Let’s explore some of the city’s biggest improvements and landmarks in recent history:

The Marine Building at 355 Burrard Street:

In the heart of downtown Vancouver, the Marine Building is a city landmark and an architectural icon. It was built during the depression and still contains most of its original structure, both on the exterior and interior of the building.

The Central Public Library Downtown:

This young development in Vancouver has sparked conflict and debate. The general public seem to love this Roman Coliseum-themed structure, while Architects in Vancouver and across the country argue that the look and feel do not suit the west coast. In their opinion the building “thumbs its nose” at the rest of the city and its downtown core.

The Canada Line:

Built only a few years ago, the Canada Line is one of Vancouver’s newest prize possessions in transportation. Connecting the Airport to the downtown core in a quick 16 minute commute, it is the most significant advancement in infrastructure this city has seen in the past 30 – 40 years. The Canada Line piggybacked on the Vancouver 2010 Olympic development project and was a development the city wanted complete well before the games started.

South Main Street District:

Vancouver hasn’t only developed infrastructure and architecture, the development and popularity of new neighborhoods have also come to light in the past 5 – 10 years. The most recent and influential is the South Main street district. From 16^th and Main down to Broadway an abundance of local businesses, modern apartment buildings, and entertainment establishments have sprung up in waves. The city plans to continue to develop this area further and most of the older structures in this district are being replaced with more modern developments.

Wages:

Professionals in the Resident Care Attendant field can expect to earn starting wages ranging from $14 to $20 per hour depending on the specialization of the facility in which they are employed. There are similarities in compensation on the private and public sides of the industry although the public sector generally has a higher financial ceiling for professionals with 5 – 10 years of experience. Wage rates are expected to increase or stay at their current levels as the short term industry outlook for Resident Care Attendants looks promising.

Outlook:

The number of jobs in healthcare has fluctuated recently, although it is projected by a wide range of industry employment experts that career opportunities and hiring in this field will ramp up significantly later in 2012 and well into 2014. For professionals looking to make a career in this field, it is a well advised time to pursue a diploma in healthcare as an RCA professional from Brighton College to help you on your way. Employment opportunities in this industry are predicted to receive a significant boost in the near future.

Job Titles:

Careers in Healthcare and specifically Resident Care Attendant roles can be found in these facilities:

• Residential Care Facilities
• Group Homes
• Palliative Care Facilities
• Elderly Care Facilities
• Long Term Care Facilities
• Hospice Care
• Respite Care

Skills Required:

For professionals in the healthcare industry looking to progress their careers forward into higher levels of compensation and responsibility, there are a variety of required skills that can prove useful and essential. A diploma in healthcare is a requirement for employment in all healthcare facilities across Vancouver and the province as a whole. Strong communication and social skills are strongly recommended when pursuing a career as an Resident Care Attendant.

Wages:

Entry level wages in the Civil Infrastructure Design industry are some of the highest entry level wages among any industry in Vancouver. Students who graduate from Brighton College’s Civil Infrastructure Design diploma program can expect to receive entry level hourly wages from $24 – $26 on the lower end, to almost $31 – $33 per hour at the higher end of the spectrum. Wage rates in civil infrastructure and engineering positions generally increase incrementally every year with larger gains coming at the 5 and 10 year experience marks.

Outlook:

Across B.C. there are new developments, rapid expansions, and city wide improvement projects happening and initiating every day. The province is growing and in an effort to support this growth, it is projected that the civil infrastructure industry will find itself short of professional and qualified employees. Civil engineering graduates will be in high demand to fill these roles. In the next 5 – 10 years, job opportunities in this sector are expected to trend steadily upwards.

Job Titles:

If you’re looking for careers in Civil Infrastructure Design, you’ll most likely come across these roles in your hunt:

• Construction Site Coordinator
• Construction Site Technician
• Civil Draftsman
• Construction Project Estimator
• Surveyor or Assistant Surveyor
• Construction Plan Checker
• Civil Engineer
• & More

Skills Required:

The civil engineering field is highly technical and requires recognized industry certification that provides graduates entering employment with a foundation of skills covering drafting, construction, estimation, and engineering. Problem solving, prioritization, and efficient and accurate task management are also very valuable qualities to possess if you’re looking for a career in civil engineering.

