SEPTEMBER 2018
P R O F E S S I O N A L D E V E L O P M E N T F O R C A N A D A ' S O F F I C E S U P P O R T S T A F F
Administrative
Assistant's
UPDATE UPDATE
PM
#40065782
INSIDE
About networking � � � � � � � � � 2
Looking out for others more than
yourself will pay dividends
LinkedIn tips � � � � � � � � � � � � � 3
How you and your executive can
build thought leadership
Hard choices � � � � � � � � � � � � � 5
Confronting, not avoiding, them
will bring relief
Microsoft Word � � � � � � � � � � � 6
Add-ins make day-to-day tasks
more productive
Mental health and
job performance
A new report explains the impact
of mental health issues on job per-
formance, core coping strategies
being used by employees and the
actions that organizations can take
to better support employees.
The white paper, Understand-
ing Mental Health, Mental Ill-
ness and Their Impacts in the
Workplace, was created jointly by
Morneau Shepell and the Mental
Health Commission of Canada. It
concludes that one in five Cana-
dians experiences a mental health
problem or illness each year, equat-
ing to 500,000 employees unable
to work every week due to mental
health problems or illnesses.
Source: Morneau Shepell
Continued on page 4
By Colleen Clarke
You have been through every conceiv-
able business process change over the
last 40 or so years.
You are flexible, adaptable, com-
municate well, can book travel
arrangements as well as any travel
agent, edit reports almost as well as a
journalism graduate, and take care of
aging parents.
You are an experienced worker.
With people reaching management
status younger than ever before, work
seekers over 50 can find themselves
being interviewed by managers in
their children's age group. This can
be uncomfortable for both parties and
it does not always fare well for the
experienced candidate.
Recently there has been a turn
-
around in the hiring attitude towards
experienced workers. As an experi-
enced, not older, worker – and please,
never seasoned professional, it is your
job to dispel ageism myths and show
the benefits of hiring a highly experi-
enced and knowledgeable candidate:
YOU!
To succeed in a job interview
when you are "a little grey around the
edges":
• Walk, stand and sit tall and straight.
Be conscious of your posture, it says
a lot about your confidence level.
• Be comfortable and confident about
who you are and what you have
done, not boastful, but certainly
confident. Experience is intimidat
-
ing only to the recent graduate, or
possibly your interviewer; let them
know what you are going to do for
the company. You are going to make
them look great!
• Use modulation in your voice, show
enthusiasm and keep your voice
strong right to the bitter end of each
sentence.
• Have your S (Situation), A (Action),
R (Result) stories ready to meet each
competency / skill outlined in the
job description. Really know your
Thinking about a job change?
Confront ageism, turn
experience to your advantage
Credit: Cathleen A Clapper (Shutterstock)