Nailing the Interview: Veronica Kjolberg's Job Search Skills for Success

In this episode, we sit down with Veronica Kjolberg, a proud Skills Canada Alberta alumna whose journey is nothing short of inspiring. Veronica competed in 2022 and 2023, capturing gold at the 2023 Skills Canada National Competition in Winnipeg. In 2024, she took her passion even further by representing Team Alberta at the Skills for Success Youth Assembly in Quebec. Veronica walks us through the highs, the lessons, and the unforgettable moments of her Skills experience. She also shares her best advice on how to stand out in interviews, craft winning resumes and cover letters, and take charge of your career journey. Whether you're just starting out or looking for that extra boost of motivation, Veronica’s story and practical tips will leave you feeling empowered and ready to chase your own version of success. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Welcome to Skills and Thrills, Alberta's Trade and Tech Youth Podcast My Skills Canada, Alberta. We feature the stories of Skills alumni through sharing their competition experiences and how those moments shape their careers. Through casual, unscripted conversations, we explore the journeys behind the skills and the paths that followed. I'm Danny and I'll be your host. Let's dive in to today's episode. Today's special guest is Veronica Kohlberg. Veronica competed in Job Search in 2022 and 2023 and went on to nationals in 2023 in Winnipeg. In 2024, Verica joined Team Alberta to Quebec to represent Alberta on the Skills for Success Youth Assembly. Hi Veronica, thanks for coming on the podcast today. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here. Of course. How are you doing? I'm doing pretty good. How about you? I'm doing good, thanks. All right, let's jump right into it. Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what drew you to compete in job search at Skills?

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Yeah, definitely. I'm currently a student at the University of Calgary, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in communication and media studies. At the time of uh competing in job search, I was a student at Ernest Manning High School. What really drew me to pursue job search was my journalism teacher at Ernest Manning. After we'd finished wrapping our morning student-run news program called EM Daily, in which I was an anchor at the time, he approached me and told me about the opportunity to compete in skills. And it just sounded like so much fun. But my knowledge of skills actually began with my brother Nathan, who competed in carpentry and cabinet making, both at the regional and provincial level. And he had such a positive experience with it that when I went and came home and told my parents and my brother about it, he just absolutely convinced me to join job search and see what it was all about. Oh, that's so cool. I didn't know your brother also did skills as well. Yeah, he absolutely loved it and he couldn't say enough about how much it had impacted his confidence with being in the skilled trades. So I just felt immediately drawn to it. And even though I didn't exactly know what the job search category was about, I was just so excited to get started and get started with competing and preparation.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

Oh, that's amazing. Can you tell us what job search is for a competition area? Because some people might not know.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

Yeah, definitely. So job search basically is all about everything to do with searching for jobs as well as career planning. So that includes document creation, not limited to, but including resumes, cover letters, um, presentations, as well as presentation skills and interview skills.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Yeah, which are all super important to have for sure. In everyday life, I still use the skills that I learned in the job search competition. Same. When I was doing my degree actually in in communications, it was like a whole class. Like I had to do a whole class on how to do portfolios and like all the resume building and presenting myself to like people in the class. It really is a major skill.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

Yeah. Right now I'm actually taking a professional and technical communications course, and that was a whole unit in it. So I felt really prepared for that. I was excited.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Oh, that's awesome to already like be doing those skills in class too. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

Yeah, for sure. I already had my resume folder and cover letters ready to go. So it made for an easy assignment.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Yeah, for sure. That's awesome. Yeah. Um, did you have a mentor that really guided you through the competition?

SPEAKER_00 3:42

I was lucky enough to have a fantastic mentor to guide me through the competition. Brendan McDermott at Ernest Manic High School, who's the visual and performing arts learning leader, was the one who actually asked me to participate in job search, was able to mentor me for the preparation throughout the competition. He was just absolutely fantastic and is so infectious with his passion for what he does, which includes skills. So I couldn't say no. And I was so lucky to be able to have someone to support me during that time with preparation.

SPEAKER_01 4:11

That's amazing. So, how was it to prepare for this competition?

SPEAKER_00 4:15

Well, it was stressful, but also at the time, I had no idea what really consisted of the competition. So, what we did to practice were interview questions as well as practicing cover letter and resume writing, going through about a million different drafts for my resume and reading it over and over just to make sure that we had the correct preparation for it, making sure that it fit the job listing and posting that they had we had to choose from two of them. So really reading through them closely and making sure that the resume was a good fit for the posting.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

Yeah. Do you mind telling us exactly what you need to do in the competition? Like, do you do cover letter resume and then presenting or yeah?

SPEAKER_00 4:58

So throughout the competitions that I've done, so I did one in 2022 at the provincial level, and then in 2023, I did the provincial as well as the national level. They all varied a little bit. In 2022, during the online competition, it was just a cover letter, a resume done beforehand, and then an online interview. During the 2023 Provincial Skilled Alberta competition, it was document creation, formatting a document about the skills for success, a cover letter and resume done beforehand, and then an interview. And at the national level, it was all of those things plus a presentation as well.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Oh wow. So yeah, you had to do all of it and then present.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Yeah, a lot of components and working pieces.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

Yeah, for sure. Do you just present to the judges or do you present to like everyone that is competing?

