Apr. 14, 2024: I attended these interviews in Oct. 2023.
The Auto Parts Store: My dad drove me here.
Pros:
1. This takes 2 buses to get there.
2. The hours are day time like Mon.- Fri. 9am-6pm. There are Sat. like 9am-4pm.
3. The pay is $17/ hr. Full-time, permanent. Medical and dental benefits.
4. The duties selling car parts. You have to know the engine size and cars.
There is dealing with customers at the store and on the phone.
There is the computer system.
Cons:
1. This seems too hard and a lot to learn about car parts.
My opinion: I'm not really that interested in cars or car parts, and working there.
The Immigration Office:
Pros:
1. This was in the west end and 2 buses to get there.
2. The hours are 10am-6pm. Full- time, permanent.
3. The pay is $18-20/hr.
4. The duties are oath commissioners, permanent immigration, temporary residence, and finger printing. I give information to clients about this.
Cons:
1. This seems hard because there is a lot to learn about immigration.
My opinion: I would work here if I got hired.
I attended these interviews in Nov. 2023:
The Gastroenterology Office: Gastroenterology is about the stomach, liver, and organs in the digestive system.
Pros:
1. This is 2 buses to get there.
2. The hours are 8am-4pm.
3. The pay is $25/ hr. No benefits.
4. The duties are data entry. Dragon Medical computer system which is speech to text. There is medical knowledge.
The terms are gastroscopy and coloscopy.
There are general practitioners who are doctors.
The specialists get paid way higher.
There is a lot of data entry, and sending letters. You have make medical charts.
Cons:
1. This seems very hard because I have to learn all about medical knowledge and terms. There seems to be a big workload.
2. This seems stressful because these are about people and their medical conditions.
If you read the above interviews where I don't know a lot about car parts or immigration, it's not that stressful.
My opinion: I wouldn't work there because it's too hard. The admin assistant was nice and warm.
The Health Equipment Store: This is a phone interview.
Pros:
1. There is 2 buses to get there. 1 hr ride.
2. The hours are Mon.- Fri. 8am- 4:30pm.
3. The pay is $16-19/hr.
4. The duties are to sell health equipment like wheelchairs and bed and bath equipment for homes
This is reception and customer service.
Cons:
1. This is selling health equipment and I don't find this interesting.
My opinion: I was neutral about working here.
Apr. 15, 2024 The Marketing and Fundraising Company: The interview was in this office where companies rent temporary office space. I have been to this office a few times for interviews.
Pros:
1. The hours can be full- time or part- time.
2. The pay is $41, 600/ yr. There commissions and cash bonuses.
3. The hours are 12:30 -8:30pm.
4.The duties are sales and customer service. This is going to businesses and getting them to donate to our cause. Donor acquisitions. The events are at convention centres.
There is telemarketing.
Cons:
1. This is mainly telemarketing, and fundraising. I have worked at 3 telemarketing jobs and I never sold the tickets or ad space in a magazine.
I worked at Call Centre #5 for 2 days and raised money like $75, but I was let go. That's okay, because I disliked the job.
My opinion: I wouldn't work here because I'm not going to be good at telemarketing.
The Magazine Telemarketer Company:
Pros:
1. There is a bus and an LRT.
2. The hours are 8am-4pm.
3. The pay is $17/hr.
4. I don't have to look for leads/ phone numbers to call. I call businesses and sell ad space to them.
There are other contracts like charities, ticket sales.
If the boss fires you, you get paid,
If you quit, you don't get paid.
Cons:
1. This is telemarketing and that's hard for me. You have to sell $700 a day which is the sales goal.
My opinion: I wouldn't work here because I won't be good at telemarketing.
This is in Dec. 2023.
The Injury Rehab Clinic: This was a Zoom interview.
Pros:
1. There are 2 buses to get there.
2. The hours are 8am-8pm. This is part- time.
3. The pay is $16.50/ hr. A free massage a month.
4. The job is a patient experience coordinator (receptionist). There is dealing with clients, prioritizing, and attention to detail.
Cons: none.
My opinion: I would work here.
Red Arrow: There is only 1 big bus station company here. I'm not going to write anything negative about them.
