Everyday, I talk to employers. Employers who are socially responsible. Employers who lead their industry. Employers who do the right thing and give back. Top employers. We talk about giving opportunities to individuals facing barriers to employment. We talk about changing the lives of newcomers to Canada like my parents (and I) two decades ago, people with disabilities like some of my fellow grads, and post-secondary grads like my younger self. We talk about making a difference.
The Career Edge mission is to eliminate barriers to employment – to break that familiar ‘no experience, no job’ cycle. What’s special about Career Edge paid internships are the investments. Top employers invest their time in individuals they can retain as permanent employees. Interns invest their time in jobs that provide one-on-one mentoring, meaningful work experience in their field of study, industry knowledge, and networking opportunities.
Investments make the difference. Think about great content providers like Netflix, HBO and Showtime. It’s not because they have the best writers, actors, or directors (often times they do). Traditional cable networks make decisions based on investments from ads. Great content providers make decisions based on investments from subscribers. They invest in their audience. Working with Career Edge has a lot of similarities. We’re completely self-sustaining, meaning we pivot to the needs of our employer partners, and in doing so, end up helping the job seekers we represent.
I started a Career Edge paid internship over two years ago. As an intern on our marketing team, I crafted passionate posts on Twitter. Now, as a permanent employee, and the director of our client services team, I deliver passionate pitches in person. In the last year talking to employers, I connected top companies with financial analysts, project managers, HR generalists, marketing coordinators, and full-stack developers to name a few – and these talented, qualified professionals with their dream careers at top, industry leading, socially responsible companies who do the right thing (shout out Spike Lee) and give back.
It’s wonderful hearing that Canada’s labour market added 106,500 net jobs in April – the largest one-month employment gain since 1976 – but there’ll always be talented, qualified job seekers lost in the numbers game, facing barriers to employment. (The competition for talent in 2019 is hotter than the heatwave in Sal’s Famous Pizzeria, but Career Edge makes doing the right thing while still hiring top talent possible).
Join us on our mission. If your organization is serious about diversity and inclusion in 2019 and needs a program to attract, develop, and retain diverse talent, I’m personally here to help. Together, let’s do the right thing!
[Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/connecting-our-parents-peers-younger-selves-dream-aziz-smailagic/]