SPEAKER_00 5:49

Yeah. So something that was kind of unique was that in the national competition, the presentations were open to the public, much to my anxiety. Oh no, I didn't know that. Yeah. So we weren't aware of that until the morning of the competition when we were reading through. And they'd also let us know the day before that it was open to the public. Lucky for me, not too many people came in to watch me, or else that would have made me really nervous. But I had a couple of people come in to listen to what I had to present about.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

I know it's good because technically public speaking is a really good skill to have, and it's good to challenge yourself that way, but it's already nerve-wracking enough. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

In one corner of the room, there were three judges for the presentation, and then the rest were filled with chairs and anybody who wanted to stop in just to see what we were talking about. I really admire people who competed in the public speaking competition, but I prefer one-on-one communication as opposed to a room of people. But yeah. You know, if you live and you learn and you try to do the best with what skills you have at the time.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

Yeah, for sure. No, it it is it is still good to do. I feel like public speaking is such a good skill to have, anyways.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

So Yeah, and it definitely goes in with the job search category and the skills that you need in order to perform well in a position at work or even in the job search process.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

I feel like it's good for people to know on this podcast to maybe like doing your presentation to practice like in front of your family or even some friends, and it'll make it a little bit less nerve-wracking if you go to the national level and all of a sudden there's like 30 people in the room. For sure.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Um, the night before the competition, because we had one day that was focused solely on document creation. So the resumes and cover letters, as well as the presentation, had to be completed in that day. And then we had the night of to practice, and then the next day we had to perform it. So in my hotel room with my partner in my hotel room, Annika, I was going over it over and over, and she was sitting there listening. Well, probably thinking that she wanted to work on her own competition area. But yeah, it was it's good to practice. You have to practice, practice, practice in order to get it right.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

Yeah. And it's good too to just like feel super confident the next day and like go and like do your like, yeah, I I did so well. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

And even just to know the sort of patterns and the pace that you want to go at and having an introduction to your presentation and making sure that you pace yourself through. It's good to be able to have that practice beforehand.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

Oh, yeah. Cause if you're anything like me, I just talk so fast that I'm like, I don't even know what I'm saying anymore. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

You know, I'm the exact same way. And even with interviews, you wouldn't exactly expect it from someone who competed in job search, but interviews make me so nervous. And same with presentations. So you really got to practice in order to make sure that you're prepared and feel calm the time before.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Yeah, you definitely don't want to be rambling on and then forget what you're talking about next. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

And even if yeah, even if that happens, you just gotta keep going and make sure you slow down. So yeah, whatever happens, happens, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:48

Yeah, just take a breather for a second and be like, nope, we're we got this. Uh on to the next thing. We're good. Exactly. So, what was your experience like altogether competing in job search?

SPEAKER_00 8:59

It was overwhelmingly positive. I had such an amazing experience competing in job search, especially since I had no idea what it was going into it, and it has really shaped everything that I know about searching for jobs, as well as my future career planning. I was just so lucky with how everything turned out and seeing all the hard work realized was just such a great feeling.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Yeah, it's so cool. And and you really hone your skills when it's something like resume building, you know exactly what everything needs to be, like cover letter resume, because there's so many little pieces on there that really makes your stuff stand out.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

So yeah, for sure. I'm the resident resume builder in my friend Group now. So I look over everybody's stuff. And yeah, definitely. Those skills stay with you for life. So I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to compete, and it shapes who I am today and what I'm able to do and what I'm capable of.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

Yeah, that I mean, that's so amazing. And I I do have to say, I'm also the resume builder in my house. Everyone's like, I need a new job. Can you do this resume for me? I'm like, okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Yeah, exactly. No, and it's an even better feeling when they get the job. You're like, oh great.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Well, I'm glad it paid off. You're like, I helped you do that because I made it look really good.

SPEAKER_00 10:12

So exactly. I need to have credits at the bottom or something.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

Yeah. Put my name at the bottom, be like, Danielle did this, or Veronica did this. There you go. You placed first in 2023.

unknown 10:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

Yeah. Amazing. How did that feel to place first?

SPEAKER_00 10:30

Oh, it was just the best feeling in the world. I know for sure that Skilled Alberta, as well as my family and friends, would have been proud of me regardless. It was just the cherry on the cake of the experience to be able to see all the hard work finally culminate into something and be able to be recognized and portray Skilled Alberta in a positive light at the national competition. That was just amazing. Overall, I had just such a great experience at the national competition. So it wouldn't have mattered either way, but it was just, it felt so good to be able to be like, I did that, and it all worked out in the end. So, what nationals did you go to? I went to the one in Winnipeg, so 2023. Oh, right. Yeah. Okay. Awesome. So I went to the Winnipeg competition in 2023. And then in 2024, when I was in Quebec, that was when I was on the Skills Assembly.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

Yeah. Okay. That's so cool. Being a part of Team A B is amazing.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

That in itself is an accomplishment. And it just felt so great to have statued camaraderie with everyone else on Team A B, even though I didn't know anyone beforehand, minus a few people that went to Ernest Manning, who I was lucky enough to have with me there. It was so great to meet people who all had similar mindsets and were all there to do the same thing and compete and just have fun and meet people.

