Testimonials

“Review of the final course modules: The information is correct, and the content looks great. Thank you very much for the great work!”

Snezana

“I like the variety of videos and new links you’ve included. The way you group and merge the previous and new content is logical and easy to follow. The modules look up-to-date. The content is all good and relevant. Thank you!”

Regina

I have had the pleasure of knowing Carrie Wakeford professionally for many years. Recently VCCS Employment Services received funding from the Ontario Centre for Workforce Innovation for a research project on Older Workers and Employer hiring practices. I could think of no one more fitting for the Interviewer role in our project than Carrie Wakeford, Wakeford & Associates. Carrie’s employment counselling background is well suited to working with a non-profit agency such as ours and with developing and implementing interviews, surveys and focus groups with employers, job developers and older workers in our area. Carrie’s assistance as we worked through the development of research questions and ethical considerations was greatly appreciated and she was patient with us as we maneuvered the research requirements despite the delays to our original scheduling. I found Carrie to be both organized and professional in her approach with us and the research subjects. She kept us informed at every step of the process and provided updates to our advisory group members. Through persistence and flexibility Carrie was able to meet all research targets within our revised timelines. She also identified and developed online curriculum for 3 employer training courses with facilitator notes and worked with our tech advisors to imbed them into our new website. Carrie’s report writing skills and attention to detail in documenting the research findings and her help in the development of the final report was much appreciated. I would not hesitate to recommend Carrie Wakeford, Wakeford & Associates for your future work projects.

The Workforce Development Board/Local Employment Planning Council contracted with Carrie Wakeford of Wakeford & Associates to complete a jointly funded Government of Canada and Government of Ontario Skills Gap research and pilot project. This project included an extensive literature review, as well as regional qualitative research that included individual interviews and focus groups. She also oversaw a support team of researchers assisting with this project. Carrie produced a detailed report and resource list and created definitions and a framework that will help guide future projects and local area discussions. We will use this report as a guide when making decisions about future programs and services in our four county area. The final report included a list of best practices and recommendations for employers, employment support services, job seekers, community leaders, educators, and government representatives. Carrie also created a comprehensive list of optional next steps. Feedback from community partners has been very positive. Based on the results of the research, it was determined that supporting small employers with their Human Resource needs was the top priority. Carrie developed and tested three online HR programs using the software LearnDash and presented the results in a summary report. The pilot received excellent feedback from all those who participated. In addition to completing the project, Carrie also participated in team meetings and submitted monthly progress and financial reports on time. We would definitely recommend Carrie for her ability to manage large research projects and for her report writing and training development.

“The content is concise and so user friendly, especially for lay-people like me; I think it is an excellent product.”

“I really liked the “checklists and templates” provided after some of the sections.” “The checklists were concise and helpful.”

“I feel that courses like these could help avoid costly errors and mistakes in the hiring process, as well as empower the employer to feel they understand the ‘HR’ stuff”.”

“Loved it- so detailed and excellent information.” “It’s to the point and very detailed, with lots of great links and forms.”

“Excellent courses and so much information and VERY detailed- that is the key for me.” “I really enjoyed this course and found it extremely useful, easy to read and follow. Fantastic!”

“This course is amazing – full of tips and examples that I’ll use to guide all future hires.”

“It brings in important legislation to help employers, without them having to “become HR professionals” themselves.”

“Love the easy to follow links with third party resources to help employers.”

“The resume screening form is a great tool to help with bias as well as organize employers, especially when they might feel they have very similar candidates.”

“I wish I had this information the last time I was hiring.”

Note: This online training was developed for employers by Wakeford & Associates in 2017 using the software LearnDash.

Carrie is incredibly organized, knowledgeable and efficient. Some of our requests were unique to our online course but Carrie was always willing to assist us in finding an effective solution! She is also very cognizant and willing to work with challenging deadlines and meeting the necessary outcomes.

Carrie Wakeford brought her extensive experience with career development and adult education to assist us in modernizing a key educational resource for working with labour market information. Future Work as a hybrid curriculum + video tool will empower employment counselors to assist clients 16-65 with the driving trends in today’s labour market and support them to success. Her work was highly praised in numerous demonstration sessions conducted with front line staff and supervisors.

It has always been a pleasure to work with Carrie. Her combined expertise in career development and online curriculum and delivery methods is the perfect mix. Her professionalism, which included timely responses, effective communication, effortless collaboration, and the ability to meet deadlines made the working relationship easy. Thanks for everything Carrie!

The opportunity to work with Carrie was one of the most rewarding experiences of working on the WBN board. She brought her calm and thoughtful insights to all board discussions. She was immeasurably helpful in developing and implementing team-building activities at our annual strategic planning retreat and facilitated many of our discussions throughout the weekend. Carrie worked to help us see the upside of any situation and always considered everyone’s individual personality style in working toward solutions to difficult discussions. She was a huge asset to the board and I will always be grateful for what she did to help me in my position and to help the group as a whole.

