Career Edge

By Guest Contributor, Marcia Dunbar, Client Relations Manager, Career Edge Organization

As in previous years, Career Edge Organization was invitied by the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE) to deliver a presentation at their annual national conference. Last week I had the pleasure of representing Career Edge in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and took the opportunity to share some of the insights derived from our recent National Gen Y study which we conducted in partnership with Angus Reid Strategies.

The workshop built upon the information we delivered at CACEE’s regional conference this past December – you might recall our blog post, “What motivates the next generation of leaders.” To the surprise of many, our findings debunked many of the (often negative) myths and stereotypes about today’s youth in the workplace.

Many of the seminars at last week’s CACEE conference provided some of the same old fodder that feeds pre-existing notions of what this newest entrant to our post-secondary institutions and workplaces, the Gen Y’er, is all about. But there were some discussions that challenged the attendees to think differently.

Let’s face it, every generation has brought their dreams and aspirations for themselves and this world to bear on the society they live in; inevitably creating some dissonance everywhere – including the workplace.

There is general acceptance that this generation is the best-equipped group of new grads ever to come out of our colleges and universities. The deliverable, from an academic perspective, is high quality. Where most gen X’ers and Boomers sought self-actualization through their work, the Gen Y cohort is bringing a heightened awareness of themselves and their place in the broader world to the workplace.

This generation is born into a world where all their needs have been met. After all, they aren’t struggling to feed themselves like the Greatest Generation or challenged to bring order, love and safety into a chaotic world like the Boomers and unlike Gen X before them, Millennials know they are valued and why.

How then will Gen Y respond to the call to action heard by every new grad since the beginning of time – In what way will they change the world? This certainly poses some interesting recruitment and retention challenges for today’s employers, but with the challenges also come new possibilities and most importantly, opportunities.

After a tough couple of years and a crawling recovery in recent months, finally, some great news!

A record 108,700 jobs were added to Canada’s economy in April according to Stats Canada, signalling growth and better times to come. A large portion of this increase (approximately 2/3) was men over 25 years old returning to the workforce. 65,000 of the jobs were part-time and 44,000 were full-time!

This has taken everyone by surprise, as the growth is four times the consensus forecast. And while increases were seen in all provinces, Ontario, Quebec, British Colombia and Manitoba had the most job growth.

Jobs aren’t the only thing that went up – wages have gone up as well, by about 2%.

So who is doing all the hiring? Retail and wholesale companies were the industries that led the pack, according to an article in Business Week this morning, which also goes on to report:

The International Monetary Fund said April 21 Canada will grow the fastest among Group of Seven countries this year and next, with an expansion of 3.1 percent in 2010 and 3.2 percent in 2011.

Go Canada!!

This morning the Center for Students with Disabilities at Centennial College, Progress Campus arranged for an information session for students about employment prospects after graduation. Scotiabank and Career Edge Organization were invited to give presentations.

Scotiabank was represented by Sophia Dritsas, Assistant Manager, Diversity Initiatives and Kay Leslie, Manager Workforce Diversity. Career Edge Organization was represented by Rizwan Abdul, Client Relations and HR Manager and Rima Dasgupta, Recruitment Sourcing Specialist.

Kay and Sophia from Scotiabank spoke to the students about the opportunities their organization offers to persons with disabilities and the framework they have around providing workplace accommodations for persons with disabilities. They also talked about the partnerships Scotiabank has established with various agencies including Career Edge Organization that work with persons with disabilities to make Scotiabank a more inclusive workplace for persons with disabilities. They also mentioned that internships through the Ability Edge program are a viable way to establish a career at the Bank.

Rizwan from Career Edge Organization in his presentation spoke about the benefits of Ability Edge paid internships for students with disabilities. Some of the benefits are:

• Internships provide option to break through the frustrating cycle of “no experience, no job; no job, no experience”

• Interview concentrates on abilities versus disabilities as disclosure concerns are minimized – All employers have understanding from the beginning of recruitment process that applicants have a self-identified disability

• Reasonable workplace accommodations are provided to interns during the internship

• Interns can reach potential by removing stereotype concerns

• All interns have a designated Coach who assists them to gain valuable work experience

• Win-win experience for the intern and the Host Organization as both get an opportunity to decide if the internship can potentially lead to permanent employment

Rima concluded the presentation by explaining the registration process on the Ability Edge website to students.