SPEAKER_01 11:46

Yeah, definitely. Do you have like a memorable moment from Team A B or just nationals in general?

SPEAKER_00 11:52

Yeah. One moment that sticks out to me was when we first arrived at the convention center in Winnipeg in 2023. When we arrived, we didn't really know where we were going and we were trying to figure it out. So in the hustle and bustle of things to get to our orientations, a group of two people from Team BC came up to us and they asked if we could trade pins and just started chatting with us. We didn't actually have any pins to trade at the time, but they were kind enough to just give us some anyways. And we had a really great conversation. And it was so great to see the different competition areas because they were in 3D game art, which I had never heard of before for the national competition. And it was so interesting to see what they were interested in and what they were competing in and just see someone be so friendly and come up to someone out of nowhere and just offer something for them, even if we didn't have anything to offer them. We just offered them a conversation and it was such a great experience. So yeah, just building friendships and meeting people was definitely a highlight from the national competition.

SPEAKER_01 12:53

Oh, that's so nice. It's really cool to meet people from other provinces in different competition areas too. It's always so cool to just meet people from across the country.

SPEAKER_00 13:02

Yeah, exactly. And it's such a privilege to gather everyone in the same room and be able to meet people that you wouldn't otherwise meet. So yeah, it was just such a positive experience.

SPEAKER_01 13:14

Yeah, I mean, it's it's just so special and always such a great time. Yeah, so you represented Alberta at the Skills for Success Youth Assembly in the 2024 Skills Canada National Competition in Quebec. What was that experience like?

SPEAKER_00 13:30

That experience was just amazing. When Claire reached out to me about it, we both had no idea what it was about. We didn't have a ton of information about how it was going to go or what the role looked like, but it absolutely exceeded my expectations when I got there. I was able to be on the youth assembly with representatives from almost every province. So it was just such a pleasure to be able to meet people from all across Canada. And we had our conversations over the next few days of the competition about the skills for success, specifically reading, and being able to discuss what reading meant to us and provide an insight into what that would look like, as well as being able to make a document with recommendations for the Skills Canada board and with our findings about the topic of reading.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

Yeah, that is such a cool opportunity to say that you did that kind of thing, like with skills.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

Absolutely. And I was just honored to be able to have involvement with skills, especially being an alumni. It was great to continue my involvement and be able to still see the competition while getting into a different role that was kind of out of my comfort zone, but just still using the skills that I was able to learn during the competition as well.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

Yeah. What was it like to chat with everyone from different provinces and talk about how reading is so important in different trades and technology?

SPEAKER_00 14:52

Yeah, it was great. Something that I found really interesting was when we were chatting with people from all across Canada, the different perspectives that everyone had. You would think that everyone, since we're all Canadian, have a very similar perspective on reading, which is something that is seen as a universal skill. But a lot of people had different perspectives and different insights into it. One that stood out to me was the representative from Nenevet, Mark. He had great insight into what reading meant to him in his Indigenous community, and how we often think that reading is something that's privileged in every province and in every community. He was talking about how in his community, oral communication and oral history is privileged a lot more than reading, but he still thinks it's an essential skill to have, especially in the workforce. It was interesting to see how different perspectives and different people think of the same topic and how we could all come together to have a bunch of different perspectives on the same topic.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

Oh, I love that. That's so cool to just like learn different perspectives and worldviews on those different kinds of skills.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

Yeah, definitely. Especially on something that seems so universal with reading. Everyone knows how to read, or at least you would think everyone knows how to read, or everyone values it to the same level. You would never know. And it was really interesting to hear everyone's different views and values with that.

SPEAKER_01 16:11

Oh, that's so interesting. Yeah, I think this year they're focusing on writing. So I'm interested to see what comes of that, like different perspectives.

SPEAKER_00 16:19

Yeah, for sure. And especially since reading and writing are so similar, it's good to piggyback off of last year's. And yeah, reading was such a perfect topic for me, especially pursuing English and communications. It just was the perfect opportunity. And I'm really grateful to have been able to pursue that.

SPEAKER_01 16:35

So, what was your perspective?

SPEAKER_00 16:38

What I brought to the table was definitely my experience with JobSear and everything that I've had to do reading for with Job Search. Reading is so heavily integrated into Job Search with reading job applications, reading over your resume, reading your cover letter. And those reading skills also go hand in hand with the speaking skills and public communication and public speaking. So, what I mentioned was just how important it was and emphasized in my skill area, especially the skills for success as a whole, was really emphasized within my skill area with having to give a presentation on them as well as having to create a document about them for my competition. So I already knew a little bit about skills for success. But reading is something that I study in school and having that background and that knowledge within job search and my uh education was really crucial.

