Our profession has a persistent labour market problem: many new and mid-career geoscientists are leaving the profession while most highly experienced professionals are nearing retirement. Our industry is poised for growth, but we need to better engage and retain geoscientists in our workforce.
This session covers three areas of focus: exploring strategies for engaging and training new professionals, identifying roadblocks for mid-career geoscientists, and discussing how experienced geoscientists can make mentoring a constructive part of their professional practice.
Sheila Ballantyne, P.Geo.
University of Toronto |
Tyler Travis, P.Geo.
Englobe |
Working hard, being dedicated, and waiting to be noticed or to be “tapped on the shoulder” for an opportunity is not a career plan. That is like a leaf floating on a stream; the leaf surrenders to the current and will be taken wherever the stream goes. When you have a vision for what you want to accomplish in your career and your life, then you know where you want to go. Having a career plan is important if you want to achieve your goals. When you have a plan, it is like the leaf has a rudder and can now navigate the currents and direct itself to where it wants to go. Having a mentor is like adding a motor to accelerate you through the turbulent waters and stay on course to achieve your goals.
Mentoring is not just for students or entry level professionals. Mentoring can be even more powerful for mid-career professionals. Mid-career is when we have enough experience to be good at what we do, but we may get into a rut. Sometimes we can’t see a way out. Mentoring can help bring a fresh perspective and support career planning. This discussion will emphasize the importance of career planning and discuss how to create a career plan.
Geoscience careers in exploration and mining can be unpredictable, remote, with varied focus areas. We will discuss how individuals and industry can promote progression plans to enhance clarity, direction, and balance leading to long-term career development in a shrinking talent pipeline.
In this presentation, we will discuss field and research experiences available at the undergraduate and graduate levels at the University of Toronto. This will include a description of some of the research and field trips that have been completed, the communication skills students develop during both these activities and challenges in continuing these activities.
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