The Good and the Bad of Facebook Timeline:

The Good:

• Cover Photos
  • This large rectangular space at the top of your profile can make a large impact if used correctly. Individual Facebook users can now place a very dramatic and eye catching image to represent themselves to others, while businesses have a great new feature spot to include something that is creative to successfully brand their social media profile.
  • The Wall
    • You essentially have two columns of a wall now, creating more space for wall posts, status updates, photos, videos, and other boxes and applications from your profile. For businesses this can be additionally useful by having double the space for all of your updates.
    • With the expansion of the Facebook wall area, you’ll now notice there is a more prominent box and location for your Facebook likes. For individuals, this provides more exposure for your interests while for businesses it can really help visitors see which other businesses and recognized brands you are associated with and interested in.
    • The History
      • Facebook’s new timeline layout has retrieved all of your previous status updates, pictures, wall conversations, and anything else you did on Facebook ever since it was created – and makes it easily accessible for you or for users by organizing those items by year. For businesses, this can be helpful if a customer is trying to find a previous promotion, contest, sale or product you carried a few years back. You’ll probably see this in “The Bad” area too, read on to find out why.

The Bad:

• The History
  • I told you this would be down here as well. What if you don’t really want anyone seeing your past? What if the comments you made in 2006 are not exactly a great reflection of who you are today? Well, you can limit it, but you’ll need to remember to do this on your own when converting over to timeline, because Facebook won’t tell you to do so.
  • The Privacy Settings
    • Privacy is a major concern for some people on Facebook, and their new Timeline layout can have some holes in it if you’re not careful. The settings can accomplish what they did on the previous layout of Facebook, but it’s a little more convoluted to set up. The amount of time required to set up privacy settings on the new Timeline layout are definitely a downside, and restricting access for certain users to certain pieces of content about yourself is a little more time consuming.

Career Focused Education:

The certification available from Ciffa is obtained in two parts.  The beginner’s certificate from Ciffa is achieved through the successful completion of the International transportation and trade program and the Essentials of Freight Forwarding program.  The advanced certificate is achieved through the Specialized Freight Services Program and the Supply Chain Management and Marketing Program.  These four courses and the two certifications allow the student to go on and obtain the PFF (Professional Freight Forwarders) designation and/or the FIATA diploma.  These certifications are recognized throughout many countries in the world.  Our students have a very high rate of success in seeking employment through a targeted job search method tailored directly for this industry.  Many of our partnering employers have continued to hire our students to fill jobs created by their expanding needs.

We offer these courses in a full-time format where the student entering the program can finish each course in as little as 2 weeks with the highest success rate for any school in Canada.  One month later they can obtain their beginner’s certificate and be in the market seeking valuable employment.  Other students will continue with the program for the third and fourth courses and obtain an advanced certificate as well.  This will provide them access to a professional designation (FIATA diploma and/or PFF).  These advanced designations make them even more valuable to companies seeking certified employees with the skills and knowledge needed for success in this ever-changing industry. The  courses are as follows:

International Transportation and Trade Program

Description:
This program introduces the student to air, ocean, truck and rail transportation and to the world geography over which goods move. Incoterms 2010® outlines the transfer of cost and risk to these goods as they are transported from Seller to Buyer.

Essentials of Freight Forwarding Program

Description:

Understanding how buyers and sellers manage risk with a variety of international payments, cargo insurance, properly completed commercial documents and export packaging leads students to where they can offer alternative solutions to their clients. This program concludes with professional costing and quoting.

Specialized Freight Services Program

Description:

Moving beyond the ordinary, Specialized Freight Services explores the details of marine cargo, project cargoes and chartering vessels or aircraft.  Regulatory compliance is emphasized in an in depth discussion of Customs while transportation law and legal liability are addressed through International Conventions and CIFFA’s Standard Trading Conditions.