SPEAKER_01 17:31

Yeah. Yeah. I feel like reading, I mean, it really depends on your career and where you want to go. But reading, especially for comms, is like super important, but it might not be important for other jobs in some areas. It might be more oral communication. So yeah, it's interesting.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

Something that we did talk about as well is how reading looks so different in every single skills and technology sector. So for someone in carpentry, that may mean reading plans and going over plans. But for someone in job search, that means reading over job applications versus someone in baking that's reading recipes. So stuff like that and how it's different for everyone, but it's still an essential skill all around.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

Yeah, for sure. Definitely like a really essential skill. And it's good, it's just good to have in daily life. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Oh, so cool. I knew nothing about these youth assemblies till last year when you did it, and they were talking about your experience with it and stuff. So that's so cool that they have that and just like talking with other provinces.

SPEAKER_00 18:30

It was awesome, especially being able to report back to um team Alberta and everyone at skills, because nobody really had any idea of what the day-to-day role looked like for the youth assembly. So every day I'd give my rundown of everything that happened and everything we talked about and what the role looks like so that people in the future can prepare and know what it's about. And yeah, it was super exciting. Just loved it.

unknown 18:53

Cool.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

So was it mostly just sitting around a table and like kind of talking and then making this document, or was there like some presentations or anything else like that?

SPEAKER_00 19:02

Yeah, so there were different components to it. So sitting around and having discussions about the topic of reading was a huge component of it. But there were other opportunities within the assembly that we did. One of them was to work with the Soaring Skills Group, which is aimed at promoting trades and technology to the indigenous youth. So we were able to connect with that group and we did a scavenger hunt all across competition area. So that was really fun. We were able to do like welding and all the different try trades, which was great. And we actually ended up winning that one. So go us for scavenger. That was great. As well, yeah, we had a bunch of different speakers. So we had an elder circle, which was super interesting to hear different perspectives from everyone around the circle. We also were able to talk to Cynthia Gautier, a monster truck driver from Quebec. So we were able to talk to her. Yeah, it was super interesting. And we had a one-on-one QA with her, which was great. She talked about her experience being a woman in the trades, and it really left an impact on me. She was talking about how important a competition like skills would have been to her as a young woman getting into the trades. And I totally agree, especially with skills. Now there's so many young women getting into the trades, and it's awesome to have an opportunity like that to promote women in the trades and just have an opportunity for any youth that are interested in the trades and being able to get involved with that.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

Yeah, for sure. And I mean, what a cool opportunity that you had to join the youth assembly. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

Yeah, for sure. I'm so grateful for it.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

Yeah. Ah, so cool. How have your experiences with skills shaped your approach to job searching and career planning?

SPEAKER_00 20:47

I honestly, my experiences with Skilled Alberta have completely shaped my entire experience with job search and career planning. Prior to skills, I had very limited experience with cover letter writing, resume writing, even interviews. I only had about a year of job experience under my belt before I entered skills in job search, which is a little ironic, but I had maybe been to one interview in my life, maybe two. All of these skills I practice and practice just for the sake of skills and being able to compete in the job area. So yeah, all of my skills were developed for the competition. And everything that I know about job search and career planning, I owe it all to skills in job search. So everything from reading and writing and communicating, all those skills were developed through skills. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:40

Yeah. Like again, like it's such a cool way to hone your skills and like prepare for a competition. It does take a lot of preparation, a lot of like practicing. So it definitely really helps with that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

Yeah, definitely. I had a background with the journalism program at Ernest Manning, which helped with my communication skills. So being to able to apply those to the job search area was really awesome, as well as my previous job experience and interview experience. It was really great to be able to hone those skills and make them sharper for the competition.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

Yeah, for sure. How do you see yourself applying the knowledge and experiences from skills and the youth assembly to your future career?

SPEAKER_00 22:22

Though I'm not entirely sure where my career is going to take me, the skills that I learned during the job search competition as well as on the youth assembly are vital for future careers, especially with finding a career. I know that I want to be in communications and having those skills in order to thrive in communications were definitely essential for my future career. With public speaking, as well as being able to communicate clearly, both verbally and through written communication, are just vital skills that are absolutely crucial to be able to thrive in the workforce. And especially with being able to have those job search skills, it was just so amazing now that I'm able to apply them to my real life and really use them in my interview experience as well as resume and cover letter writing, especially with being on the youth assembly. The communication skills and working collaboratively with other people is just something that I was really able to develop during those few days. And now I'm able to apply them in my everyday life.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

Yeah, collaborative skills are so important because a lot of the times you do work in a team, even just like a little bit. Like even in the office, like I work in a team as well. So it's just a really good skill to have.

SPEAKER_00 23:34

Oh, yeah, definitely. Even in school, working collaboratively, I use what I've learned through the youth assembly to apply that to my education. And yeah, in the workforce, you have to work collaboratively, whether you like it or not. So being able to have those skills to work cohesively as a team is essential.

SPEAKER_01 23:51

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Okay, let's talk about resumes and cover letters. There and interviews, because there's so many things you should know. So when it comes to resumes, what are some tips that people should know? Should you be putting your address on your resume?

