Earlier this week, our President and CEO at Career Edge Organization, Anne Lamont attended the Toronto Forum for Global Cities, put on by the International Economic Forum of the Americas, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

This year’s theme was “restoring growth in a post bail-out era” and the speakers included CEOs and representatives from the White House, OECD, Deloitte & Touche, Toronto Hydro Corporation, World Bank Group, IBM, TD, GE Canada and Scotia Bank. On a side note, it was great to see that several of our Host Organizations were represented there.

On Monday, the OECD issued its Territorial Review of Toronto which essentially identifies what we are doing right and what we can be doing better on economic development issues such as energy, infrastructure, finance and innovation, to name a few.

First, the good news – the Report cites Toronto as one of the most diverse cities in the OECD, and the most culturally diverse urban centre in Canada, with half of the population being foreign born.

However the reality is that we (Toronto employers) could do a much better job of tapping into this valuable resource.

One of the key policy issues identified is “the under-utilization of immigrants and cultural diversity” and not surprisingly, “bridging education programmes and internships” were cited as clear solutions to “address obstacles to the recognition and appreciation of foreign skills, which are an asset for the knowledge economy.”

We are pleased to see that the OECD mentioned us as a successful “bridge to work” program, in reference to our Career Bridge program for Internationally Qualified Professionals (for those of you who have the report, you can find us on page 115). The Report goes on to say that now that the approach has been tested, bridging and internship programs could be used more widely.

We’ve heard it time and time again – an organization is only as good as its people. That’s what makes the work of an employer both exciting and challenging. Bringing a new employee onto your team can be like adding a new piece of furniture to your living room. It breathes new life into the room and changes the dynamics of how all the pieces fit together. Most importantly, it makes your space complete.

This is why everyone here is nothing short of stoked to welcome Heather Brown to the team – and don’t worry Heather, the furniture reference was just an analogy!

Heather will be filling the newly created role of ESL/FSL Applicant Screening Specialist, joining our team of ESL Screening Specialists – Ollie and Paula.

Our “screeners” interview candidates of our Career Bridge program for Internationally Qualified Professionals to ensure the highest standards within our talent database. As our pool of bilingual talent continues to expand, we recognized the need for a French language screener and brought Heather on board.

Heather’s background and experience as a language teacher and adult educator, her educational credentials in Applied Linguistics and Professional Communications at the masters-level and her fluency in both English and French make her the perfect addition to our team here at Career Edge Organization.

On top of that she’s got a great personality. Welcome Heather!

Yesterday, November 5th, two Career Edge Organization “staffers” Rizwan Abdul and Rima Dasgupta attended the 6th annual JOIN Conference Employing Individuals with Disabilities – Strategies on inclusion, Recruitment and Retention.

First some information on JOIN.  Job Opportunity Information Network (JOIN), for Persons with Disabilities is a network of 50 community agencies who deliver ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Program) Employment Supports in Toronto and Central East Region. JOIN affiliates assist persons living with disabilities to find and maintain employment, and assist employers looking to recruit qualified candidates with disabilities to meet their hiring needs.

Now more about the annual conference. The JOIN Annual conference is an event that facilitates discussion among various stakeholders about hiring, retaining and promoting employees with disabilities. The Annual conference is widely seen as a leading event for businesses, not-for-profit sector organizations and public sector employers working with individuals with disabilities.

Career Edge Organization, one of the founding members of the JOIN Toronto Region Business Leadership Network was pleased to attend this year’s JOIN conference. From our perspective, it  was an excellent learning experience and we are pleased to observe that once again (and despite widespread recessionary constraints in effect) there was a great turnout as new businesses become members of JOIN and are taking a proactive approach by hiring persons with disabilities (PWD’s).

Our staff who participated in the event were very encouraged that many employers attending including Scotiabank, the lead event sponsor organization are also Career Edge Organization host employers who recognize us as a key player among organizations that work in the area of integrating PWD’s in the workplace through the Ability Edge paid internship program.  This year’s conference has seen many new employers participating but we encourage new employer involvement to keep the momentum created by JOIN on track. Hiring qualified persons with disabilities is a proven key business enabler – we hear that loud and clear from many of the host organizations that we partner with to provide graduates with disabilities meaningful work experience throught the Ability Edge program.

The keynote address by Dr. Jennifer Arnold was very inspirational as she narrated her journey as a person with disability and her experiences in overcoming the barriers to become a Pediatrician, neonatal specialist, professor and a reality TV star. The various sessions conducted by members of JOIN were also very informative as they discussed their key learnings and best practices working with employees with disabilities.

The sharing was phenomenal! Some of the key learnings from the sessions were that hiring, retaining and promoting PWD’s is an ongoing learning process and no one can claim to be the experts in the area. Notable best practices that can be emulated from these employers is that open communication between all key holders including the employees with a disability is crucial in integrating these employees and removing the barriers to their integration in the workforce.

Career Edge Organization would like to thank the University of Toronto Mississauga Career Centre for inviting us to participate in a panel discussion yesterday.

As a panelist, our own Janice Rudkowski, Director of Marketing and Communications, shared her experiences in the marketing industry with eager, wide-eyed students who came from a variety of academic backgrounds from business management to anthropology!

One of the key insights Janice offered was on the topic of networking. Job seekers are often told that persistence and networking are the key to penetrating the job market but as employers, we all know how frustrating it is to be bombarded with pleading emails, voice-mails and LinkedIn requests from people you have never met. In a competitive environment like this one, employers may begin to feel like everyone is asking something of them.

“Ask yourself, what can I do for them?” Janice suggested to the would-be marketers.

She stressed that it is quality, not quantity that counts when it comes to building relationships, pointing out that relationships built on mutual benefit are the way to go, not networking for the sake of building a contact list.

Janice also told the group not to take it personally if an interview doesn’t result in a job offer, saying that it is often a matter of fit rather than qualifications and that “they may actually be doing you a favour!” Because working in an environment where the fit isn’t right is not an experience anyone wants.

Claire Westgate, Coordinator and Employer Services at UTM, organized the “Careers in Marketing Night at the University of Toronto Mississauga” in partnership with their Student Marketing Association, and did a fantastic job moderating the panel discussion.

Janice holds an MBA and has an extensive background in marketing including private sector experience in Brand Management, Category Management, Licensing, Sales and Retail across a number of industry sectors including Consumer Packaged Goods, Toys and Consumer Healthcare.

Since Brazen Careerist was kind enough to feature our post on their blog today, we thought we’d take the opportunity to let employers know about this interesting new website and career management tool.

Founded by Penelope Trunk, Ryan Healy and Ryan Paugh in August 2007, Brazen Careerist is a social networking site for young professionals looking to share more than their profiles. It’s a bit of a hybrid of various popular social networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, all wrapped in one.

Brazen Careerist describes itself as “an online community and career center for Generation Y.” It’s a place where young professionals can exchange ideas and insights about topics relevant to the next generation. It is also intended to be a tool for managing their online brand. Creating a positive and professional online presence is a key issue for the Facebook generation as they transition from student life to work life. Brazen Careerist is accessible to employers who wish to learn more about Gen Y and witness unrealized talent at work.

Today’s youth face a challenging work environment. Many graduated in a recession and saw youth unemployment skyrocket. They have little relevant work experience and are generally stereotyped as being transient, demanding and unwilling to pay their dues. Our study (which you can read about on Brazen Careerist) showed that these stereotypes are not true and the employers we work with know that recent graduates bring talent, education and a fresh perspective to the workplace. It is wonderful to see this generation has created a forum where they can properly represent themselves.