With the new year in full swing, we are doubling our efforts to break down employment barriers for those facing challenges in joining the Canadian workforce. With that in mind, we are asking business leaders, community partners, and alumni ambassadors to join our efforts by: Read More
We are proud to be celebrating 20 years of helping candidates overcome barriers to employment and launch their careers through paid internships.
Founded in 1996, Career Edge was conceived by a group of private sector business leaders, gathered by the late civic visionary David Pecaut, who is well-known for the creation of Career Edge, CivicAction, and Luminato. Urban Joseph, former Vice-Chairman of the Toronto Dominion Bank, worked closely with Pecaut when designing Career Edge as a way to help young graduates successfully transition into the workforce, and improve the youth unemployment crisis of the mid-1990’s.
As Canada’s first online job posting board, Career Edge quickly gained endorsements from members of the federal government including Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin, and Frank McKenna who would become Honorary Chair of Career Edge in 1998.
Jean Chrétien and Urban Joseph shake hands in 1997, symbolizing the partnership between Career Edge and the federal government.
We know that Career Edge candidates are dedicated and motivated individuals who are always looking to add great value to their employers and host organizations. For this issue, we are thrilled to showcase the success stories of two such candidates. Read More
September was a busy month for Career Edge. We had the privilege of attending many events hosted by our partners in the business community, and explored new ways to achieve our shared mandate of putting diverse, qualified talent to work.
Since launching the Canadian Armed Forces Reservists Paid Internship Program, we have had the opportunity to visit Reservists at the companies where they are completing their internships, and have heard nothing but good things, from the Reservists and their employers alike.
Some of the reservists who have secured sustainable internship opportunities through Career Edge’s CAF Reservists’ Paid Internship Program. From left: Roy L., Craig S., Andres L.
Our employer partners have shared with us how impressed they are with their interns’ performance, and are looking for other opportunities to have more Reservists join their teams. The good news is, September is one of the best months to start hiring Reservists.
Many Primary reservists attend training courses through the summer months, and after spending a few weeks away at Canadian Forces training centres, Reservists return in September, ready to work in corporate civilian occupations that allow them to leverage the portable skills they have augmented through their training, such as leadership, communications, teamwork, and time management.
If you’re looking for Reservists to join your team, contact us.
Last time on InternSHIFT, we introduced our newest internship program for Canadian Armed Forces Reservists, speaking to various stakeholders who all share the common goal of helping Reservists launch their civilian careers in Canada.
For Episode 2, we were inspired to look at Generation Y from a few different angles after reading a 24 Hours Toronto article that upheld the perception that new grads have a weak work ethic, poor attendance, and are just not ready for the workforce.
For recent grads, these stereotypes can thwart their attempts to secure employment, as some employers – like those mentioned in the article – are less inclined to bring GenY/Millennial employees on board.
But this issue is not new. In fact, it’s the reason Career Edge exists. So we invited a few subject matter experts to join us for this episode to talk about the skills and benefits that GenY DOES bring to the workforce, and the ways employers can unlock talents that are often overshadowed by stereotypes:
- Lisa Leitch: Sales Strategist, Trainer & Coach with Teneo Results helps us understand Millennials’ working style, and how new grads can be groomed for a career in sales
- R. Brian Robson: Project Manager for Ryerson University’s ADaPT program speaks to the type of education and training that new grads are bringing to the digital economy
- Our Intern of the Year Sunny Vykunthan – joined by his mentor Liz Carreiro – shares his experience as a new grad working at RBC, while outlining the aspects of his internship that contributed to his success
Our partner, ACCES Employment recently announced the launch of a new Online Job Search Centre that will provide job seekers with self-serve resources including webinars, articles, interactive games, and videos. The resources draw from ACCES Employment’s experience helping jobseekers and newcomers to Canada to successfully find work in the current Canadian job market. The Centre is organized into six topic areas including: Resumes, Interview Preparation, Networking, The Canadian Job Market, Career Self-Assessment, and Workplace Success. The Centre is generously supported through a (CAD) $1.4 million grant from Accenture (2016) and contributes to the project’s larger goal which is to create an end-to-end online services platform at ACCES Employment that will provide job search services and programs to more than 56,000 new Canadians seeking employment over the next two years.
Career Edge’s Achievement Awards recognize the success of accomplished individuals and leading organizations that partner with us to provide meaningful employment opportunities, helping us to launch more careers in Canada. We also salute our interns and the people behind them – the mentors who help enhance the internship experience.
This year, we took a personalized approach and celebrated the Achievement Awards through various events held over the months of May and June, in partnership with the winners and finalists. We also recognized the organizations and individuals who have demonstrated leadership and cultivated innovative employment solutions, allowing more people to make an investment in their career.
Video-based talent screening has revolutionized how we review and assess candidates seeking access to paid internship opportunities. Many of our employer partners have also taken advantage of these pre-recorded video interviews, as a compliment to their existing recruitment best practices.
We’re happy to share that we have now made these videos on-demand. Previously, links to selected candidate videos would be sent via e-mail upon request, but now they are accessible directly from the list of applications, for every candidate.
We have also made it easier for you to meet candidates from our newest internship program for Canadian Armed Forces Reservists by launching the Career Edge Video Gallery Portal. Log in using the same account details that you use to access careeredge.ca and you can browse through our video gallery of Reservists seeking civilian employment opportunities within the community of their reserve unit. Don’t have an account yet? Register here.
We have officially jumped on the podcasting bandwagon with InternSHIFT, a podcast hosted by Career Edge that aims to shift the way people think about internships.
For our very first episode, we dove into our newest paid internship program for Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Reservists. Speaking with Lieutenant Colonel Derek Cheff, Executive Director at the Canadian Forces Liaison Council, along with our internal CAF team, listeners will get a deep understanding of the program, and how it supports the Canadian Forces as a whole, subsequently building employers’ military-friendly recruitment strategies and national pride. Tune in now…