SPEAKER_00 24:12

This is something that I actually talked about with a um recruiter at the youth employment center in Calgary. We have a great youth employment center, and I recommend that anyone who's interested in job search at skills or just applying job search to real life to go and check them out. But they told me to remove my address from my resume. So I know a lot of people have it on there, but all you need is your city. That's all you need. They don't need to know exactly where you live. With resume writing, just making sure that you're as clear as possible, trying to keep sentences short, but as detailed as you can, um, and having about four points per each section for your job experience. And yeah, just making sure that you read over it and have a consistent format. That's something that I got nailed on during the competition when we get feedback after, making sure that you don't have periods on some sentences and others where you don't have them, making sure that the capitalization is all consistent and same with all the headers being the same size. So really taking the time to read over it and getting a second pair of eyes is something that really helped me as well. So having my mentor, Brendan McDermott, check over it was crucial. And even having my friends and family just read over to make sure that there wasn't anything that was amiss.

SPEAKER_01 25:29

Yeah, you definitely don't want any typos.

SPEAKER_00 25:32

Yeah, that exactly. Job recruiters make sure that everything looks in the same consistent format. And that's also a testament to your ability to be detail-oriented and make sure that you are looking at the small stuff as well as the bigger picture.

SPEAKER_01 25:48

Yeah, I feel like it's like pretty recent with the address thing, because I feel like a lot of people used to always put their address on there.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

Yeah, even in my professional and technical communication course when we did the resume section, um, the textbook is a little bit older and it diff did say to keep your address on there. So I guess it depends on what job you're applying to and what different recruiters are looking for. But they said to me at least that all you need is your city.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

Yeah. Yeah. You definitely don't need your address. You don't need to like because also like people are like handing out their address everywhere. And people could just like have your address. And that's that's a little scary. So exactly. You don't need to divulge everything, just yeah, yeah, exactly. Um, a few other things, like I feel like a little bit of color is okay too. That definitely doesn't need to be like all black and white.

SPEAKER_00 26:38

So it definitely depends on what type of job you're going for. So for a position such as like graphic design at a graphic design firm, they might be looking for people who are a little bit more colorful and have a little bit more design taste with their resume. But if you're applying to, let's say, a law firm or something that's a little bit more serious, they would probably prefer just the traditional black and white format. So you really just got to read the vibes, I guess, of the job application. Um, especially if it's like working with kids, maybe they would prefer something a little bit more upbeat and fun. But you really got to cater it to the job application, which is something that I was able to really hone my skills on throughout the competition and even keywords from the job application as well.

SPEAKER_01 27:23

Oh, yeah, that's super important. I remember learning that. Just like making sure you're looking at those keywords and adding them into your resume so they know, like you mean business, like you want to work for them. You know?

SPEAKER_00 27:34

Yeah, for sure. And especially now in the age of technology where a lot of the time uh AI or a computer will scan the resume, they're looking for the keywords in the application, even when it's not an actual person looking at it. It will automatically go through it and you want to make sure that you're hitting all those points.

SPEAKER_01 27:51

Yeah, it's interesting now with AI just like taking over that way too.

SPEAKER_00 27:56

Yeah, for sure. I know that was a huge topic in the 2023 um competition where a lot of the presentations and um different competition areas were all talking about AI and the influence of technology on the skilled trades. And I think that was still a topic in the 2024 Quebec competition as well.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

Oh, yeah. Lebna told me that she had to uh do a public speaking on that and talked about AI.

SPEAKER_00 28:20

So Yeah, I remember we sat down and we got lunch together. Um, we went to go get Poutine in Quebec, and she was talking about that as well, with AI being a huge topic in the public speaking competition area. It's definitely a useful tool, but you need to be careful with how you use it. Um one way that I found it useful when preparing for the competition was asking it to create questions that were relevant to a certain job. Um, so I think one of them was a childcare position, and one of them was working at a zipline park. So being able to customize the questions that you're preparing for that way was really unique.

SPEAKER_01 28:57

That is really good advice to just use AI that way to like really help you train. Cause I feel like, yeah, it is like such a good platform to use to just help you train.

SPEAKER_00 29:06

Yeah, exactly. It's important to be able to access your resources whenever you can. Just like I mentioned with the Youth Employment Center, they were fantastic for just giving me resources for what the standard resume format is and what employees look for in cover letters. They printed out this huge stack for me to go through and compare my resume to. So they were super useful that way. And being able to use technology such as AI for yeah, interview questions and stuff like that is great to practice your own skills and be able to um really make sure that you're sharp for the competition. So yeah, it's good to be able to access those whenever you need help.

SPEAKER_01 29:42

Yeah, it's super helpful. Oh yeah, I was also gonna ask do you also agree that a resume should just be one page?

SPEAKER_00 29:50

Okay, so here's my hot take. My resume for the skills competition was in fact two pages. Um, and that was fine for the competition. But I've been finding in my own personal life, whenever I'm applying online, I've been getting more feedback from employers and getting more like interviews scheduled based on just having a one-page resume. And I think something that has to do with that as well is because computers are scanning them, instead of a person actually going through both pages, it's a lot quicker to just look at one page. Um, so yeah, that's my own personal experience. That being said, a resume is acceptable between one to two pages, but they say to keep it between that amount. But in my personal life, I found that one page has been more successful.

