As a result of its ongoing commitment to help highly motivated, well-qualified interns connect with leading Canadian employers, Career Edge is pleased to announce the launch of its new business model and service enhancements, planned to simplify the hiring and retention process for employers seeking top talent through paid internships.
Career Edge is celebrating over 500 interns placed through Ability Edge, a paid internship program for recent graduates with self-declared disabilities.
Ability Edge was launched in 1999 by the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) along with five of its member banks (TD, RBC, Scotiabank, BMO, and CIBC) to increase the employment of people with disabilities (PWDs). In partnership with Career Edge, the CBA piloted an internship program for recent graduates with disabilities interested in working in the financial services sector. Since the official end of the pilot, Career Edge has continued to manage the program to provide meaningful work opportunities for PWDs pursuing careers in Finance, Marketing, Human Resources, Technology, Engineering, Business Operations, and more.
As the Ability Edge program grew within the financial services sector, the CBA and its member banks were quickly joined by a number of other leading organizations seeking talent with a diverse range of abilities. Many employers across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors have partnered with the Ability Edge program, including Deloitte, MaRS Discovery District, the City of Markham, the Ontario Ministry of Government Services, and Loblaw Companies Limited.
With the support of Career Edge’s internship model, employers provide inclusive and accessible workplaces that allow the interns they hire to gain meaningful work experience that aligns with their education and professional aspirations. As interns are given a foot in the door at reputable organizations, employers benefit from their qualifications and high levels of motivation while adding greater diversity to their workforce.
“At Deloitte we have set out to be recognized – internally and externally – as a diversity leader,” says Sarah Boon, Senior Manager of Talent Advisory at Deloitte. “We can’t do this alone, so our relationship with Ability Edge is very important.”
To help connect more new graduates with disabilities with employers like Deloitte, Career Edge maintains a number of strategic partnerships with organizations that share its commitment to supporting the employment of this group of talented new graduates, such as the Ontario Job Opportunity Information Network (JOIN).
As one of Canada’s leading organizations specializing in the recruitment of new graduates with disabilities, JOIN has strongly collaborated and supported Career Edge in promoting full inclusion of this talented group, and to provide expertise on disability in the workplace. As part of this partnership, Naguib Gouda, President at Career Edge, was recently appointed as a member of JOIN’s Board of Directors.
“We are incredibly proud to have made a difference in the employment of recent graduates with disabilities,” says Gouda. “Our partnerships with employers and like-minded organizations have significantly contributed to inclusion in Canada’s workforce, while creating over 500 successful, career-launching experiences in the process.”
For Bangladeshi-born Farhana Naznin, it was a bit of a shock to be asked if she had Canadian experience, especially since she had worked in Australia as a software developer. “Everywhere I applied, I was asked for Canadian experience. Just about when it was getting to the point that it was getting frustrated, I heard of the internship program at Career Edge Organization,” says Naznin, who, along with her husband, had studied in Japan and worked in Australia for three years before immigrating to Canada.
In the October 7, 2013 issue of Canadian HR Reporter, News Editor, Liz Bernier, spoke with Career Edge President, Naguib Gouda, about the unpaid internship debate that has once again heated up in the Canadian business community. As a follow-up to this story, HR Reporter produced a video that investigates the issues related to unpaid internships. In the video, Naguib outlines four key reasons why paying your interns is good for business:
1. Reputation and Ethics
Unpaid internships have a bad reputation. They can be seen as exploitative and even unethical, and businesses seldom want to be associated with either, risking their reputation and ethical standing.
2. Socio-economic Responsibility
Many people – including talented newcomers, persons with disabilities and recent university or college graduates – simply cannot afford to accept a job without pay. This is a concerning thought because it means that unpaid internships cut a significant population out of the workforce.
Organizations could be systematically filtering out the dedicated, hardworking candidates who have to financially support themselves. It’s our social responsibility to help these people find work that reflects their education and qualifications to allow them to be prosperous, successful and productive citizens.
