Today marks another special day in Career Edge Organization history as we are excited to launch a new paid internship program in partnership with the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA): HRPA Edge!
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we just had to share an internship success story with a romantic twist that has emerged from the Canadian Immigration Integration Program (CIIP)‘s referral program with Career Edge Organization that provides internship opportunities to eligible, job-ready CIIP clients immigrating to Ontario.
Recently, we were delighted to learn that a pair of CIIP clients from China were both successful in landing Career Bridge paid internship opportunities. To add to the charm of this news, we also learned that the two successful CIIP clients just happen to be husband and wife!
On last night’s “Friendly Fire” radio talk show on CFRB Newstalk 1010, host Ryan Doyle introduced the call-in segment of the program by claiming that unpaid internships are “the only way that employers nowadays can combat the lackadaisical attitude [and] the over-expectations that kids have when they come out of university and college,” going on to argue that the internship-related foot-in-the-door and networking opportunities are forms of payment.
We respectfully disagree, and were pleased to hear that the majority of those calling into the show disagreed as well, supporting the paid internship alternative. “It is in my best interest to try to cultivate these young potential stars and bring them in with the right mindset,” said one employer in support of paying for an intern’s work. Another caller from the trades industry compared internships to trade apprenticeships that – in his experience – have always been tied to financial compensation, and didn’t see why white-collar internships would ever be unpaid when the worker is contributing in a equally meaningful way.
Earlier today, Mike Bullard picked up on his colleague’s topic in his CFRB radio program “Beyond the Mic”, and in contrast stated that employers should, “at least pay someone’s expenses when they’re on an unpaid internship.”
Unfortunately this bone of contention is nothing new, and has continued to be remarkably polarizing for both sides. We have certainly indicated Career Edge Organization’s position in the paid vs. unpaid debate with previous blog posts, strongly endorsing paid internships. But we want to hear your thoughts on the matter.
Leave a comment to let us know your side when it comes to internship compensation.
Want to learn more? Listen to the podcasts of both CFRP shows, and read our previous blog posts that explore this issue…
Career Edge Organization is delighted to be celebrating the significant milestone of GE Canada’s 500th intern.
As one of the first organizations to start hiring Career Edge program interns in 1996, GE Canada has continued to leverage the potential of recent graduates, hiring their 500th intern this past December.
“This is an excellent program that brings incredible talent to GE,” notes Terry Peach, Manager of Human Resources, GE Canada. “The caliber of graduates working in GE has been outstanding, we have offered approximately 40 percent of the intern’s full-time positions, and many of these individuals have gone on to leadership positions within the company. Others have leveraged their work experience at GE Canada for jobs outside the company.”
GE hosted a celebratory event last Wednesday, bringing together many Career Edge alumni, including the company’s first and 500th interns: Stephanie Bangarth and Mehreen Khan.
Career Edge Organization would like to take this opportunity thank GE Canada for the continuous support of our paid internship programs, and we look forward to another 15 years of launching careers!
It’s official! Career Edge Organization will be joining the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) for one of Canada’s top HR professional development experiences: the HRPA 2012 Annual Conference & Trade Show “HR: 2012 and Beyond…Inventing the Future” occurring February 1 to 3 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
As trade show exhibitors, we are looking forward to networking with HR professionals from across Canada and from around the world, while examining the latest HR issues, ideas, challenges and opportunities together. With the theme of “futuristic HR” in mind, we got to thinking about what the HR landscape will look like for 2012 “and Beyond”, and couldn’t help but be reminded of an article that attempted to do just that… three and a half years ago.
In “Human Resources: The Big Issues” published on Bloomberg Businessweek back in 2008, Marshall Goldsmith spoke with Anna Minto and Chuck Scullion of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) about BCG’s published report based on the findings of an ambitious survey of 4,700 executives in 83 countries and markets.
Goldsmith, who is coincidentally the opening keynote at this year’s HRPA Conference, interviewed Minto and Scullion about the “Creating People Advantage: How to Address HR Challenges Worldwide Through 2015” report, identifying three top HR challenges: managing talent, improving leadership development, and managing work-life balance.
Although these issues emerged from U.S. respondents, the Canadian HR community can certainly relate, and despite the survey being conducted in 2008, these issues are notably still pervasive. Looking to the year ahead and even further to 2015 (as per BCG’s survey), we would like to reiterate the suggestions and solutions from “Creating People Advantage…” that can help Canadian HR professionals mitigate these issues now and through 2015.
- Managing Talent: When it comes to attracting, developing, and retaining talented individuals across all levels of any organization, the key is to take a creative approach in identifying high-potential talent pools. Minto and Scullion report that organizations are increasingly looking to source global talent as their creative solution, something Career Edge Organization knows a thing or two about.
- Improving Leadership Development: With management and managerial engagement tied closely to managing talent, BCG recommends investing considerable resources (i.e. development programs and financial rewards) in prospective leaders, as these individuals are the ones hiring, mentoring, and promoting the talent mentioned in the previous point.
- Managing Work-Life Balance: In contrast to the financial investment in developing future leaders within an organization, many employees now are seeking alternatives to traditional, financially-driven compensation packages. When it comes to compensation that contributes to work-life balance, flexible work arrangements are increasing in popularity, and are a great option to consider when appropriate.
With these three points in mind and now having reached the half-way mark between when this study was published and the anticipated relevance expiry, it’s clear that refocusing on these issues is critical to the immediate and future success of Canadian HR practices, especially with the significant demographic shifts being forecasted for beyond 2015.
As a solutions-based organization, Career Edge Organization is looking forward to discussing and addressing these challenges and more with you next week at the HRPA 2012 Annual Conference & Trade Show!