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!

Click here to read more about Khol’s story.

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

 

Amazon to acquire organic supermarket chain Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion

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Amazon has announced something of a curveball acquisition today, as the internet giant revealed plans to snap up healthy supermarket chain Whole Foods Market in an all-cash deal worth nearly $14 billion.

Founded out of Austin, Texas in 1980, Whole Foods Market specializes in natural food that doesn’t have artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, or sweeteners.

“Millions of people love Whole Foods Market because they offer the best natural and organic foods, and they make it fun to eat healthy,” said Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, in a press release. “Whole Foods Market has been satisfying, delighting, and nourishing customers for nearly four decades — they’re doing an amazing job and we want that to continue.”

Whole Foods Market has been a public company since 1992, and its shares hit an all-time high of around $65 in 2013. Its stock has been hovering around the $33 mark for the past few years, however, with the shares closing at $33.06 yesterday. Amazon is offering $42 per share for the company, a premium of around 27 percent on yesterday’s closing price, for a total value of $13.7 billion.

“This partnership presents an opportunity to maximize value for Whole Foods Market’s shareholders, while at the same time extending our mission and bringing the highest quality, experience, convenience, and innovation to our customers,” added Whole Foods Market’s cofounder and CEO, John Mackey.

The deal still has to attain shareholder approval, of course, as well as passing the usual regulatory and closing conditions, which the duo expect will happen in the second half of 2017. Assuming the acquisition is seen through to completion, Whole Foods Market will continue as is under its own brand, with Mackey remaining CEO.

Online books to brick-and-mortar groceries

Amazon has long transcended its roots as an online bookstore and today offers everything from video-streaming services to on-demand restaurant deliveries. While its decision to effectively merge with Whole Foods Market may seem like an oddity on the surface, it’s not entirely out of line with Amazon’s recent initiatives in the grocery realm.

In fact, Amazon has offered a grocery delivery service for a decade already. First launched in beta back in 2007 in Mercer Island, Washington, AmazonFresh later expanded across the U.S. into Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, New York, and Philadelphia, among many other U.S. cities. Last year, it also launched in London, which represented its first international market. Whole Foods Market, as it happens, also operates seven stores in the U.K. capital.

AmazonFresh delivers a range of domestic goods and produce — including fruit, vegetables, and meat — on the same day or the next day, depending when they’re ordered. The service is available to $99/year Prime members, who must pay an additional $15 per month to access the grocery delivery service.

Amazon has also been pursuing own-brand brick-and-mortar stores, including bookstores, the most recent of which opened in New York City. And late last year Amazon debuted its own grocery store in Seattle, as the company sought to shine a light on a futuristic new “checkout free” shopping experience.

So Amazon has made no secret of its aspirations in the grocery realm. But why buy Whole Foods Market? Well, the internet behemoth is every bit as much a delivery and logistics company as it is an online marketplace for buying USB memory sticks, books, and cheap mobile phones. And as a result of this acquisition, Amazon is entering the grocery fray in a major way. As things stand, Whole Foods Market offers one-hour deliveries via Instacart, but once this acquisition is complete, you can bet your bootlaces that Amazon will be placing groceries front and center within its online ordering and delivery network.

This acquisition also helps highlight the growing convergence between the offline and online worlds. Last August, Walmart revealed it was buying fledgling online retailer Jet.com for $3 billion in cash in what many viewed as a direct swipe at Amazon. Now, Amazon is hitting back by buying Whole Foods Market outright, grabbing a direct conduit into more than 400 stores across North America and the U.K., which should lead to some interesting offline/online cross-pollination.

Finally, this acquisition shows that to compete effectively in the grocery market, you need a strong, local on-the-ground presence — and that’s what Amazon now has with Whole Foods Market.

Cadillac Fairview sells half of its Vancouver properties, including Pacific Centre

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One of Canada’s largest commercial real estate management and development companies has sold a 50% interest in its Vancouver portfolio, which includes a major shopping centre and a number of office buildings.

Cadillac Fairview announced today that the Ontario Pension Board (OPB) and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) now each own a 25% stake in the company’s vast portfolio. The Toronto-based company retains ownership of the remaining 50%.