3. Motivation
While we are aware that money isn’t the single most important form of motivation, compensation is still a factor in getting the best results from your employees. If workers do not feel that they are getting compensated fairly for the work they do, they may not be giving you 100%.
You get what you pay for. Top talent are willing to work hard to get that much-needed first experience, but you’ll get the most if you pay them fairly.
4. Retention
If you do bring on an unpaid intern, it may prove difficult to keep them. First of all, your unpaid intern may have to work a second job just to stay afloat – after a while they may find the balance too difficult.
Even if the person is being financially supported by family or loved ones during the internship, it may not be long before they start looking at job boards. Promises of potential paid opportunities “down the road” may not go very far either, as so many unpaid interns have been strung along by companies in the past, they may not take the bait.
The Ontario Job Opportunity Information Network (JOIN) has appointed Naguib Gouda, President of Career Edge, as a member of its board. This solidifies the organizations’ mutual goal of promoting bias-free hiring practices for persons with disabilities in Canada.
“The partnership with Career Edge means strengthening our ability to present strong talent to our Business Leadership Networks, subsequently finding sustainable employment for university students with disabilities,” says Dauna Jones-Simmonds, Executive Director of JOIN. “It also allows us to collaborate in ways that would earn us credibility and respect in the business environment, and to be more competitive in the marketplace.”
In 2006, Statistics Canada reported that people with disabilities were underrepresented in the workforce, a stark contrast to the greater percentage of people without disabilities who were employed. The study noted that 75 per cent of people without disabilities were employed compared to 51 per cent of those with disabilities. Career Edge and JOIN believe that this partnership can help increase the employment rate of persons with disabilities in Canada.
“JOIN is raising the profile of the talent that resides with our 26 Service Providers,” continues Jones-Simmonds. “As we embark on initiatives such as Virtual Career fairs that target university and college students, we believe that a partnership with Career Edge would help us to penetrate this environment.”
Career Edge has been a member of JOIN since December 2010 and has worked closely with the organization through its Ability Edge program to connect university and college graduates with self-declared disabilities with leading employers of all sizes through paid internship opportunities.
As President of Career Edge, Gouda brings C-level executive experience to the JOIN board of directors. His far-reaching background encompasses experience in senior executive positions with the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada, The Ontario Medical Association, York University and Manulife Financial. He has also been a senior volunteer with such organizations as- The Toronto Distress Centre, The Learning Partnership and The Schulich School of Business. Through his recently acquired board membership, Gouda will help strengthen the collaborative relationship between the two organizations.
“JOIN’s partnership with Career Edge reflects our shared commitment to removing employment barriers for graduates with disabilities. Our Ability Edge program gives employers access to highly motivated, high quality talent and is closely aligned with JOIN’s mandate,” says Gouda.
Last week marked another milestone in Career Edge’s history, as the Toronto-based social enterprise celebrated the placement of its 2,000th internationally qualified professional (IQP) through its Career Bridge paid internship program.
Career Bridge was launched as a pilot project led by the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) in 2003, and has since grown into an effective, low risk hiring and retention solution for leading Canadian employers.
“When [Career Bridge] started its work with immigrants, it was our hope that through internships many immigrants would find suitable employment,” says Ratna Omidvar, President of Maytree, the founding organization behind TRIEC. “Career Bridge has been instrumental in providing a pathway to employment for over 2,000 internationally trained immigrants.”
In collaboration with employers of all sizes, across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, Career Edge facilitates the employment of IQP candidates in paid internship positions that complement their level of education and experience. RBC, Bell, St. Michael’s Hospital, City of Toronto, and the Ontario Public Service (OPS) are among the hundreds of companies that have leveraged the Career Bridge program to find well-qualified talent, demonstrating leadership in bias-free employment.
