Employment & Careers

In the career world, there are myriad choices - that is, if you do the sensible thing, and go to school, get training or a degree and follow a conventional career path. But not all of us are so fortunate, and sometimes we have to take what we can get.

And in the annals of employment choices, we have to say these jobs are some of the ickiest.

Take the self-explanatory chicken sexer. Staring at the genitals of decidedly cute and fluffy baby chicks can't be very satisfying after a few hours, let alone a few months. But people do it. Let's face it, in this world of high unemployment, some of us have little choice.

Have a peek at some of these jobs that we found on employment sites. Click on the photo below to find out what you could be doing for a living, but only if you really had to...

The world is going down in a wheelbarrow and there's no turning it back. Thus accepted wisdom, supported – until very recently – by what was called scientific evidence.

Turns out this evidence has been as suspect as the evidence of global warming had been.

Cognitive reserve and lifestyle, a study by Nikolaos Scarmeas, Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology at the Columbia University, and Yaakov Stern,Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology in the Departments of Neurology, Psychiatry, and Psychology, published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, reveals some perfectly shocking news.

As we age, we're not getting dumber. The opposite is true, in fact. This finding might turn the labour market upside down, triggering an avalanche of economic implications.

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When it came to the squared-circle "Heavy Metal" Ric Savage could never quite equal the heights achieved by that other Savage we all know and love. Sure, he wrestled for well-known promotions like ECW and WCW, but he admits it wasn't really his true passion. "I was big and I could talk well, so I was able to get some little pushes here and there, but I never really made it that far. I wasn't a superstar or anything."

Good thing too, because eventually the road took its toll and after various concussions, reconstructive knee surgery and three back surgeries, it was time to find something else to do. Enter Savage's true passion, American history. "My dream was to be a college history professor," says Savage. Instead, he began collecting relics and meeting people who metal detect and do the same.

"No matter how you slice it, it's treasure hunting," says Savage. "There's really nothing like getting your hands dirty, digging down and seeing what you've got. You get hooked, and once you get hooked on it, that's it."

Now, he runs the top artifact recovery company in the country -- American Savage -- leading a team that includes recovery expert Rue Shumate, battlefield historian Bob Buttafuso, Savage's wife Rita (who manages the business and sources leads for digging) and their 25-year-old son Giuseppe (who is their resident tech expert and acts as the muscle for the operation). They tour neighbourhoods known to be built on former battlefields or towns of the old west and go door-to-door asking residents permission to dig on their private property in hopes of finding valuable relics that they can sell and then split the proceeds with the landowner.

Related Links:

• Picking the Brains of the 'American Pickers'
• 'Auction Hunters' Roll the Dice on Storage Units for a Big Payday
• Flipping Foreclosed Homes for Fast Cash on Spike TV's 'Flip Men'

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How long has it been since you've invested in yourself? It's easy to get caught up in investing for retirement but one of the best investments is in continuing education because you control the return. The harder you work the more the investment will pay off (and out). Here are some classes to consider that don't cost much but could be a huge benefit to your financial situation.

Financial Management
What better way to improve your fiscal fitness than understanding the ins and outs of money management. Many colleges have basic accounting courses you can take at night. You could also look into Credit Canada's Financial Coaching Series, which involves six sessions of basic financial coaching (each session costs $120 or you can attend all six for $600). This would be more personal than a basic college course since you're assigned a finance coach who will analyze your own situation and help you explore your own goals and beliefs about debt, credit and your financial future.

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It's no secret that with the weak economy, job growth has stagnated in Canada. A recent report from Statistics Canada shows that there has been minimal job growth over the past year, with a 0.7 per cent rise across all sectors. British Columbia, Alberta and Prince Edward Island were the only provinces to see job growth of over one per cent while employment was on the decline in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.

With so few gains being made, and a lot of Canadians looking for employment, it begs the question, if there are any jobs, where are they? Depending on where you live in Canada, the job prospects may differ.

Let's break it down by province. Click below to launch the gallery or continue reading below:








Western Canada
British Columbia saw gains in the utilities and natural resources sectors as well as in construction, transportation and warehousing industries (the latter of which means there has been job growth in the areas of air and rail transport, trucking, postal services and in storage facilities).

Don't call it a comeback, they've been here for years.

Yes, food trucks have been serving treats on the streets in North America ever since westward expansion following the American Civil War saw Texas cattlemen travel to New Mexico and through the Canadian prairies supplying meat to the pioneers. But while cattleman were traveling day and night across the continent to feed the settlers, no one was feeding them -- that is, until a man named Charles Goodnight came along in 1866 and invented the first food truck, the chuckwagon.

