3: Job Bank

Job Bank is a federal platform that combines job postings with labour market information tied to the NOC. It is often the most accessible starting point for clients because it packages multiple types of formal LMI in one place.

Three areas of Job Bank provide a wealth of useful formal LMI in only a few clicks.

Explore an Occupation

Search different occupations nationally or by specific location typical role descriptions, requirements, median wages, required competencies (skills and personal attributes), and job prospect outlook based on current labour market trends.

Explore the Market

Search different professions to see current trends by wages and prospects for specific occupations.

Find a Job

Search by job title and geographic location to find current job postings.

These three sections of Job Bank provide both CDPs and clients with simple, user-friendly ways to quickly gather information.

Imagine that you are supporting a new client, Nora. Nora is a single mother who lives in the Ottawa region. She has spent her career working as a bank teller. She stayed with it for the steady income until her daughter finished university. Nora completed an undergraduate degree in fine arts over 20 years ago and loves to paint. Now that her daughter is grown, Nora wants to leave banking behind and work in a field that allows her to exercise her creativity, is not computer-based, and has more flexible hours.

Nora has a long list of possible occupations that might bring her more meaning and joy, including:

  • Curating for a local museum or art gallery
  • Working as an esthetician or makeup artist
  • Teaching beginner or immediate art classes
Nora knows she lacks direct experience in these occupations and is worried she won’t find any work at all if she leaves her steady job at the bank. She is looking for guidance on how to gather information to get a better sense of the job prospects, expected wages, and any additional training or education requirements she would need to successfully find and secure more creative, flexible, and joyful work. She is also considering moving to a different city or province if it will mean a path to a happier future with better work-life balance.

Help Nora find reliable information to inform her decision using the three main tools from Job Bank.

Explore an Occupation

  1. Go to Explore an Occupation.
  2. Enter one of the occupations Nora is considering (curator,
    esthetician, art teacher) and her city (Ottawa, ON).
  3. Notice the different sections provided in the results. These include:
    • Description of what the role typically involves
    • Typical educational and training requirements
    • Median wages
    • Prospect outlook
    • Current postings for roles in the area
    • Typical required competencies
  4. Explore insights about the occupation by clicking the buttons under each section.

Click Learn More under the Role Description for a more granular look at typical responsibilities, related job titles, and similar occupations. This can open the lens to considering job titles that are parallel and where skills are often similar and transferable.

Click View Job Requirements under Education for details on typical requirements, including degrees, diplomas, certifications, and licensing.

Click View Wages in the Wages sections for the prevailing low, median and high ranges for hourly wages associated with the occupation.

Click View Prospects for the trends over recent years as well as the outlook for the immediate future.

Click View Jobs for a list of any current roles posted to Job Bank that are hiring for an associated role.

Click View Competencies for a list of both the major skills and personal attributes that are typically sought for that occupation.

In only a few clicks and searches, a lot of information is surfaced quickly. This provides you insights as the CPD to help guide your client.

Explore an Occupation is freely available to everyone – as are all sections of the Job Bank covered in this course. You can demonstrate the tool to Nora (or any client!) so they too can explore and research their own areas of interest.

Explore the Market

This section of Job Bank is particularly useful to get a national snapshot of wages and outlooks across provinces and regions. Nora mentioned she is open to relocating. Explore the Market can provide insights across different parts of Canada.

See how you could guide Nora to this information.

  1. Go to Explore the Market.
  2. Select By Wages or By Outlook under the dropdown.
  3. Enter one of the job titles for roles Nora is considering (curator, esthetician, art teacher).
  4. Scroll down the page of your search results to see information by province and region.

Explore the Market provides a quick path to finding valuable data from across Canada about the trending outlook for specific occupations and the current landscape of wages.

Find a Job

This is the Job Search engine of Job Bank. In this section, all current postings to Job Bank for roles across Canada can be found. Users can filter for postings that are local, provincial, or national.

Explore how you could support Nora by seeing what roles are currently posted for her areas of interest.

  1. Go to Find a Job.
  2. Enter one of the job titles for roles Nora is considering (curator, esthetician, art teacher).
  3. Add her city (Ottawa, ON) for the first search.
  4. After reviewing results for Ottawa, search a second time for all of Canada to compare the results.
Each job posting will typically state the location of work and the expected hourly wage. This is very useful tool both for looking locally for job opportunities and to get a sense of the overall demand for professionals in that field across different parts of the country.

These three major tools in Job Bank are accessible both to CDPs and to their clients. You can use these resources to quickly inform yourself as you work with individuals on their work goals and as a resource you can introduce to your clients to that empowers them to further their own research, exploration, and confidence in making informed career decisions. Job Bank forms an important part of the formal LMI toolkit for CDPs.

Click the Mark Complete button to continue.

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