SPEAKER_01 30:39

Yeah, I've I found the same thing. I know before, like I did have two pages, but like, yeah, as you said, employers be like, this is way too long, like it does not need to be this long. You can definitely make a lot of those points a lot shorter. Like, you don't need to explain exactly everything that you did in a job, just the important things that relate to the job that you're applying for.

SPEAKER_00 30:59

For sure. And conciseness is key. Um, and making sure that you're getting all your points across in a short and neat way. But if you need more space, definitely feel free to take it up. But I found more success in just the one-page format.

SPEAKER_01 31:13

Yeah. It's uh yeah, it's definitely good advice. And I mean, either way, you should be able to get a job as long as your resume is good and it's it's concise.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

Do you say that people, I think it's on average, take around like eight seconds to look at your resume in total. So that's why the one-page format may be more effective, especially if people are only looking at it for a super short amount of time. You want to make sure that in that short amount of time they're really blown away and are able to stoke up as much information as possible. So if that means having it all on one page, then there you go.

SPEAKER_01 31:48

Yeah. Yeah, that's really, really good advice. Um yeah. And so cover letters, making sure that they're to the job you're applying to, not like a mass, like this is what everyone's getting as well.

SPEAKER_00 32:02

Yeah. Customization is key when you're making a cover letter. So just like I mentioned, with keeping the keywords from the job application in your resume, that also applies to cover letters. So making sure that you're going through the job application and seeing the qualifications that they want and making sure you're spinning that on your own experience, but still keeping those keywords. So if it says um efficient or communication or stuff like that, you want to make sure that you're keeping those words in your cover letter, also customizing it for the job. So if you're applying to a film production job, you want to make sure that you're highlighting your camera experience or your creative writing experience. Um, versus if you're applying to a childcare job, you want to make sure that you're highlighting your experience with kids and that you have safety experience. So you don't want to just send out a one-size-fits-all cover letter because that's your first impression to the job. They're reading that to get to know you better and your experience. And maybe anything that you can't mention in your resume, you can mention your training qualifications in your cover letter. So really want to make sure that it's concise, but still touches on every single thing that would be relevant to that job that you have experience in.

SPEAKER_01 33:13

Yeah. And I mean, I know cover letters can be a little challenging compared to like a resume, because like you are writing about why that this job should be yours. But it's definitely worth writing correctly and making sure, yeah, like you're using those keywords.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

Definitely. And there's no shame in using the same template, but just making sure that you're customizing the actual information that's in it. Yeah. And especially with making sure that you're customizing the who it's going to in the address at the top. So absolutely make sure that you're double checking that before you submit it, or else you'll have a cover letter that has the information for one, but it's addressed to someone else. So just making sure that even if you get a second set of eyes on it to read over it, it's always helpful. Yeah, because that would be a little awkward. But like person. What? Exactly. You want to make sure that you're showing that you're very detail-oriented and that you are able to look at the small details as opposed to just glossing over them and sending it over.

unknown 34:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:14

It saves you the embarrassment.

SPEAKER_01 34:16

Yeah, for sure. And yeah, like a proofreader and maybe a third proofreader just in case, you know? Just to be extra safe.

SPEAKER_00 34:23

Yeah, just send it around to all your friends and family.

SPEAKER_01 34:26

See, that's what I do. I'm just like, okay, guys, look at this. Okay, it needs to be perfect. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 34:30

I'll send it to the group chat and we'll get the feedback.

SPEAKER_01 34:33

Right. So if you could go back and give yourself advice before your first skills competition, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00 34:42

I think that my greatest advice to myself before my first skills competition is to be yourself. I was really hung up on having a perfectly curated rehearsed answer for every single possible question that they could have asked me in an interview, but that's not realistic. And when they did ask me a question that I wasn't prepared for, I froze up and I had no idea what to say. So really just bringing out your own aspects of yourself and knowing your experience really well. So thinking of anecdotes and stories about times at work or times at school where you had to work on a team or your strengths and weaknesses, and really knowing that about yourself as opposed to trying to prepare for every single possible really specific question versus having a couple stories that would fit multiple categories would have been more useful.

SPEAKER_01 35:30

Yeah. It makes it more comfortable too, because you're just talking about your life experiences and how you grew from them. So I feel like it just makes it way less nerve-wracking if you're just like talking about this time that happened at work, you know?

SPEAKER_00 35:42

Yeah, for sure. Going into skills, um, especially in 2022 when I had no previous experience with it, I was so nervous with interviews and I was so nervous to publicly speak. But really just making sure that you're prepared is what my mom would always tell me. When you're anxious for something, the best way to combat that is to be prepared. So making sure that you know yourself really well and knowing stories that would potentially relate to the job and thinking of your experience that's relevant to the job as opposed to going through super specific interview questions. That being said, interview questions were super helpful, especially with ones that are super common, like strengths and weaknesses or times that you were showing leadership. Um, those are super useful and really test your on-the-spot thinking for speaking uh clearly and communicating clearly. But always making sure that you know yourself first and that you're being open about yourself and um honest about your experience.

