An open house was held this past week at the recently opened Bredin Centre for Learning located at #101, 4711 51st Ave.

The career-training centre opened their doors only a short month ago, but Program Manager Alison Ecklund said that they have received immense support from the community thus far.

“Bredin is hear to help people not just find jobs, but to find careers that they love and that they are good at and of interest to those individuals,” said Ecklund in an interview with the Express. “We want them to get the career that they want.”

The centre aims to assist those in search of employment by helping to prepare resumes, provide one-on-one career counseling, as well as provide access to computers and fax machines.

The facility has six staff members available to help clients, which include a number of well-trained career counselors.

Ecklund stated that career counseling could be highly beneficial to those looking for a career change.

“Clients coming in can complete an employment assessment just to see where they are at and where they may have areas that need improvement and then we will focus on those areas,” said Ecklund.

“If they aren’t having issues finding employment then maybe it is issues with maintaining employment so we look to see where they are at and what they can do to improve on those areas.”

Bredin Employment Centre hopes that they can do more than just help their clients find employment, but rather find careers that match the clients’ skill sets.

By meeting with a career counselor they may help to identify skills as well as interests, develop a better resume, and prepare clients for their next job interview.

Although Bredin was founded in 1976 in Edmonton, their expansion to Red Deer came only after placing offices in both Calgary and Spruce Grove.

“The move to Red Deer was just a natural progression for Bredin,” she said.

“The location of Red Deer between Calgary and Edmonton means that we will be able to expand our services throughout Central Alberta.”

Ecklund explained that aside from helping clients discover their potential for a new career, the centre is also there to provide clients with help to find opportunities to job shadow and volunteer.

“We feel that if you go out into the community and you are involved and you take the initiative to job shadow or volunteer then it shows that you are ready to go out and get the career you want.

“Not only will it help you network but it will also help you to get the hands-on experience to know if that’s the kind of job you want.”

Bredin also offers a unique job finding club, in which those seeking employment can get together as a group and help one another and talk about the challenges they are facing.

“Whether it’s looking for child care or dealing with stress management, we will be talking about all of it in the club,” said Ecklund. “We hope to talk about rights and responsibilities in the job finding club as well and help to educate people.”

The job finding club runs Tuesdays at 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. and Thursdays from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in which Bredin welcomes everyone who is seeking employment to join.

“Our doors are open to help meet the needs of Central Albertans,” said Ecklund.

“We hope to further expand our programs and be as involved in our community as we can.”

jswan@reddeerexpress.com