Monday, March 19, 2012

AltCareer - Find the Career You Want with the Perks You Need

Working at Liberty Village has its pros and cons. A major pro is that it's closer to home (I live in Mississauga) compared to when I used to work near the Eaton Centre. Parking is also way cheaper at King & Dufferin versus the downtown core. The commute itself is great considering that I don't have to be stuck on the Gardiner the entire time. Pretty sweet, right? I think so =) So what are the cons then? Well one major disadvantage in my opinion with regards to working at Liberty Village is this:


There is a lack of good lunch spots!

This blogTO article gets it right. A number of restaurants have closed down in Liberty Village over the past few months such as The Liberty, Liberty Noodle, Chuck and Co, Cinquecento Trattoria, and Liberty Belle Bistro. It's quite frustrating, to say the least =( Well, we'll see how Origin goes...


Although I'm in no way contemplating nor thinking about switching jobs (I love my job), it would still be nice to work in an area with good lunch spots. A lot of people I know view this as a requirement too, especially those that do not pack lunch. And this, folks, is where AltCareer comes in handy.




If you are currently unemployed and looking for a job or just want to browse around for opportunities, you should take a look at AltCareera new online job board that helps professionals find careers that offer more than just a paycheque (most of AltCareer's jobs listings right now are in sales, marketing, customer service or programming, but they'll be expanding that soon). Unlike other job sites, AltCareer lets you browse jobs by perkssuch as WORK FROM HOME, FLEX HOURS, COMMUTER FRIENDLY, DRESS DOWN, FLEX VACATION, CHILD CARE, REWARDS & RECOGNITION, just to name a few. And perks like PRIME LOCATION and GOOD EATS definitely takes care of the lunch dilemma!




For example, there are many job listings with the PRIME LOCATION perk near Queen & Spadina:


Map from blogTO


There are numerous Japanese restaurants in the Queen & Spadina area for a quick bento box lunch or take-out sushi (or if you're feeling REALLY hungry, Aji Sai, voted best AYCE sushi in Toronto by blogTO, has an all-you-can-eat lunch for $12.99). Come and Get It (@ComeAndGetIt416), a pop-up restaurant in the former Ackee Tree space, is getting tons of attention with their sandwiches and salads. And of course, we then have the highly anticipated re-opening of Banh Mi Boys (@BanhMiBoys) on March 26 which offers delicious Vietnamese subs and Korean tacos. After work you can also check out Jules Bistro & Cafe for Happy Hour (I had an awesome steak frites there for $12.95!)


Another popular downtown area is the financial district at Yonge & King:


Map from blogTO


Although the lunch scene here is a lot more corporate than the Queen & Spadina area, it doesn't mean that there are a lack of great lunch spots, such as beer bistro (@beerbistroTO) where I've had several work lunches on their patio. And don't forget Swish by Han (@Swish_by_Han) and The Gabardine (@TheGabardine) which are both fantastic restaurants for lunch and dinner. What's also cool is that Food Truck Eats will be at the financial district on Monday, April 11! Follow #foodtruckeats on Twitter, like their Facebook page or check out Ontario Food Trucks for updates and info on all things food trucks in the city.





I think AltCareer is really unique in that you can search for jobs with perks that are important to you. Searching for jobs online is not much fun but AltCareer makes it a lot easier and way more interesting. Who knows, you may discover other great perks along the way!


*This is a sponsored post*