Simon Fraser University
Career and Volunteer Services
Simon Fraser University was ranked as Canada’s top comprehensive university by Simon Fraser University Career and Volunteer ServicesMaclean’s magazine in 2018. SFU’s Career and Volunteer Services has received multiple national honours and was recognized as the Career Development Organization of the Year by the BC Career Development Association (2018)
Challenge
Career and Volunteer Services was undergoing a period of reinvention and was looking for methods and approaches to career support that reflected its newfound philosophical and theoretical perspectives. The centre was also hoping to increase the consistency with which professional staff provided this support.
Solution
OneLifeTools was invited to SFU in 2012 to train SFU Career and Volunteer Services staff in a narrative method of practice that transformed the centre’s approach to student career exploration. Since then staff have been trained in the Who You Are Matters! game experience and were early adopters of the Online Storyteller.
The Online Storyteller continues to be heavily used in one-to-one appointments. Recently, we've piloted a few group sessions for current students and alumni. The Who You Are Matters! discovery experience has been incorporated successfully in a number of events with university partners that were designed to improve student intentionality around their university experience. Participants range from those in their first semester to those wrapping up a PhD. In addition, Who You Are Matters! is included in training and team building for a number of volunteer student roles at the university, including Career and Volunteer Services' Career Peer Educator Program.
Used successfully with students from first semester to those wrapping up a PhD to improve intentionality around their university experience.
- Tony Botelho, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Director, Career & Volunteer Services
Results
SFU Career and Volunteer Services staff now have a clearer and more consistent method of working with students and alumni. They are also more confident in working with individuals who lack clarity or who struggle to identify future possibilities. The training has also simplified the onboarding of new staff.
From a student perspective, an increase in clarity has been witnessed as students better understand the interconnectedness of the different parts of their career journey. An increase in the likelihood of engaging in the actions the students have identified has also been witnessed.