SPEAKER_01 36:38

Yeah, that's so important. And yeah, just such great advice. Just be yourself and like it'll be okay. You don't need to rehearse like a bunch of stuff. So exactly.

SPEAKER_00 36:46

And having fun with it. That's something that I wish I um did a little bit more in my first competition. I was so nervous and worried about how they were gonna think about how I dressed, because you have to dress professionally and how I express myself and how I communicate. But really just being calm, being yourself, and just having fun. Like it's such a privilege to be able to participate in that competition and being able to um, I guess, take on a persona because you're applying to a job that um may not exactly match your experience, but you're trying to spin it the best way you can. So yeah, just having fun and being able to project yourself clearly.

SPEAKER_01 37:25

Yeah. I mean, it makes like really great interview practice.

SPEAKER_00 37:29

So Oh, absolutely. Everything that I've learned about being able to answer interview questions in an appropriate method with like stating a situation and then how you approach that situation um for storytelling, even um, was just so useful with skills. So yeah, I use that knowledge every time that I do an interview now, and it's worked pretty well for me.

SPEAKER_01 37:51

So yeah, I mean, that's amazing. Like, I feel like it's something that we don't get enough in high school, is I mean, at all, really, is getting those skills of knowing how to do an interview, knowing what questions to ask, because a lot of people don't have those skills or know what to say. So exactly.

SPEAKER_00 38:07

And that's why skills was such a foundational experience for me. I had like little to no experience with writing resumes or cover letters or interviews. I'd only done a couple interviews, and they were very brief, very basic questions. So having that elevated experience of what an actual job interview looks like and how you're supposed to dress and how you're supposed to act, and um, just being cordial and shaking people's hands and having questions prepared. All of those aspects that you don't really think about when you're from an outsider perspective, and then you're actually there doing the interview. It was just awesome to get that hands-on experience and that in-person practice.

SPEAKER_01 38:45

Yeah, definitely. And one thing too to really know is what questions to ask at the end of an interview. I feel like a lot of people don't know that as well. Like those pivotal questions that end off the interview are are so important to know what to ask.

SPEAKER_00 39:01

One story from the national competition actually was at the end of my interview, before I had the chance to answer questions, every one of the, I guess, markers or the people hosting the competition for job search got up before she asked the questions and said, like, oh, thank you so much for your time. The door is over there. Um, so I think it was a test to see whether it was actually gonna answer their questions and ask questions. So before we actually got up, I said, Hey, can I sit down and ask you guys a couple of questions? And I was able to ask those questions about the fictional job. But yeah, having things prepared is always so crucial for the end of the interview. And even if you don't know exactly what to ask, um, if there's any genuine questions that you have about the job or the posting, is awesome to ask those. But things about the work culture and what it's like at that job or what the day-to-day life in that position looks like are always great questions to ask.

SPEAKER_01 39:58

Yeah, I agree. It's it's good to ask those. And like anything that like might be concerning, like, do I need to travel to this job? Like, is it online? Like, just in case you don't know those other specifics, it's good to ask as well. Exactly. Yeah. And I really like how they did that actually. Like how they were just like, oh, and we're dying the doors over there.

SPEAKER_00 40:16

I know I'm shocked because that never happened in the provincial competitions. And I was like, oh my god, am I not supposed to ask questions? But I made sure to sit them down and yeah, sound them with my own questions.

SPEAKER_01 40:28

They were testing you.

SPEAKER_00 40:29

Exactly. There we go. I passed.

SPEAKER_01 40:31

Yeah. Because um, I've actually had that before where they were just like, okay, bye. Yeah. And it was like hard. I was like, wait, but I have like questions. Like, what do you mean? You're just gonna sit here and ask me all these questions, and I don't, okay. Exactly. It should be a two-way street. Yeah, for sure. I feel like it's really important to ask questions and really show that initiative.

SPEAKER_00 40:52

Yeah, and having three prepared as well is always good. Yeah, three's the lucky number.

SPEAKER_01 40:56

Yeah, for sure. Do you have any other advice for people who are looking to compete in job search?

SPEAKER_00 41:03

Yeah, my number one advice for people looking to compete in job search would just be confident. Something that I struggled with even in the national competition. The first day was all dedicated to document creation. So the resumes and cover letters and the presentation. So I was feeling pretty good about that. And I was able to take my time throughout the entire day. And then the second day came to actually presenting that information and doing the interview and the um presentation. And I was just so nervous. During the provincial competition, I was so confident. I felt great. And I felt very low stakes because it was just for fun and I was having a great time. Then when you get to the national competition, there is that pressure that you got that far and you want to do well and succeed. Um, and I was just like a nervous wreck the morning off. But Brendan McDermott, my mentor, was so great with helping me calm down. I was able to run through my presentation a few more times and really just reminding myself that like I'm here for a reason. I made it this far because I am knowledgeable in this area. And just be confident in yourself. You know, they want you to succeed. The employees are looking for the best person for the job and they want it to be you. So just making sure that you present yourself clearly and just know that you are the person that's best for this job and presenting yourself like that.