Supply Chain Management and Marketing Program

Description:

This introduction to Logistics and Supply Chain Management concepts includes discussions on Technology and the increasingly important Green Logistics, as well as the basic concepts of Sales and Marketing.

About CIFFA – www.ciffa.com

The Canadian International Freight Forwarders association represents 251 member firms (Livingston, Kuhn and Nagel, DHL Global etc) and provides them with Education services on a vast array of topics. The CIFFA certificate is highly recognized by these members.

Number of Classes:

Everyone wants to complete their studies on time, but overloading yourself with classes can be detrimental to your overall success. It’s important to try and register for a class load that is challenging, yet realistic. Having too many classes can leave you without a sufficient amount of time to complete your necessary assignments, study for tests, and do homework. Although on the other hand, not having enough classes can sometimes lead to a lack of motivation, so it’s good to balance out somewhere in the middle.

Planning Your Breaks:

Students see breaks in their timetables one of two ways, they can be seen as periods of relaxation, where you stop focusing on school, get away from your books and refuel for the rest of your day, or they can be long stretches of boredom, where you’re simply waiting for your next class to start and if it happens too often, the temptation to leave is always there. Generally, it’s best to have nothing longer than a 2 hour break between classes, especially if you live a good distance from campus, as you’ll find yourself stranded at school and not enough time to make it worthwhile to go home.

Keep in mind though; breaks are great times to study and brush up before an exam. You obviously don’t want to leave all of your studying until then, but it’s a perfect opportunity to do one last review of what’s on your test before you head to class. All in all, breaks are definitely useful, just remember to try and keep them between too long, and not having any at all.

Length of Classes:

You can really use the length of your classes to your advantage when planning your college timetable. Classes that are longer, generally only meet once weeks, so you can get 1 subject out of the way with 1 class a week. Or, if you’re not the type of student who can deal with classes longer than 3 hours, then splitting up your class into two meetings a week could work better for you.

If you follow the tips above, you’ll end up with a flexible, convenient college class timetable that you can work around.

Career Focused Education:

Receiving your diploma can be a challenging process, so when you get it, you want to make sure that you’re ready to enter the workforce to the best of your abilities. At Brighton College, not only do you receive the best educational career focused diploma programs out there, all of our instructors have a vast amount of experience in the industries they are teaching in. You’ll receive a real world, working environment education that provides with you industry standard certification alongside the level of experience and skills that employers expect today.

Guaranteed Practicum Placement:

Expanding on the career focused education and training you receive with us, all students who are enrolled in our programs will be placed in a practicum program that suits their abilities and interests. While learning the concepts of your industry and occupation, you can also have an excellent opportunity to work and gain valuable experience in your field.

The Way We Treat Our Students:

Whether you’re an international student or right here from British Columbia, you’ll receive a first class experience and always remember the time you had at Brighton College. Our instructors take initiative to understand your questions and answer them as best as they can. Our admissions staff help make getting started as simple as can be. For international students, you’ll receive top notch assistance in all areas of being a student in Canada, we can help you find a place to live, show you around, and make sure you’re fully setup to experience Vancouver at its best.

If you’re looking for a place where you can receive recognized and accredited industry certification, real world practicum and work experience, a rich student lifestyle and learning environment, with a strong foundational education, then Brighton College in Vancouver, B.C. is where you want to be. It’s a unique atmosphere, a unique place to be, and a unique experience for all of our students.

Don’t Leave it Until the Last Minute:

This sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s astonishing how many students don’t make time to study until the night before. Your brain can only handle so much information at once, studying for the entire test can overwhelm your mind and make it difficult to remember what you’re reading in the first place. The other factor to consider is, it’s human nature to get discouraged when there is so much to do and so little time, which means when you have 5 chapters to study in 8 hours, it’s probably going to be hard to focus and keep on track.