Altogether, this deal spans four million square feet of leasable space, including CF Pacific Centre shopping mall, the Waterfront Station building, and a dozen office towers in downtown Vancouver. Its largest and most valuable asset is Pacific Centre, which consists of not only the mall space but also the spaces occupied by Nordstrom, Holt Renfrew, office spaces for Microsoft and Sony Pictures Imageworks, and several adjoining office towers.

“This deal gives us the rare opportunity to gain direct exposure to the tightly held Vancouver real estate market. As the economic and financial centre for Western Canada and the primary access point to Asian markets, Vancouver is expected to outperform other major Canadian cities going forward,” said Mark Fuller, President and CEO of the OPB, in a statement.

“It is also a great example of how asset pooling and scale help us gain direct access to high-quality assets that will help us generate strong returns over the long term.”

Cadillac Fairview also has a joint-ownership partnership with the OPB four major properties in downtown Toronto, including RBC Centre, Toronto-Dominion Centre, and two development properties at 16 York Street & 160 Front Street West.

Here is Cadillac Fairview’s portfolio in Vancouver:

  • CF Pacific Centre (701 West Georgia)
  • Waterfront Centre (200 Burrard Street)
  • 725 Granville Street
  • Granville Square (600 Granville Street)
  • PrincewaterhouseCoopers Place (250 Howe Street)
  • 700 West Pender Street
  • 750 West Pender
  • Cannacord Genuity Place (609 Granville Street)
  • 777 Dunsmuir Street
  • 701 West Georgia Street
  • TD Tower (700 West Georgia Street)
  • HSBC Building
  • The Station (601 Cordova Street)

The value of the deal with OPB and WSIB was not disclosed, but it is likely well over the billion dollar range.

Just before Christmas, TransLink announced that it had closed a $440-million deal to sell its 13.8-acre decommissioned Oakridge bus depot, which will be redeveloped with 1,200 residential units.

Written by
Kenneth Chan
National Features Editor at Daily Hive, the evolution of Vancity Buzz. He covers stories pertaining to local architecture, urban issues, politics, business, retail, economic development, transportation, infrastructure, and anything else that makes a difference in the lives of Canadians. Kenneth is also a Co-Founder of New Year’s Eve Vancouver. Connect with him at kenneth[at]dailyhive.com

Snapchat has filed for an IPO that could value the company at $25 billion

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Alex Heath and Portia Crowe
Nov. 15, 2016, 4:02 PM
Source: Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/snapchat-parent-company-snap-inc-files-for-ipo-2016-11

Snapchat’s parent company, Snap Inc., has quietly filed paperwork for an initial public offering, setting the wheels in motion for what’s expected to be the largest tech debut in years.

Snap, which is based in Venice Beach, California, confidentially filed its paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission before the presidential election, a person familiar with the matter told Business Insider.

Snap’s IPO could come as early as March, but it could also occur in the second quarter of 2017, the person said. The company is seeking a valuation of $20 billion to $25 billion.

Some people think the offering could be even larger. Bloomberg has reported that Snap’s IPO valuation could swell as high as $40 billion.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs will lead the deal, while JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, Allen & Co., Barclays, and Credit Suisse will be joint bookrunners.

Revenue engine
Snapchat Spectacles filter
A Snapchat selfie “lense” that lets you try on a virtual pair of the company’s Spectacles camera glasses. Melia Robinson/Business Insider
Snapchat has emerged as one of the most popular consumer internet services, challenging Facebook, Twitter, and Google for users and advertising dollars. With the tech IPO market stuck in the doldrums over the past year, investors are hoping Snap’s offering could open the gates to more IPOs, including closely watched tech companies like Uber.

Snap has told investors that it expects to make $250 million to $350 million in advertising revenue this year. A recent eMarketer report predicted the company would near $1 billion in revenue in 2017 — meaning an IPO that valued the company at $25 billion would be 25 times its projected revenue numbers.

It’s not clear whether Snap is profitable, however, and the company is aggressively expanding into new businesses and markets that are likely to eat into margins.

Snap’s main business is advertising in the Snapchat app, which has over 150 million daily users. But Snap recently rebranded itself as a camera company and started selling $130 camera-equipped sunglasses called Spectacles.

The company most recently raised $1.81 billion in private funding in May, which pegged its valuation at $18 billion to $22 billion.

With annual revenue under $1 billion now, Snap was able to file its Form S-1 with the SEC confidentially under the JOBS Act. News of the filing was first reported by Reuters on Tuesday.