Welcome from the Trades Solutions team.
The Trades Solutions Program....
...offers a new start every week.
We connect all workers to jobs and careers in all of the trades. There are over 110 regulated trades in BC and we help connect workers to every one of them.
We cover all trades: hairdressers, bakers and horticulturists, as well as the more obvious hard hat trades, plumbers, carpenters and electricians.
We group our local knowledge of trades into four sectors
Transportation
Energy and Mining
Services: Tourism and Hospitality
Construction
We are available to anyone looking for work in the trades in Metro Vancouver, people moving from one trade to another, or simply wanting to find out more about the wide variety of trades jobs.
During our first week together we offer dynamic and engaging half day workshops providing the tools you need to seek information and apply for work that you actually want.
In our second week together we sharpen those tools and help you make a custom made plan, putting those tools to work, applying for jobs, investigating training, looking at alternatives.
Our support continues until you find work, set up training, enter an apprenticeship or whatever defines success for you.
Our continuing support...
....is always available; one to one support, advice, resources and action from our five Employment Consultants, best in person, but also available by phone or email.
We will continue to find personalized job leads and resources for you, based on your needs and ambitions.
Peer support is encouraged and enabled by our weekly Career Café, open every Wednesday morning at 9.30, where anyone who is, or has been, in the program can meet, share successes, discuss ways forward, eat Timbits and drink coffee; networking at its best!
An Employment Consultant or two will be on hand to help the coffee and conversation flow. We don't get in the way of you looking for work!
Our trade contacts are well established and growing everyday. Employers are seeing us a great new resource for finding employees who are keen, ready to work, ready to learn.
We have recommended, respectful workplaces looking for workers in the trades.
We respect the 'fit' between workers and workplaces, and get to know both the workplace and you before making an introduction that we believe will be successful.
Our people...
...are of course the key to our program
James Jeffrey - Employment Consultant
James has over 20 years in the trades, everything from basic labourer to President/Owner of his own Irrigation Company. He also has a well mixed variety of occupations such as; Carpenter, Heavy Equipment Operator, Theatre Technician, Chef, Landscaper, Demolition, Pyrotechnics Operator(!), Employment Recruiter, even a Life Guard. The trades have been an important learning tool for gearing James up for his current occupation as a career consultant specializing in the trades industry.
Zafira Nanji - Employment Consultant
Zafira joins Trades Solutions after working as a Human resources generalist and corporate trainer in the tech sector. A trained sociologist and crisis counselor, Zafira previously worked at the Elizabeth Fry Society and with the Ridge Meadows Women’s Center working with women and families in crisis. Zafira balances her passion for diversity, individual stories, creativity and technology with a dedication for individual success to the team. In her spare time, Zafira loves to travel and works closely with international aid agencies, artisans and makeup artists, assisting the artisans in obtaining fair-trade values for their wares and the make-up artists in finding the tools to best equip them for successful careers.
Leslee Richardson - Employment Consultant
Leslee’s career began in Montreal
where she worked as a freelance contractor in hairstyling, image consulting,
modeling, event coordination, fashion show coordination and choreography. Her
image consulting and styling skills are continually used through personal and
professional client development and workshops. Leslee has also worked as a Personal
Assistant and Office Administrator,managed a display fixture business and has designed and sold fashion
belts for men and women. With a love of helping others and wanting to put to good use her own
experiences with career transitions, Leslee went back to school in 2009 to
obtain a certificate as a Career Practitioner and is pleased to be now working
with the Trade Solutions team.
Jeet Nijjar - Employment Consultant
Jeet has come to work for Trades Solutions
after 2 years of working as a recruiter in Vancouver. Before moving to Vancouver, Jeet owned a
company and worked in the automobile glass trade for 3 years. Jeet has a passion
for helping people achieve their goals and dreams. In his spare time Jeet has
spent over 7 years coaching and training youth basketball teams and loves to
participate in team sports. Having originally immigrated to Canada from England
with Indian parents, Jeet is fluent in English and
Punjabi.