Plan Your Time Accordingly:

This expands on the above point, for the best results on an exam and to actually learn the information, rather than just temporarily memorizing it, break up studying the material into sections and go through them over a few days. On the last day before the exam, it’s good to touch on all of the chapters again, as a refresher, just focusing on the key points.

Ask Your Teacher Questions:

So many students are confused or unsure about what exactly is going to be on the exam, what the essay is about, or anything regarding the course, the funny thing is, the teacher is there to answer your questions, but so many students are afraid or couldn’t be bothered to ask. If you’re unclear about something, ask the teacher. Sometimes, if it’s too specific about an exam, they won’t be able to give you the answer, but at the very least, they can help point you in the right direction. Any information is good information when trying to answer a question, so don’t be afraid to ask away.

Studying for an exam can seem like a huge task, but if you plan it, organize your time, and attack it in sections, you can really achieve some great results and get through those tough courses and exams a lot easier.

Wages:
Entry level wages for professionals pursuing Human Resources careers range from $14.00 per hour on the low end and up to $27.00 per hour and higher after the appropriate level of experience and training has been met. Wages in this profession continue to progress upwards even past the 10 and 15 year mark and are expected to remain at their current level or slightly increase in B.C.’s professional landscape.

Outlook:
If you’re currently pursuing a career in Human Resources, you’ll want to focus on the appropriate certification, like a Human Resources diploma that can help you secure a position as a Human Resources professional. With the proper training and education, professionals who want to see how this industry evolves have nothing to worry about. In B.C. there are growing companies that are expanding in size at an acceptable rate, those are the companies that generally create jobs in Human Resources.

Job Titles:
If you’re looking for Human Resources jobs, you’ll most likely come across these roles in your hunt:

• Human Resources Assistant
• Human Resources Clerk
• Human Resources Officer
• Human Resources Executive
• Human Resources Coordinator
• VP of Human Resources
• & Many More

These are just a few examples of the types of careers in Human Resources that can be obtained with a proper career focused HR diploma program.

Skills Required:
For Human Resources professionals there are several skills that are required for them to be successful in their careers, they include academic, technical, and social skills that provide a solid foundation for advancement in this field. When you have a job in HR, it’s important to be organized, efficient, and have strong communication skills, both verbal and written. A solid understanding of employment practices, standards, procedures, processes, and regulations are definitely a focus for HR professionals.

Outlook:

From 2011 to 2020 it is anticipated that jobs in hospitality and specifically restaurant manager, hotel manager, and executive positions within these organizations are expected to either increase or maintain stable rates of growth. There are a variety of entry level positions that a professional in this industry can obtain, for example;

• Restaurant Manager
• Hotel Manager
• Resort Coordinator
• Guest Services Manager
• Hospitality Manager
• Hospitality Coordinator
• & Many More

These are a few examples of the positions that are available throughout BC and the hospitality jobs that graduates from Brighton College’s Hospitality Management diploma program can expect to secure upon completion.

Wages:

Starting wages for jobs in restaurants and hotel jobs upon certification in Hospitality Management range from $15 to $18 per hour with in some cases, depending on the opportunity, it can rise upwards of $20 per hour. After 5 – 7 years of experience, an executive level position can be obtained in this field (with larger organizations) and salaries of over $50,000 per year are common with bonus structures in place as well. Wages are expected to remain at their current level for hospitality jobs in BC.

License and Certification:

A Hospitality Management diploma is generally a requirement for managerial or supervisory positions in this field. For Hospitality Management courses and diploma programs, they can range from months to 2 years and higher depending on the institution and focus of the program.

Skills Required:

There are a variety of skills that are required to be a successful professional in the Hospitality Management industry. Supervisory and management skills are a core focus and should be professionally developed, for hospitality jobs in BC, a hot travel and entertainment destination, a required skill set involves strong communication and social skills. Team working and organizational abilities are exercised daily and this should be a strong suit for any professional looking to secure a restaurant manager job or a career in hotel and resort management.