SPEAKER_01 42:26

Yeah, that's amazing advice. Just be like, I got this. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 42:30

And do whatever makes you feel confident. In the provincial and national competition, I wore my favorite job search outfit. So I have my favorite blouse and my favorite pair of dress pants. And I did my hair in a way I liked that made me feel good about myself and made me feel like I want to present myself this way. So do what you can to make your hype yourself up.

SPEAKER_01 42:50

Yeah. Lovel was the same way. She's like, no, I just put a good outfit on and I'm ready. That's all that's all you need sometimes. It's just a nice outfit. You did all your hair, your makeup, like you're ready.

SPEAKER_00 43:01

Yeah. There's only so much you can do with preparation. And once you reach that limit with feeling prepared, like you just need to do what you can with yourself. And if that means putting on your favorite shirt, that means putting on your favorite shirt.

SPEAKER_01 43:12

Yeah. Or even doing some breathing exercises, whatever, like helps you come to a calm so you can start. And then once you start, it's it's all good. Exactly. So I know you're not really sure where you see your career going, but how do you hope to continue advocating for skill development?

SPEAKER_00 43:30

Yeah, at the current moment, I know that I want to end up somewhere in communications. And being able to study those skills in school has been pivotal in continuing with my alumni involvement with Skills Alberta, um, especially being on the youth assembly. It was so great to be able to come back, not competing, but still involved within Skills Alberta. And I want to continue with the Skilled Alumni Group of Alberta as much as I can. I recommend for anybody who has competed with Skills Alberta to join the group. They have an awesome LinkedIn page where people are sharing career advice as well as career opportunities. And we get a newsletter that has volunteer opportunities, career opportunities, as well as just really fun stuff such as newbie get-togethers or just really fun stuff at the provincial competitions where there's get-togethers for alumni. So just being involved with that and being able to advocate for skill development through being an alumni has just been such a great experience. And I hope to continue with that. Especially at the national competition in Quebec, I was able to talk with Jacob from the National Alumni Committee. And though it was very brief because we were all very busy and running around, um he gave me some great insight with what it means to be an advocate for skill development as an alumni and how important that is and crucial in being able to mentor people who aren't exactly sure what skills is or whether they want to be involved with skills, or people who are and want to continue with skills. So yeah, it's just been such an awesome experience being an alumni and even being able to be on this podcast has been great to continue to advocate for skill development. So that's something I want to continue to do in the future.

SPEAKER_01 45:07

Yeah, it's amazing. I feel like it's such an amazing community to be a part of because we're like growing and learning from each other. And yeah, it's an amazing experience.

SPEAKER_00 45:15

Yeah, especially with everybody in different areas. Like there's no one person that has had the same experience with skills as someone else. And with people in all different competition areas, you get different perspectives from people. Um, so yeah, it's just been such an awesome community to be a part of. And I've made so many friends that I still talk to from the competitions. And it's been great to be a part of the alumni community after I've finished my time competing.

SPEAKER_01 45:39

Yeah, it's it's such a cool experience. Yeah, absolutely. Did you have any final thoughts or messages you you'd like to share with listeners?

SPEAKER_00 45:49

I would definitely say get involved with skills, especially job search. If it's something that you've been thinking about or maybe toying with the idea of doing, definitely just go for it. If you think that the skills that you have don't exactly match the competition area or you're just interested in it, do it anyways. With job search, I had very little experience with the actual job search process, but I was able to grow and develop those skills through competing with Stillbalberta. So just absolutely go for it and don't be afraid. Just have that confidence in yourself and know that you'll become better as a result of your trying to compete in this area, or even just developing those skills along the way and meeting new people. It'll make you a better person because of it. So yeah, just go for it.

SPEAKER_01 46:35

Yeah. I mean, it's just so worth it. And what a cool community to be a part of.

SPEAKER_00 46:39

So exactly. And it's just a great experience to reflect on, even if you weren't as successful or if you were amazingly successful. The experience overall is just such an amazing one. So I'd recommend it to everyone.

SPEAKER_01 46:53

Amazing, yeah. And our last question, what was your favorite thing about the competition?

SPEAKER_00 46:59

I think my favorite thing about the competition overall was just meeting so many people, especially when you get to the national level and there's people you would have never met otherwise. Meeting people from all across the provinces or even all across Alberta was just such a pleasure. And being able to develop my skill at the same time was just the cherry on the cake. It was awesome.

SPEAKER_01 47:19

Amazing. Well, thank you so much for sharing your skill story. That was incredible. Thank you so much for having me. I had a great time. Of course. All right. Well, thank you everyone for tuning in, and we'll see you in the next one. Thanks again for tuning in. We hope you enjoyed today's episode and gained some valuable insights from our amazing guests. If you'd like to learn more about Skills Canada, Alberta and our wide range of programs, be sure to check out our website at skillsalberta.com. From bringing skills right to your classroom to taking part in our competition programming, there are countless ways to get involved. And don't forget to follow us on social media at SkillsAlberta to stay up to date on our latest episodes and events. See you in the next one!