Participants of the Career Bridge program are those who have been in Canada for less than three years and have between 5 and 10 years of work experience abroad. Although they meet or exceed the qualifications for many job opportunities in Canada, a lack of Canadian experience has been a substantial barrier to employment for these job seekers.
Employers that offer meaningful work opportunities through Career Edge’s internship program for IQPs are committed to removing the “Canadian experience” barrier. This enables program registrants to compete for employment opportunities on a level playing field.
“As an internationally trained professional and a new immigrant to Canada, I faced a lot of challenges in my career planning, one of which was getting Canadian workplace experience required for engineering licensing,” said Yaghoub Norouzi Banis, an intern at the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. “The internship program provided me with an exceptional opportunity to overcome this challenge and I had the good fortune of being welcomed at the Ontario Parks for this position.”
Career Edge maintains strategic alliances and partnerships with a number of industry associations, post-secondary institutions, government agencies, and community organizations to help bridge the gap for IQPs like Yaghoub. Partners like the Canadian Immigrant Integration Program (CIIP), TRIEC, Toronto Region Board of Trade, Maytree Foundation, and York University have expanded the capacity and augmented the impact of the program in Ontario and across Canada.
“With the support of a vast network of leading Canadian employers and partnering organizations, I’m proud that Career Edge has helped to successfully launch the careers of 2,000 IQPs,” says Naguib Gouda, President of Career Edge. “This proves that paid internships truly represent a sustainable and optimum path to permanent employment for internationally qualified professionals.”
*Article republished from Hireimmigrants.ca: http://www.hireimmigrants.ca/success-stories/career-bridge-internships-a-win-win-for-st-michaels-hospital/
Structured program allows hospital to assess skilled immigrants’ suitability for permanent jobs.
In December 2012, Mehmet Bahar, a Career Bridge intern at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, led a project to improve the quality of the hospital’s environmental service audits, which measure the cleanliness of patient rooms and other core hospital areas.
Mr. Bahar, a recent immigrant from Turkey, redesigned the auditing process and improved communication between the supervisors performing the audits and the employees responsible for cleaning the different areas. In three short months, the average audit score increased by 15 per cent.
Because of his success on that project and others during his six-month internship, as well as his Master’s of Engineering degree and project management certification, the hospital offered him a six-month contract position as project manager in Environmental Services.
A decade-long partnership
Since 2004, St. Michael’s has sponsored over 45 internationally educated Career Bridge interns from the Career Edge Organization, about one-half of which were hired after their internships finished, says Kevin Kirkpatrick, manager of recruitment at St. Michael’s.
Career Edge pre-screens the internationally educated professionals (IEPs) and ensures they have a mentor and a coach. All of them have at least a bachelor’s degree and three years of international work experience in their field.
The structured program an attractive way to tap into diverse talent, which is a priority for the hospital located in one of Canada’s most diverse cities, says Mr. Kirkpatrick.
“Our executive vice presidents have a philosophy that they wanted to be supportive and reflective of our patient population,” he says. “When an EVP says we’re going to commit and align resources to this program, that’s the true driver.”
Projects provide clear objectives to measure success
The paid internships range from four months to one year in length, though the majority of internships at St. Michael’s are four months long. Most of the internships are in IT positions, while others are in research, procurement and corporate health programs.
All the interns are assigned to at least one project for the duration of their internship. This ensures there are objective goals against which to measure the interns’ progress and skills, says Mr. Kirkpatrick.
“We get really talented people through the program and we get a really good idea of their skills by the time the internship ends,” he says. “It’s very much a win-win. The IEP gets access to Canadian work experience and we get access to strong candidates who can be considered for available positions.”
Supporting IEP integration
To help them be successful at St. Michael’s, interns are encouraged to participate in the hospital’s general orientation program for all new hires. And those who start around January are also able to take part in the hospital’s IEP Transition and Integration Program, which runs from January to June.