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Recently New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman declared the end of the average worker.
"In the past, workers with average skills, doing an average job, could earn an average lifestyle," he writes. "But, today, average is officially over."

Friedman blames the innovation of technology and cheap foreign labour as causes for the depleted options for those seeking stability.

Adding to the uncertainty is a recent Statistics Canada report that says employment in Canada has greatly stalled since last summer and the unemployment rate has risen.
Diminishing options and a soft economy are giving Canadians greater reason to value their current jobs. So forget average - here are 10 ways you can stand out as an extraordinary employee at work.

PHOTO GALLERY: (Click on image or continue reading story below)

1. Focus on Speaking or Leading
Even if you'd rather drink castor oil than speak publicly, volunteer to lead the odd meeting if your manager is unable to do it or find reasons to speak in front of a group the odd time at work to show you have leadership abilities.
When I was just out of university and working a temp job at a company in London, England, I volunteered to give my team's update at a company meeting which lead to a few pats on the back and other people in the company becoming familiar with who I was.

Whether we acknowledge it or not, many parts of our lives are influenced by Hollywood, including what we wear, what we say and where we travel.


But dig a bit deeper and the movies can offer us some more substantial insights, including work and career lessons. With the Oscar's upon us (February 26th), here are some tips from a few of this year's contenders on how to make your work life more meaningful.


Click on the image below for Oscar-worthy career lessons:




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The Artist, directed by Michel Hazanavicius
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay (among others)
Plot synopsis: This black and white film follows french actor Jean Dujardin (nominated for Best Actor) as Hollywood silent picture star George Valentin who resists moving into the era of the talkies and endures hardship as a result.
Lesson Learned: There are second acts. If you're not finding fulfillment in your current role, leverage your strongest skills and pursue a job that might suit you better. It may take re-training and will likely be humbling but will be well worth it. (SPOILER ALERT!) It took great inner courage (and a deflated ego) for Valentin to accept he had to change with the times, but when he did he found a new niche built on his old skills.

You are what you wear, the old saying goes. While, of course, that's not exactly true, how you dress conveys an important message about yourself. That message is particularly important at work where not it's not just your memos and your bright ideas that are being judged. With the Grammy's behind us and the Oscar's almost here (February 26th), it's a perfect opportunity to appreciate the important role style plays in conveying one's brand. As hard as it may be to believe, the red carpet is actually the celebrity's workplace and they don't spend tens of thousands of dollars on stylists and designers for nothing. Here are some celebrity examples of how style can reinforce one's personal and professional brand.

To view the gallery, click on the pictures below. Story continues below.



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Lady Gaga -- Confident
You know you're great -- maybe even better than all of your colleagues combined. Take some cues from Lady Gaga and you'll be booking squash courts with the boss in no time (where you'll crush her or him). Always daring, at the Grammy's Lady Gaga wore a custom Chanel ensemble, her face covered in fishnet. Although not many jobs call for fishnet, you could add some splash to your wardrobe by donning tights with interesting detail or a bright hooded scarf for on your way to work which at the office could then be worn around your neck. Don't go too far though lest you be known as the office weirdo.
Where to get the look for less: Betsey Johnson often has great deals (check the sales rack) on unique pieces you could get away with at the office. Also, the sales racks at Holt Renfrew are full of shirts, skirts and scarves only a diva could wear. (Be sure it fits in with your office "code" though and isn't something you'll only wear in the change room).

When we last left "The Other Four", Aidan Nulman and Yulin Zhang had fought their way back into The Next 36, a entrepreneurial incubator that offers each team $50,000 to develop, research, market and test a business spawned from a mobile application. Plus, mentorship and investment capital the likes of which most start-ups can only dream of. Against all odds, and with the help of their newest recruits, Krista Caldwell and Mindy Lau, they had an opportunity to turn The Next 36 into The Next 40 in the very first year of the program.

They'd won the chance to come back after being rejected during the selection process by flipping the four co-founders' own words and using them against the program. They'd positioned the selected 36 as the market leaders, while they took the position of the eager and scrappy competition ready to knock these leaders off their pedestal the moment their concentration broke.

Determined to simulate the real world for the 36 and challenge them as the real corporate world would, the founders realized The Other Four had a point. After all, what better competition than a group of four working in secret, without the program's help, building businesses at least on par with those who already have the honour of being called The Next 36?

But what exactly were the other four bringing to the table? It remained to be seen whether their idea would earn them a place back among the elite of Canadian universities and that's where we pick up our story...