and the Children’s Wish Foundation. Through the attendance of clients, candidates, friends and family as well as an awesome array of silent auction items from all of our sponsors at our annual pub night; the “Super STRIVERs” were able to smash their fundraising goal and raised $11,000 for our wish kid, Khol! Khol will now be able to take his trip of a lifetime – a Star Wars themed Disney Cruise with his family!

Thank you to all of you who participated, donated and bid on our silent auction items. Without you , none of this would have been possible. We greatly appreciate your generosity and support!

To learn more about how you can support the Children’s Wish Foundation, please visit:  Super STRIVERs Children’s Wish Page.