The program, originally created in partnership with the Government of Ontario and Citizenship and Immigration Canada, supports the integration of IEPs who are currently employed by the hospital. It consists of several elements, including:
- an orientation and transition program for IEPs
- workshops for mentors and managers to increase their knowledge of IEPs’ experiences and challenges
- a corporate IEP balanced scorecard for continuous improvement and evaluation
Networking essential for career development
Recently, Mr. Kirkpatrick led a networking and social media workshop for IEPs in the program. Contrary to popular opinion, networking isn’t just about finding a job, he says.
“Networking is about building relationships, sharing information and creating mutually beneficial dialogues,” he says.
It’s also essential to career development because it’s a way to let people know about all the various skills and experiences you have that might not be apparent in your current role, he adds.
During his internship, Mr. Bahar took part in the program and found it a very useful way to become familiar with the hospital’s culture and practices. All employers should offer this kind of program to help newcomers learn about the workplace culture and be successful in their new jobs, he says.
Tips for employers
- Tap into skilled immigrant talent through structured internship programs that pre-screen internationally educated professionals.
- Assign interns projects with clear goals and expectations that can be used to objectively measure success and determine if an intern would be an asset to the organization in a permanent role.
- Executive support, including financial support, is essential to creating a cohesive corporate vision that values a diverse workforce that includes skilled immigrants.
At the recent 10th Annual Internationally Educated Professionals Conference, hosted by the Progress and Career Planning Institute (PCPI) in Toronto on April 5, the issue of workplace integration of new Canadians was a hot topic.
With recent reports indicating that Canada is facing a growing deficit of workers, there is an increased urgency for innovative inclusion strategies when it come to hiring newcomers.
“Employers must realize that they cannot properly address their skills shortages without making workforce integration programs more accessible to new Canadians,” says Silma Roddau, president of PCPI. “If not, they miss out on a whole talent pool of people and the potential to compete on both a local and global level.”
Recently, the list of the Best Employers for New Canadians was announced and one of the awardees was St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. Kevin Kirkpatrick, manager of recruitment at the hospital, stresses the importance of a diverse workforce. “St. Michael’s Hospital uses several programs for internationally educated professionals that attribute to our success in winning this award. We utilize an internship program from Career Bridge that allows IEPs an opportunity to get Canadian work experience and at the same time St. Michael’s benefits from highly trained expertise to assist with projects. To date, almost half of our internships have resulted in employment,” he says.
This competition, managed by the editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers, recognizes the nation’s best employers for recent immigrants. One of the awardees recognized is the City of Mississauga. “The 2013 Best Employers for New Canadians special designation has recognized the city for offering programs that assist new Canadians to transition to a new workplace and a new life in Canada. Through these programs, internationally qualified professionals bring diversity and add great value to the workplace,” says Sharon Willock, director of human resources, City of Mississauga.
Among the other employers listed was Deloitte & Touche LLP, one of the biggest certified public accountant firms in the world. The company boasts hundreds of employees serving as mentors or “buddies” to new Canadians. No wonder that the company has been featured regularly on this esteemed list. “Our core culture is delivery to our clients. Our clients are diverse, so if we are not diverse, we won’t match up to their needs. We don’t want our clients to face our team and go, ‘You don’t look like us!’” said Jason Winkler, chief talent officer, Deloitte Canada in a recent interview with our magazine as part of our “What Employers Want” series. “We actually believe that our workplace is fun, more interesting, more valuable because we are all so different from each other. We come up with better ideas from a diverse workforce. It’s actually sound business.”
Kirkpatrick agrees that the connection between staff and clients (i.e., hospital patients in St. Michael’s case) is crucial, and the hospital makes an effort to invest in skill development and integration programs. “Once hired at St. Michael’s, our integration program works on developing the skills needed to succeed in the Canadian workplace. These programs are supported at the executive level at St. Michael’s because they have identified the need to ensure staff is reflective of the community and patients served by the hospital,” he says.
