Please consider me in your search for a Training Internship Advisor.

For each skill required in your posting, I note my abilities:

Advanced oral and written communication skills:

I completed my Art Education degree at the University of Alberta. My higher-level English studies led to an offer to complete an Honors English Degree. During my last two years of study, I also served as a writer/production editor for the Students’ Union, Gateway.

I then joined The University of Calgary as a Communications Officer. In this position, I worked with university administrators to develop and implement strategic communications plans for students, staff, faculty and the public. As co-editor of the U of C bi-weekly, Gazette, I sought to write engaging, creative copy. My article, New ways to slice the mapping pie and its accompanying commissioned illustration and my profile of new staff member, Beatrice Medicine, are two examples.

After almost five years with the U of C, I accepted a position as a Journalism Instructor at Grant MacEwan Community College, where I developed curricula and taught and assessed students in courses in newswriting, graphic design, photojournalism and mass media. Moving to Vancouver, I joined Southam Business Communications as Western Editor for Canadian Forest Industries Magazine, providing copy on all aspects of the business including harvesting, safety and milling. Settling in Nanaimo I freelanced as a weekly reporter for The Nanaimo Business Examiner covering business-related stories, like the development of a submersible camera. Working for T-MAR Industries, I launched the company’s newsletter, The T-MAR Times. 

Advanced facilitation, presentation, and workshop/professional development session design skills:

I spent 10 years overseas teaching in Libya, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Norway, the UAE and Japan where I developed and presented lesson materials to students that ranged in age from grade-four to adult. A highlight of this period was my work developing a series of student workbooks and assessment materials for the Abu Dhabi Education Council, while working at the ADVETI vocational school in Al Ain, UAE.

 In addition to my business writing experience, I have also authored a children’s book, The Apple of Albert’s Eye, which I used as the basis for an art illustration project while teaching the subject in Saudi Arabia. More recent writings include my rebuttal of St. Thomas University Professor of International Relations and Political Science, Shaun Narine’s, criticism of western foreign policy in my article, Rethinking War, and my response to University of California Irvine Philosophy Professor and California surfer, Aaron James’ book, Assholes: A Theory.

As for my oral skills (and content of a lighter nature) consider my video application for the position of Traveling Ambassador for Air Transat.

Here’s a PowerPoint presentation made at a recent World Religions Conference in Prince George.

Experience using online platforms/technology to create learning/training resources, and marketing/promotion materials, and for electronic engagement opportunities.

In 2012, I also launched my WordPress website to highlight my creative abilities in writing, photography, art, graphic design, video and music production. I use my website and blog to promote my belief in a more positive world. I have a working knowledge of WordPress, MS Office, Illustrator and Photoshop and have used a number of video editing programs.

In my position as Marketing Manager for T-MAR Industries, I used my creative abilities with photography and design to produce advertising, brochures and customer surveys.

I provided similar visual support while with The University of Calgary.

Exceptional interpersonal skills with the ability to build relationships with internal and external stakeholders and appropriately deal with sensitive and confidential issues:

When I needed an architect to work with to submit a design for a Holocaust Memorial for Ottawa, I was able to reach out and form a team to make that submission. While teaching art in Libya, I sourced a local pottery production facility to be able to fire and glaze student work. These are just two examples of a working life focused on creative initiatives. As a teacher, I was entrusted with confidential information about students.

And, the ability to anticipate issues and take initiative to address them, and to act independently where appropriate:

I’ve always worked at creating educational experiences based on the needs and interests of my students and the resources at hand. For example, while teaching Vocational Mathematics in the UAE and developing and awaiting teaching resources for a new school in Al Ain, I developed my students’ English skills and cooperative abilities through making a short movie, God is Love.

My experience as a student:

While not a posted required skill, I’d like to point out my recent and ongoing experience in in-person and online education. Since my return to Canada in 2012, I have been a student in a number of arenas. That same year, while living in Nanaimo, I completed the first semester of the online Hearing Aid Practitioner Program at MacEwan University. Courses studied were Bioacoustics of Human Hearing, Hearing Testing and Hearing Testing Tech. For each course there was a series of online learning modules and assessments centering on the textbooks assigned. While many of these materials were effective, with my background in developing educational materials and assessments, I sometimes found myself wondering the approach I might have taken.

Moving to Prince George, BC, I served as a Community Support Worker and Residential Care Worker. Courses completed in this case were mostly on a first-person basis and included: St. John’s First Aid Certificate, CPI Nonviolent Crisis Intervention, Foodsafe Level 1 and WHMIS.  

In May, 2016, I joined Pace Property Management in Prince George, BC and completed the online Residential Property Management Course through UBC’s Sauder School of Business. I passed the exam on my first try. Here again the method was a series of online modules referencing a supplied text.

In 2021, I returned to Edmonton, my birth city. While working for the Mustard Seed’s homeless shelters as a custodian, I completed an online WHMIS course. In the spring of 2022, I joined Horizon North, a division of the Dexterra Group of companies that specializes in camp catering. Horizon North is passionate about safety and a positive employee culture, which has led me to complete courses in Bear Aware, Diversity and Inclusion, HSEQ Employee Orientation, Kitchen Worker Gluten Awareness Training, Minor Spill Response, Respect in the Workplace, WHMIS 2015 and Workplace Violence, Harassment and Bullying. For a brief time, I served as an Industrial Janitor at the MEG Energy site near Conklin and completed Energy Safety Canada courses in H2S Alive and Common Safety Orientation and an AMA Defensive Driving Course. Most recently, having been assigned to the Cenovus Sunrise camp north of Fort McMurray, I completed Cenovus courses in Life Saving Rules and Sunrise Site Orientation.

I believe my experience developing curricula, lesson materials and assessments; my recent studies online and my strong creative abilities in oral, written and visual communications, combine to make me an ideal candidate to join your team. Accordingly, let me suggest we meet to discuss the contribution I could make as a Training Internship Advisor.