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Career Edge Blog

Oct 03
Love6

3 Reasons Why Your Business Needs to Hire New Graduates This Year

By Uncategorized

By Anne Lamont, President and CEO, Career Edge Organization

Excerpt from Anne’s blog post for the Toronto Board of Trade’s VoteOntario2011 campaign.

  1. The first good reason to hire young graduates is likely also the most obvious one; without them businesses risk eroding their knowledge foundation. Let’s face it, our workforce is aging – and at an alarming rate for some organizations. Eventually, that knowledge housed within the senior ranks needs to be transferred, or it risks disappearing altogether. Keeping the talent pipeline fresh with new hires allows organizations to plan, build and transfer expertise and knowledge more seamlessly while mitigating timing delays or productivity.
  2. The second great reason to hire young workers is to help grow and develop your middle level managers. By creating coaching and mentoring roles for middle managers, exceptional opportunities for learning and professional development are also created that can only be achieved through first hand experience. When organizations encourage the development of these leadership skills, they are also fostering a supportive and positive workplace culture, in turn improving productivity, enabling the transfer and sharing of knowledge and driving innovation too.
  3. The third very compelling reason for hiring recent graduates is because they bring the latest training to their employers, fresh perspectives, can-do attitudes, and in many case, hands-on experience. Although it may sound trite, an investment in recent graduates is an investment in our future. Through their post secondary educations, university and college students today are not only getting exposed to traditional best practices, but more importantly they’re participating in and contributing to leading edge innovations and emerging technologies through living labs, think tanks, innovation centres, private/public sector partnerships and joint ventures – whether it’s through Ryerson University’s Diversity Institute, Queen’s University’s Innovation Park, University of Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation and Resilience or George Brown’s Institute of Entrepreneurship and Community Innovation, just to name a few.

To read the full article on the VoteOntario2011 blog, click here.

Sep 26
Love4

Toronto’s lessons on immigration

By News & Announcements

This past week, in an opinion editorial in the Toronto Star, John Tory and Julia Deans of CivicAction reminded us that the world has a lot to learn from Toronto when it comes to new and innovative ways to attract and integrate newcomers. Pointing out that “Canada has a productivity challenge” and that “the competition for talent is heating up,”  our Career Edge paid internship program was cited by CivicAction and an international delegation as “a model for other cities.”

We are delighted to be recognized in this positive way, not only by CivicAction, but by readers of The Star as well.

Still, as Career Edge Organization’s President & CEO, Anne Lamont points out, looking to internationally qualified professionals is only part of the “creative solution” required. Here is Anne Lamont’s response to the article:

“Canada needs to attract, develop and retain a productive workforce – this means leveraging the skills, experience and potential of recent graduates and skilled immigrants to augment the talent pipeline for most companies.  Having these discussions at a time when there is significant economic turmoil creates a disconnect between what is in Toronto or in fact Canada’s long term economic and prosperity interest and the immediacy of employers’ actions of reducing the number of employees as a cost saving measure in response to the challenging business environment. The lost opportunities for recent graduates who have made an initial investment in their future through education and the underemployment of many skilled immigrants that we have attracted to our country are both a reputational and an economic risk. However, the reality is that while it is not business as usual, organizations still have hiring needs, which presents an opportunity for seeking out creative hiring solutions. As the head of an organization that has worked with employers who have faced this dilemma before, I know that access to talent through our paid internship programs for recent grad and skilled immigrants has been an effective option. “

Anne Lamont
President & CEO
Career Edge Organization

Sep 23
Love3

Career Edge Organization to lead panel at the 2011 Recruitment Innovation Summit, Oct 26 & 27

By Events & Holidays

Paula_CalderonRecognizing our expertise in the areas of employment and diversity, Career Edge Organization was invited by Richard Matthews and the organizers of the annual HRNG (Human Resources Networking Group) Recruitment Innovations Summit to assemble a panel of employers to talk about hiring diverse talent.

Our panel, “Global Markets, World-Class Talent: Building a Diverse Workforce,” will include representatives from RBC, St. Michale’s Hospital, the City of Toronto and George Kelk Corporation, and will be moderated by our own Paula Calderon.

This is a must-attend event for HR professionals and business decision-makers – we participated last year and were highly impressed with the level of professionalism and engagement of participants. To learn more about this event, or to register, I encourage you to visit the event website: http://www.hrng.ca/Conference2011/events.php

Sep 21
Love3

What Makes an Internship a Success? 4 Things Employers Should Know

By Recruitment

Internships seem to be a perennial “hot topic,” resurfacing every fall in conjunction with “back-to-school” time. Prompted by growing youth unemployment in Canada and increasing controversy about unpaid internships around the globe, the topic was featured on a recent episode of CBC Radio’s “The Sunday Edition” with Michael Enright.

Click here to listen to the program

Click here to go directly to the “4 Keys to a Successful Internship”

Read More

Sep 06
Love3

Employing people with disabilities: “Leading with Action”

By Uncategorized

As an active member of JOIN (Job Opportunity Information Network), a network of community agencies of the Greater Toronto Area assisting persons with disabilities in finding and maintaining employment, Career Edge Organization is working collaboratively with 25 member agencies to help connect employers with pre-screened, career-minded Canadian college and university graduates with self-declared disabilities. Our Ability Edge paid internships provide meaningful work experience for persons with disabilities while guiding employers through the recruiting, hiring and integrating process.

Ability Edge Program currently has over 600 active registrants in the areas of Business (29%), Arts/Humanities (35%), Information Technology (13%), Engineering (2%) and Health/Sciences (9%).

Career Edge Organization is one of the key sponsors of JOIN’s 8th Annual Employer Conference, “Leading with Action” taking place November 21-22, 2011. Please note that the “Early Bird Rate” (discount) for registration ends September 15th.

Highlights of JOIN’s 8th Annual Employer Conference, Leading with Action includes:

  • Global Business Leadership Network Summit for senior business leaders
  • Networking opportunities
  • Interactive workshops facilitated by industry leaders, subject experts and diversity-related practitioners
  • Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA): impacts on business in 2012 and onwards
  • 2011 Employer and Entrepreneur Awards
  • Keynote presenters, entertainers and special guests

People with disabilities are an underutilized and well educated labor force that can add a wealth of skills and diversity to the workplace. Yet the gap between people with disabilities and the greater population in terms of employment rate is still wide. Consider the facts:

  • Employment rate of persons with disabilities (ages 25-54): 51%  vs. Employment rate of general population, ages 25-54: 81% (Stats Canada 2001 PALS)
  • Post secondary education rate of persons with disabilities is 52% – quite comparable to the non-disabled population (59%) (Earnings and Employment Trends Dec 2003 – BC Stats)

So employers are subsequently missing out on the benefits that this diverse and qualified group has to offer.

JOIN’s Employer Conference, “Leading with Action,” will address these and many other issues. Learn about best practices for disability inclusion; get the tools to be a leader in this field.We hope to see you there!

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