This past week, our President and CEO, Anne Lamont was invited by the Toronto Board of Trade to participate in a Webinar aimed at employers in the GTA. The complimentary webinar, entitled Driving Your Business Strategy: Adapting to Changes in Canadian Demographics addressed the need for businesses to adapt and change with the times, identifying “new opportunities” in the form of diverse talent pools.
The Maytree Foundation’s blog, “Maytree Conversations,” posted an article by Shannon Klie, Writer and Content Developer, hireimmigrants.ca, ALLIES, entitled “Internships: Low risk, big return,” highlighting innovative programs for bringing qualified international talent to the workplace.
Career Edge Organization’s paid internship program was cited as “a novel approach” for businesses to test out potential candidates for fit and expertise.
The Regional Municipality of Halton has addressed this concern by centralizing the cost of internships. Individual departments don’t bear the cost of an intern, providing further incentive for managers to bring in skilled immigrant interns.
Because the Region partners with Career Bridge, managers have access to many pre-screened, professional new immigrants to fill intern spots. That’s a win-win. And, employers are increasingly recognizing the power of internships, according to an analysis of organizations shortlisted to the Best Employers for New Canadians competition in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
What Employers Need to Know
Internships for skilled immigrants can help with immediate staffing needs. You can:
- Hire a highly skilled and professional candidate on a low-cost trial basis;
- Benefit from multi-lingual professionals who bring global experience to your company and can help you connect with new markets; and
- Increase your staff’s cross-cultural communication skills and intercultural awareness.
Click here to read the full article
Read Next: What makes an internship a success? 4 things employers should know
Contributed post by Md. Salah Uddin, Workplace Inclusion Specialist for Persons with Disabilities at Career Edge Organization, and Internationally Qualified Professional
Internationally qualified professionals need to quickly learn the ins and outs of the Canadian workplace culture within a short period of time if they want to survive and explore their career in Canada. Luckily there are many different resources available here to provide this kind of support.
But inclusion is always a two way process, and there are some important things employers can be aware of to make the process better.
I myself am a newcomer, having recently immigrated to Canada from Bangladesh. Internationally qualified professionals like myself can play an important role in educating employers on how to work with us, so here are a few practical tips:
- Recognize individuals are complex and unique. Avoid comments (good or bad) rooted in overgeneralizations about race/gender/culture.
- Learn to pronounce all of the names correctly. People love to hear their names correctly.
- Do not “under or overprotect”. Like under protection, overprotection is not welcomed by most of the immigrants. Always verify your behaviour with the key question “Am I treating the person with dignity and respect?”
- Avoid highly idiomatic English. e.g. “once in a blue moon,” “between a rock and a hard place” or “get out of here!” as they may be taken literally!
- Make your speeches audible and visible together. When you talk, try to put together something in writing or visuals.
- Use diverse examples rather than ones which assume a particular background or experience.
- Don’t assume that people who don’t talk don’t know the facts. “Showing off” is taboo in many parts of the world.
- Avoid any type of humour that denigrates anyone. A surprisingly large number of jokes involve putting down people who are different in some way and who may already feel marginal because of those differences.
That’s all from my side. Hope you’ll continue from where I stop. Let’s learn and teach together!
Career Edge Organization Recognizes Innovative Public, Private and Non-Profit Sector Organizations for Embracing Untapped Canadian Knowledge Workers at the 2010/11 Achievement Awards
Days after the Oscars in Hollywood, Career Edge Organization (CEO) rolled out its red carpet to honour leading Canadian employers for their innovative approach to recruiting and hiring diverse and highly qualified but often untapped knowledge workers. Their partnerships with CEO have helped them uncover coveted talent to build diverse and inclusive workplaces that reflects Canada’s contemporary society.
Hundreds of senior executives, human resources professionals and former interns of CEO’s paid internship programs gathered at the Toronto Board of Trade last night (Tuesday, March 2) to celebrate the annual CEO Achievement Awards and the organization’s 15 years of success in connecting employers with diverse, qualified talent. At the core of the celebration were compelling human stories of struggle, opportunity and triumph.
At Issue
Canada’s workforce is changing – an aging population, the arrival of skilled immigrants, and a new generation of university and college graduates, commonly known as Gen Y, entering the workforce – pushing Canadian employers to seek new ways to engage appropriate knowledge workers to meet the burgeoning skills shortage.
Leading employers understand that many of their traditional hiring practices no longer enable them to take full advantage of the evolving talent pool. They also know that to ensure business success they need a workforce that represents the diverse markets they serve.