Carrie’s professional background in employment counselling, online facilitation along with her well developed curriculum writing skills were a definite asset to our course development. Carrie took the time to listen and understand our project objectives and delivered two practical and engaging courses for our clients of whom the majority are internationally educated and trained professionals. Her knowledge of structured online curriculum development and presentation complemented our goals for the project. As a curriculum developer, Carrie is very creative, organized and insightful and was committed to completing the project within the guidelines and timeframes agreed to. She is a person we would consider working with again in the future.

The résumé course helped to break down what felt like the impossible task of writing down my life into manageable sections. Why hasn’t anyone ever told me how to do this before. Well done! – Kate W.

The tasks and activities were excellent – the course just flowed so I was never lost. – Michael M.

I am not computer literate, so I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was for me to work through the course. – Judy D.

I just loved the course. I just kept getting caught up in the content. I learned a lot! – Nancy F.

The course was set up well. It was user friendly and I had no problem navigating from section to section. The information and instructions were clear and concise. – Cheryl M.

As someone just starting out in my career, this course has helped me improve my résumé a lot. – James K.

Working through this online résumé writing course has been so helpful. I was able to bring life to my old résumé. I even ended up with a few different styles. – Cheryl S.

The course helped me in many ways. I was able to figure out the best way to structure my résumé. – Cindy N.

Specifically in the last two years, I have contracted Carrie to deliver complex, online curriculum in the area of employment training and services. Carrie has also acted as an excellent online facilitator and classroom trainer. Throughout the course of our work together, Carrie has written engaging marketing materials to assist in the outreach and development of our programming. I find her exceptionally skilled in this area.

This year, I am extremely pleased to award the Executive Director’s Award for Outstanding Volunteer Contribution to the Organization to Carrie Wakeford for her extraordinary work as CPC’s Website Content Validator. Carrie has managed to go through Career Professionals of Canada’s complete website content. In addition to completing this great body of work, she continues to suggests enhancements to the system and provides other pro-bono services for CPC as required. (2013)

I have worked with Carrie in Labour Adjustment and have found her to excel at this work. She relates well to a wide variety of personalities and is supportive and very knowledgeable about programs, services and re-employment techniques. I recall the first time I was introduced to Carrie; she had just started to work with a group of laid-off workers who were struggling. I was totally impressed how Carrie calmly dealt with this difficult situation in a tactful but supportive manner and quickly had the group moving forward in a productive way. I always found that her financial and administrative reports are accurate, timely and professionally presented. I strongly recommend Carrie as a consultant because she can perform a wide variety of tasks in a thorough and professional manner.

Carrie was careful to consider learners’ abilities, and took pains to ensure that the material was enlightening and engaging. In observing Carrie with the clients, it was obvious that she had developed a good rapport with everyone. Carrie was easy to work with; she developed an interesting variety of material for our clients to use and kept VCCS informed about her progress. We welcome the opportunity to work with Carrie again.

Having worked with Carrie on training development projects, I know the courses she develops are meticulously researched, practical, current and written to be easily understood by people with a variety of educational backgrounds. Her materials prepare students with the skills and confidence necessary for today’s competitive job market.

Carrie has had the opportunity to guide us through this project in terms of what would work best for students, instructors, and facilitators with regards to the end product. Her attention to detail will make our material user friendly and quite unique. I believe Carrie has the qualities that are essential to the development of material for different audiences.

The company I worked for hired Carrie Wakeford to help the employees who were losing their jobs due to downsizing. The transition of losing a job you enjoyed to searching for one that is of equal or better opportunity is very difficult. Carrie delivered all the tools to help this transition go very smoothly. Not knowing where or how to start, she developed the steps to put me on the right path of job searching. She assisted in updating a very outdated résumé and in designing a cover letter template. She showed me where and how to search for new and exciting opportunities. Of most value was the confidence Carrie helped me gain by knowing I had all the right tools to successfully find suitable employment.

Having worked with Carrie on several labour adjustment projects, I can attest to her professionalism, attention to detail and ability to meet deadlines. She is versatile, creative, a great problem solver and is attentive to the needs of her clients.

Having worked with Carrie in the employment counseling field, I observed her commitment to supporting clients achieve their goals. She develops effective programs that are often on the leading edge of trends. Carrie can always be counted on to accomplish what she sets out to do and has a value added approach to service delivery.

We have worked with Carrie of Wakeford & Associates in a number of capacities – as a researcher, curriculum developer and counsellor. Carrie’s unique strength is that she can move easily between working with people and with information while producing powerful outcomes. Her facilitative style brings out the best in a group or a project and her drive for results ensures that the client receives a superior end product.