Addressing this very need for a higher level of interaction between the immigrant talent pool and Canadian employers, Canadian Immigrant and Scotiabank in association with Centennial College are organizing their 3rd annual Career, Education and Settlement Fair on Tuesday, June 25, 2013, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
The day-long fair is free to all newcomers in the GTA, offering them access to various exhibitors and interactive sessions led by experts in various fields of interests. The fair will provide information and tips on job hunting, accreditation and upgrading of education, as well as information about where to live, where to study and who to turn to when seeking assistance in your settlement.
Last year, major exhibitors at the fair included top employers like educational institutions such as the University of Toronto, Humber College and York University, while representatives of professional associations such as the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) and Certified General Accountant (CGA) associations were on hand to demystify any doubts foreign-trained professionals might have.
“I was very impressed with the level of attendees. Not only have most of them worked in the financial sector in their native countries, but also seem to have done a fair amount of research on what Scotiabank is all about. They have the skills, knowledge and expertise to work within functional areas of the bank,” said Sujay Vardhmane, senior manager, global employment strategies, Scotiabank, at the 2012 fair.
This article is By Baisakhi Roy
*Article republished from http://canadianimmigrant.ca/news-and-views/winning-with-newcomers
Having been recognized as one of the country’s Best Diversity Employers in 2012 and Best Employers for New Canadians in 2013, it is obvious that Deloitte takes its talent seriously. Whether it’s developing women in business or welcoming newcomers into the Canadian workforce, Deloitte has maintained a steadfast commitment to promoting a diverse and inclusive environment.
In recent years, Deloitte has launched a number of initiatives to integrate people with disabilities into the workplace. “We are always looking for top talent at Deloitte and hiring people with disabilities is an area that we need to continue to focus on,” says Sarah Boon, Senior Manager of Talent Advisory at Deloitte. “As a business we are finding that this is really an untapped talent market.”
In her experience of hiring through Career Edge Organization’s Ability Edge program, Boon has realized the business case for hiring recent grads with disabilities, noting a few key benefits:
Reflecting the marketplace
“Deloitte is the largest professional services firm in Canada. We want to be reflective of the diverse communities in which we live and work. There is a positive impact on morale and team spirit as our workforce becomes even more reflective of our communities.”
Innovative problem-solving
“Our clients expect our teams to be high performing with diverse perspectives, and the global economy requires a broad set of skills and increased innovation to serve the global marketplace. Greater diversity at work means that a wide variety of perspectives are utilized when solving problems.”
Competitive advantage
“We prefer to focus on their abilities; we hire people with the right competencies, diverse skill sets, and talents that will enable them to excel in the job. Having diverse people and an inclusive workplace that supports them gives us a competitive advantage.”
But connecting with the right talent isn’t always easy. Boon explains that it is Deloitte’s goal to be recognized internally and externally as a leader in diversity, and to effectively leverage partnerships in the business community to support this initiative. “If Deloitte wants to remain in a leadership position in Canada, we need to seek out the best talent and be innovative with our hiring practices. We can’t do this alone, so our relationship with Career Edge is very important.”
Businesses aren’t the only ones to benefit from partnerships that serve as a catalyst between employers and diverse talent. Candidates that face employment barriers are given the opportunity to get a foot in the door at leading organizations, allowing them to jump-start their career shortly after graduation.
“I registered and someone from Career Edge emailed me out of the blue, notifying me about this opportunity at Deloitte and that my resume was a good fit,” said Alexander Bergen, a current Ability Edge program intern in Deloitte’s Marketplace Services and Digital Marketing department.
In partnership with Career Edge, Deloitte is making a significant impact on reducing barriers to employment faced by recent grads – particularly those with disabilities – looking to gain meaningful work experience that is consistent with their education and career aspirations.
“This internship allowed me to gain valuable marketing experience with one of Canada’s leading professional services firms. Deloitte is a really strong brand and I’m grateful to be a part of it.”