Pros:
1. There are 2 locations. I can get to downtown and the southside.
2. The hours are Mon- Sun. 7:30am-6:30pm. This is part- time can be 16-30/ hrs a week.
3. The pay is $17/hr.
4. The duties are taking payments, customer service, and shoveling snow.
Cons:
1. The downtown location can be unsafe. There is a office with protective glass. There are people who are angry. They can be high and drunk, and there is a no intoxication policy to ride the bus.
My opinion: A workplace not being safe is a big con to not work there.
The Physiotherapy Clinic:
Pros:
1. This was 1 bus to get to.
2. The hours are Mon- Fri. 1-9pm.
3. The pay is $16.50- 17/hr.
4. This is a receptionist position. I would check in and check out the patients. Data entry, faxing, emails, scanning forms, and billing.
There is customer service.
There is 2 weeks of training.
You have to wear scrubs.
This is a big office with 20 staff members. There are physiotherapists, occupational assistants who help people with cancer, fractures, exercise, and cognitive rehab.
Cons:
1. This seems hard with a lot of work and it's fast- paced.
My opinion: I would work here.
The Ice Cream Place: I attended this interview in Mar. 2024. I have attended 2 interviews here over the years.
Pros:
1. This was very close by. 1 bus.
2. The hours are Thurs.- Sun. Thurs. and Fri. 4-10:30pm. Sat. and Sun. all day. This is 20hr/ week.
3. The pay is $15/ hr. The discount is 50% off.
4. I would be in the kitchen cooking.
Cons:
1, This is a mild con. Even though the shift ends at 10:30pm, and I have to take the bus, this is a short ride.
My opinion: I would work here.
Apr. 16, 2024 Appointment setter jobs: This is where you call people to set up appointments so a sales person can come by the customer's house and give free quotes.
If you have to look for leads/ phone numbers to call, that's hard.
If the company gives you phone numbers to call, I still find this hard.
The companies:
1. Wildrose Water Systems
2. CleanNet Canada
3. Biz Plan World.
4. Stratus Building Solutions
5. Indoor Clean Air Services
"Employers offering 'work from anywhere' weeks to give staff a break from return-to-office push"/ "The pandemic didn't kill the office, it was already dying"
"2 out of 3 banks offer workers some flexibility despite return-to-office push"/ "Even Zoom is calling employees back to the office as remote work era ends"
As the month-long boycott of Loblaw-owned stores wears on, small independent food retailers and alternative grocery options say they’re seeing a boost in traffic and sales.
At Forage Market in Edmonton, sales rose 57 per cent during the first half of May, compared with the same period a month before.
“It's just awesome that people are actually putting thought behind where their food comes from,” said business manager Courtney Hanak.
Forage Market is like an online farmers market: it hosts local vendors selling meat, produce and more, and warehouses their products so customers receive everything they order in one shipment.
The boost in sales could help Forage act on its plans to expand to Calgary sooner, said Hanak.
Thurs. May 23, 2024 "Canada 7th in foreign aid spending, but a fifth goes to refugees inside the country": Today I found this article by Dylan Roberston on BNN Bloomberg:
While Canada is one of the top contributors to foreign aid among some of the world's richest countries, a fifth of the spending never leaves Canada's borders.
Some 19 per cent of Canada's aid reported to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development last year benefited refugees and Ukrainians within Canada.
"Most Canadians would not think that counts, because when we think of foreign aid we think of something happening in other countries, not costs that we have here," said Elise Legault, Canada director with the One Campaign, an anti-poverty advocacy group.
Canada ranks seventh for dollars spent on foreign aid, according to the OECD, a group of mostly rich countries.
Last month, the organization released its analysis of aid spending in 2023.
It shows Canada spent just over US$8 billion in aid last year, of which $1.5 billion went to supporting refugees, asylum claimants and Ukrainians who fled the Russian invasion, during their first year in Canada.
University of Ottawa professor Christina Clark-Kazak argued that combining them makes a certain amount of sense. She specializes in migration and development policy.
"Whether we're helping a refugee in a refugee camp or helping them in Canada, it's still money that's being spent on non-Canadians," she said.
