I announced in the December 2013 issue of the Dragon eNewsletter, an opportunity to provide one business, a Guest Q&A on the Social Dragon Marketing blog. Mary Whitaker, owner of RITE Careers was the winner! RITE Careers offers professional career advice, vocational counseling, tailored resume writing, job search tips and career interviewing.
Mary, tell us a bit about yourself and what made you decide to open RITE Careers?
When I work with a client it is fascinating to witness their self-esteem and self-belief in themselves so they can express themselves in an interview confidently to be offered new job opportunities. It gives me great pleasure to hear a client tell me they got an interview, then tell me that they were hired.
Before becoming an Employment Counsellor, I had experienced many job loss issues that job seekers face today including not knowing about the focus of having passion in your job. I often tell my clients that I wish I had a career coach in my past to help me make career decisions. Maybe I would have found my passion in helping people become successful in their careers earlier in my life.
How did you decide on the “RITE” name for your company?
It seemed to take a long time to come up with a name. I asked family and friends for ideas then it came to me – RITE Careers standing for Resumes, Interviews, Training and Evaluations. A simple name that encompasses everything I can help clients with in their transition to new employment that gives them more personal satisfaction.
What types of services do RITE Careers provide?
We offer careers assessments, professional resume and cover letter writing, LinkedIn profiles, successful job search tactics, interview skills, mock interview practice, job offer reviews, employee performance preparation, outplacement services and Personality Dimension Workshops.
I work with clients in career transition so our hourly meetings are arranged around their work schedules as I can meet with clients during the daytime, evenings and on Saturday mornings.
A crucial part of my service is to give tips on conducting a successful job search including accessing different job boards, how to do company research, expand networking skills and keeping clients motivated in their job.
Last but not least, is the interview process. Interviewing skills is having a great interview presence that you are comfortable in answering all questions including those difficult ones, explaining past accomplishments, overcoming challenges and making an impression that will get you a job offer.
Once a person has a job offer we meet to make sure they understand the offer and if anything needs to be negotiated before signing the employment contract.
Tell us about your upcoming Personality Dimension workshops.
Over the next four months, I will be facilitating four workshops based on Personality Dimensions. The workshops will focus on relationships, selling to customers, working on projects and career choices. I believe that understanding how each of the four major types of personality works, an individual can learn to communicate better and know how to answer the unasked questions when talking to sales prospects, work better in projects and realize how our personality affects our career choices.
The workshops will be offered for three hours on a Saturday in February, March, April and May with a minimal cost to do the personality testing. Interactive exercises will help people learn how personalities interact with each other on a positive level resulting in increased awareness of how personality is the basics of how we interact, make decision and handle stress.
There will be a discount offered for individuals who want to register for two or more workshops.
How can people register for the workshops?
People can register either by emailing info@ritecareers.com or calling 226-378-9301. Registration will be limited to 15 participants at each workshop.
Congratulations on having your cover letters and resumes published in the third edition of Best Canadian Resumes & Best Canadian Cover Photos. Would love to hear more about this.
As a member of Career Professional of Canada, there was an open competition for all career coaches/employment counsellors across Canada. We were asked to submit three samples of resumes and cover letters for different categories. I had submitted three resumes and two were selected for a university student and the second one for trades, plus my only cover letter were chosen for publication.
Last spring before the publication of the latest Best Canadian Resumes 3rd edition and Best Canadian Cover Letters 2nd edition were released, Sharon Graham, the main author and coordinator, nominated me to present the university student’s resume in another competition which I was awarded Nominee for Award of Excellence given by Career Professional of Canada in writing resumes.
RITE Careers will be offering outplacement services for employers. Can you explain more and what this means to employers?
Outplacement services are offered by employers usually as part of a severance package. Employers will pay to hire a career coach to assist terminated employees find new employment or a different career.
The outplacement component is helping the client move forward, work thru the emotional impact of the job lost cycle and applying for new opportunities, which may give the person more satisfaction in their careers.
For employers, I offer individual personalized meetings with their past employees at their location and continue meeting the individual in my office for the outplacement services. I will offer competitive prices for employers who want to offer career coaching services to individuals as part of their severance package.
RITE Careers is on Facebook. What advice would you give to small businesses who may be uncertain about social media marketing?
Having a Facebook page is a must for any small business. You don’t have to spend any money on it. We haven’t. You can promote your services and products using posts including videos, pictures, events and status updates. You can share these posts with anyone on Facebook and hopefully someone you share it with will share the post with their friends and family.
With RITE Careers, we have chosen Facebook and LinkedIn as our main social media websites.
There are hundreds of social media marketing websites, you need to do the research about each site and figure out if it’s right for you.
About Mary
Mary has been working as a career coach / counsellor for the last 11 years helping individuals with career choices, writing resumes and cover letters, job search and interview practice. She was told by a past supervisor that she has a natural gift in identifying people’s strengths and their passion for a career. She finds it easy to listen to her clients’ stories and illustrate their strengths on paper and their LinkedIn profiles. She helps clients improve their interview answers with hours of one to one interview practice. Mary is dedicated to helping others on their journey to better employment opportunities. www.ritecareers.com