The Solution
Through CEO’s three highly innovative programs – Career Edge for recent college and university graduates, Ability Edge for graduates with disabilities and Career Bridge for internationally qualified professionals – employers can engage a diverse group of trained knowledge workers with different levels of skills and experience through paid internships to meet their short and long term hiring needs.
The results create an optimum situation. The paid internships provide opportunities for employers to engage career-minded candidates to bolster their existing workforces in exchange for the often demanded Canadian experience to help launch the careers of these individuals.
By 2011, more than 1,200 leading Canadian employers have partnered with CEO and provided meaningful work opportunities to over 10,000 paid interns. Many organizations continue to groom these interns after the completion of the program to become future managers of their organizations.
The 2010/11 Achievement Award winners
Career Edge Organization Leadership Award
Bell Canada: http://www.bell.ca/home/
Career Edge Organization Program Awards
Career Edge Program Awards: http://www.achievementawards.ca/video/
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- Large Enterprise: Bell
- Medium Enterprise: First National Financial LP
- Small Enterprise: Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters
Ability Edge Program Award: http://www.achievementawards.ca/video/
- RBC
Career Bridge Program Awards: http://www.achievementawards.ca/video/
- Private Sector: RBC
- Public Sector, Large Enterprise: Government of Ontario
- Public Sector, Small/Medium Enterprise: City of Toronto
Most Valued Internship Experience (MoVIE) Award: http://www.achievementawards.ca/video/
Winner: OPS Internship for Internationally Trained Individuals, Ministry of the Environment, Government of Ontario http://www.ontario.ca/en/your_government/009848.html
Intern and Mentor Awards (and videos!):
- Mentor of the Year (sponsored by Manulife Financial): Denise Sarazin, Bell Canada
- Intern of the Year – Career Edge Program (sponsored by TD Bank Financial Group): Ikram Ataullah, BMO Financial Group
- Intern of the Year – Ability Edge Program (sponsored by Scotiabank): Fenella Chiu, Loblaw Companies Limited
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- Intern of the Year – Career Bridge Program (sponsored by RBC): Beatrice Reitano, Ministry of Community and Social Services, Government of Ontario
For a complete list of finalists, photos, videos and additional information about the Career Edge Organization Achievement Awards, visit www.achievementawards.ca.
Career Edge Organization would like to extend a HUGE thank you to our sponsors, vendors, host employers, alumni, interns, partner organizations, board members, staff and everyone who attended last night’s event. It was a spectacular event, all thanks to you.
Yesterday, Janice Rudkowski of Career Edge Organization was at the Conference Board of Canada’s “National Consultation on Career Development and Workforce Learning” (better known as NATCON) educating over 50 employers and workplace education program developers on Millennials, the tech-savvy cohort of twenty-somethings that are entering and changing the Canadian workforce.
Working with hundreds employers on grad hiring strategies since 1996, Career Edge Organization has a comprehensive understanding of Gen Y and has been a driving force behind new Canadian Gen Y research in recent years. Like many of us, Janice is well aware of the stereotypes and myths about Gen Y in the workplace. Rather than rehash the same old rhetoric, Janice brought a fresh perspective using research-based stats and information to shed new light on a dynamic issue.
Drawing upon research from our recent Gen Y study, as well as real life case studies from over 10,000
successfully launched careers, this workshop aims to identify what workplace culture actually means,
the impact it has on grads‘ career planning, as well as the kinds of research they do and the opinions
they seek to select their employers of choice. Participants will leave this session with practical, up-todate tools and insights to immediately influence their organization‘s Gen Y and to improve diversity
recruitment strategies.
Drawing upon research from our recent Gen Y study, as well as real life case studies from over 10,000 successfully launched careers, our workshop helped to identify what workplace culture actually means, the impact it has on grads’ career planning, as well as the kinds of research they do and the opinions they seek to select their employers of choice. Participants were given practical, up-todate tools and insights to immediately influence their organization‘s Gen Y and to improve diversity recruitment strategies.
Hoping for an intimate and engaged audience of 25 people, we were delighted to see room fill, so much that 20 extra chairs were needed! Without a doubt, Janice’s session was the most popular and well-attended workshop at NATCON, a strong reflection of the appetite that exists for fresh information on this topic.
Many thanks to all who attended, as well as the Conference Board of Canada for planning and executing a great event. So you guys at NATCON next year!