For Kyla-Lorraine, administrative officer at SPHERE, the primary goal of participating in the MentorAbility initiative as a mentor was to help others. And she achieved her goal! In fact, she was able to answer all the questions asked by her mentee, Sara. Kyla-Lorraine was able to teach her the basics of her work, explain in detail her daily tasks, and paint a picture of what her job is like so that Sara could understand that profession.
Since Adam first connected with MentorAbility, it was clear that he loved baking and wanted to gain some hands-on experience in the baking field. He was especially keen on seeing how pretzels were made and learning how to bake those little breaded wonders! Fortunately, MentorAbility was able to connect with Lori and Sam at Southcentre Mr. Pretzel and secure Adam a mentorship making his favourite salty snack.
It’s never easy to find a job when looking to enter the job market for the first time or even when returning to it. MentorAbility is a great way to meet an employer and provides a glimpse into the sector that a mentee wishes to enter. The following experience demonstrates a key goal of the initiative, that of inspiring a mentee and opening up his horizons.
Brigitte had a great MentorAbility experience. Given her search for a job in the field of emergency call dispatch, she was pleased to take part in a virtual discussion with her mentor Karolanne, from Health Emergencies, who described her work days in detail in order to give her an idea of what it’s like to work in such a role.
Matthew has always been interested in the world of video games. He was delighted when his employment advisor Ariane from Workforce Action suggested that he take part in the MentorHabilities project to talk about the video game tester profession with a professional in the field. When he met Anne-Li, his mentor, he learned a lot more than he thought he would about her daily work.
The MentorAbility Program helps people gain employment experience they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to find on their own. And, in some special cases, it helps people become employed too!! This is exactly the case with Sydney who was mentored by staff at KOKO Patisserie in Regina and ended up being offered a job!
When Dale arrived at Calgary Alternative Employment Services to explore career options, he had his sights set on the hospitality industry as he had prior experience working in this field; and, he was currently employed in a similar setting – for a Condo Association doing seasonal yard work. He had been searching for a hospitality job for over a year but wasn’t having any luck.
Ashwini participated in MentorAbility to experience what it would be like to work as a receptionist in a small business environment. The skills that entail reception duties is something that Ashwini has never done before. We were able to connect Ashwini with a new local business owner of Liz’s Bookkeeping Services and her colleague Brenda. Liz is active and supportive to equal job opportunities and was happy to mentor and show Ashwini the daily tasks in reception.
Cameron was looking for a MentorAbility experience where he would have the opportunity to try something new and work on his customer service skills. Cameron was a fan of Game Changerz VR from the first time he walked through their doors as a customer. He was impressed by the outstanding customer service the staff provided and how welcome they made him feel. When AiMHi staff reached out to the owners of Game Changerz VR to propose the idea of doing a MentorAbility Placement, they were already familiar with Cameron as being one of their customers, and wanted Cameron to get the most of his MentorAbility experience.
Sonja loves being creative and, when thinking about potential careers, she leaned towards artistic fields that would allow her to express herself, such as an author or a voice actress. These fields can be hard for newcomers to gain experience in, however. Luckily for Sonja, she happened to live in the same province as an award-winning author…
