Gabriel is responsible for the vision and business strategy behind Workopolis, Canada’s leading provider of Internet recruitment and job-search solutions.

What was your favourite job?
All of my past jobs were phenomenal learning opportunities and prepared me well for my new challenge.

What is the career advice you give?
Focus on what you’re good at.

What is the best career advice you ever received?
Focus on your strengths and hire people whose strengths match your weaknesses: Reward and recognition will come.

Debra and her team provide consulting services designed to help Workopolis’ customers develop talent acquisition strategies and improve their overall recruitment performance. For the past 9 years, Debra held the role of Vice President of Sales at Workopolis.

What was your favourite job?
I have it now. It has been exciting to be part of a start up company and to know that each day is a little different, offering new challenges and that what you do makes a difference.

What is the career advice you give?
Check out workopolis.com, Canada's biggest job site. You can research interesting companies, apply to great jobs or post your resume as a more passive job seeker.

What is the best career advice you ever received?
It came from my Dad: ...doesn't matter what you do in life, just make sure you are doing a job that you can be proud of.

Steven leads a team that delivers a bilingual suite of recruitment solutions to Canadian organizations. He is responsible for the planning and development of sales plans and strategies to improve relationships with customers and increase sales volume and profitability for the full suite of Workopolis products and services.

What was your favourite job?
National Category Manager – It was my first head office and national role which presented an excellent opportunity to learn how companies operate and develop short and long range strategies. I learned how to successfully launch new products in a multi-channel environment and work collaboratively within a cross-functional business team.

What is the career advice you give?
Patience. Don’t be in a rush to climb the corporate ladder – too fast and you could rise to a level of incompetence. Value breath of experience and technical mastery.

What is the best career advice you ever received?
When working and communicating with others, remember that it’s how your message was “perceived” and not your “intentions” that really matter.

David is responsible for driving Workopolis’ long-term growth through strategic planning, business intelligence, and business development initiatives including partnerships and acquisitions. He also heads the Workopolis product and service development roadmap, from both the consumer and customer perspectives.

What was your first job?
Self-proclaimed yoga teacher to my sister. I think I was 6.

What is the career advice you give?
Prioritize "passion" over "money."

What is the best career advice you ever received?
Look in the mirror every once in a while to be sure you like what you see. If you’re not satisfied, change yourself. Introspection is the best vehicle for change.

Andrea is responsible for driving strategy and supporting initiatives to attract, motivate, develop and retain the best talent which will enable Workopolis to achieve its financial and corporate goals. As well, as a senior human resources professional, she contributes to the strategic development of Workopolis’ products and services for employers.

What was the oddest job you’ve ever had?
I don’t know that I had a really odd job, but I definitely had many odd experiences. I worked at the Nova Scotia Liquor Commission, and a memorable customer was a fine gentleman who had no arms and would come in once a week. He would go to the shelf, pull his foot out of his boot and sock, pick up the bottle, place it in his bag over his shoulder, put his boot back on, walk to my cash, pull his foot out, pick up the bottle, place it on the counter, then reach into his pocket with his foot and take out his money to pass to me. I would place his change between his toes, and he’d take his parcel, put it in his bag, put on his sock and boot, and off he’d go. He taught me where there is a will, there’s a way.

What is the career advice you give?
Have a vision and make every career decision a step toward that vision. I’ve seen too many people let themselves drift from job to job and when they look back on their career, they aren’t quite sure how they got where they are, and at that point are unable to obtain their goal or vision. There are often several paths you can take to reach your goal, and you have to be willing to take a couple of turns or sometimes even backtrack in order to successfully reach it.

What is the best career advice you ever received?
When I was pregnant with my daughter, someone told me that you only have your first child once so do it right…. Work life balance is what you make it. Most organizations will take everything you are willing to give them so it’s up to you to strike that balance of your personal demands and those of your work.

Joseph is responsible for driving overall financial and business strategy for Workopolis. He leads the finance team in providing financial and operational-related solutions for Workopolis. He possesses extensive hands-on financial, operational and managerial experience as well as a proven track record of delivering financial and business expertise.

What was your favourite job?
I have enjoyed all of my roles for different reasons and do not have one favourite.

What is the career advice you give?
Surround yourself with strong people and treat all people the way that you would like to be treated.

What is the best career advice you ever received?
You can do anything but you can't do everything.

As the leader of the Marketing, Product Management and Business Intelligence teams, Mario is responsible for building the candidate and employer engagement strategies for Workopolis. He enjoys the company’s fast-paced environment where the day-to-day is not always predictable but the rewards are gratifying when you get it right.

What was your favourite job?
I enjoy the opportunity to work with young people and for that reason I was very fortunate to go back to my alma mater and teach for a few years. I never considered it work, which I guess means that I was having a lot of fun.

What is the career advice you give?
Project what you want to be doing in 5 years; build a plan and stick to it. Plan on failing more than you will succeed, and pick yourself up each and every time things don’t go your way. Be professional and engaging with everyone you meet along the way. Be someone that people can trust to get the job done well and on time.

What is the best career advice you ever received?
Never pass up an opportunity to meet someone new. You never know who can help you get to where you want to go.

Frank leads the day-to-day execution of Workopolis’ corporate strategy through key operational teams including the national support team, the services team and the project management office. Frank also drives the vision and execution of Workopolis’ internal systems and “voice of the customer” strategy.

What was your favourite job?
When I was in high-school I worked in a pet shop for a couple of years. We had to dedicate a portion of the day to play with the puppies and kittens to make sure they were getting enough exercise and weren’t getting bored. That was great fun, and I couldn’t believe they paid me to do it!

What is the career advice you give?
If you want to be successful in any career you have to be pragmatic, honest, work hard and above all enjoy what you do. Always ask yourself, “if this were my company, how would I want this done?” – and then do it that way!

What is the best career advice you ever received?
Build yourself a team of “A” players and don’t “protect” information to save your job. You will know if you have built a successful team when any of your direct reports are be able to step in and do your job at any time.

As the head of technology at Workopolis, Matthieu leads both the “Information Systems” and “Infrastructure” teams and is responsible for providing the best technology solutions available to all our site users. He is dedicated to refining Workopolis’ technological roadmap and for maintaining its leading-edge technology.

What was your favourite job?
I love skiing. When I was about 19 years-old, I was a ski instructor for a company that was in charge of organizing ski holidays for Hollywood stars. I trained Christopher Reeve and others and I was paid for that!

What is the career advice you give?
To be successful, you need to have fun in what you do. Keep focus and understand what is expected from the people who manage you.

What is the best career advice you ever received?
You are as good as the weakest member of your team, so make sure that you have the right people at the right place.