Shell Zhang - Program Assistant
Shell has 2 years experience in both international trade and immigration consulting services. As a team player, she always devotes herself with full energy. When not at work Shell loves travel, singing and playing table tennis; to enjoy every day, and help others to enjoy their days too, is of most importance to her.
Elaine Yeh - Program Assistant
Elaine is certified make-up artist and a 4th year student at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Having immigrated to Canada at a young age, Elaine is fluent in both English and Mandarin. As a make-up artist and an entrepreneur student Elaine brings creativity and fresh thinking to the team. Apart from work and school, Elaine enjoys exploring her creative capabilities in dancing, home decorating, and sketching. Elaine believes in world peace and multiculturalism!
Barbara Mitchell - Program Manager
Says Barbara: 'With over twenty years of front-line and program management experience in employment services, I am very excited to be leading the Trades Solutions team.' Barbara has first-hand knowledge of needing to re-invent herself to find a happy fit. She has enjoyed several different careers herself including business, insurance, teaching from pre-school to college level, and self-employed craftsperson before entering employment services. Barbara celebrates the diversity of experience, abilities and challenges of people she works with. She especially enjoys listening to participants' stories of their journey through life and work, and exploring with them as they discover the perfect fit for their future.
Contact Information
Employment Consultants with Trade Solutions
Jeet Nijjar x 103,
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Leslee Richardson, x 104,
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Zafira Nanji, x 106,
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James Jeffrey, x 107,
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Program Assistants with Trades Solutions
Shell Zhang, ext 102,
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Elaine Yeh, ext 101,
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Program Manager for the Trades Solutions Program
Barbara Mitchell, ext 109,
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Our space...
....is a bright and light modern space in Downtown Vancouver.
Our Downtown Hornby Centre is just 2 minutes from Burrard Skytrain, 5 minutes from Waterfront Station and close to over 50 bus routes (so don't even think about driving!)
We of course offer the fax machine, daily newspapers, phones, copying and an excellent modern computer room, that are an essential part of any employment service.
A small kitchen and fridge allows you to bring lunch or snacks with you. Tea and coffee is always available.
Our resource room and database of contacts, training, and recommended employers is kept fresh and our job board, updated weekly, features over 100 current Metro Vancouver jobs in the trades.
Our hours...
...are from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
We hold a formal information session about Trades Solutions every Tuesday at 2 pm.
But we can see anyone who is interested in more information at any time.
Some notes for Case Managers...
...to help you find a good fit for your clients.
We look forward to working with people interested in all the trades - from hairdressers to chefs, plumbers to painters, arbourists to motorcycle mechanics; hard hats welcomed, but not required!
We work with everyone in Metro Vancouver be they someone having moved from elsewhere in Canada, a recent immigrant or a lifelong resident of Vancouver. You don't have to be an immigrant to Canada to be part of our program.
Our program is run in English; the workshops are presented in English.
So for clients whose English is a second language for them we recommend an ELSA level of 4/5.
We do have speakers of French, Punjabi, Hindi, Gujarati, Mandarin and Cantonese on staff but we are unable to translate the entire program!
If you have a client not yet at that level may we suggest involving them in an English course first, and then connecting them to our trade specific program?*
Or you can use the language skills of our team to help navigate your client to those English classes, and then they can return to us when their language level is improving, and more able to make full use of our workshops, service and trade connections.
If your client knows exactly which trades course they are interested in taking remember that assessment agencies can do course specific evaluations, matching the requirements of the course to the English level needed for that occupation.
*Please talk with us about the particular needs of your client - we are an imaginative and flexible group of people!
We look forward to welcoming you.
Barbara, James, Zafira, Jeet, Leslee, Shell, Elaine
Trades Solutions
Downtown Hornby Centre
S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
#300 530 Hornby Street
Vancouver, BC, V6C 2E7
P: 604 689 7772
F: 604.689.7746
E:
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W: www.success.bc.ca/trades/
For a copy of our brochure please follow this link to a PDF of the Trades Solutions Brochure
