Jody Hendry, who manages the post-grad internships program for the Ontario government, the summer student programs, and now is piloting a process for streamlining the Co-op hiring processes for the government over the next 12 months, spoke to us about the upcoming program and took questions and recommendations from the assembled EWO group.
Some of the operating parameters are that they need to respect the existing agreements with OPSEU, etc., but that there is still some space to hire about 200 students per term. Going forward, they expect to be guided by the EWO website with respect to contact and program information, so it will be important for EWO schools to maintain this information closely.
The pilot will look like this: generic jobs will be posted for Co-op students. Once the applicants have submitted though, there will not be direct access for institutions to the progress of the hiring decision, until and unless the hiring manager gets in touch with the institution. The aim is to improve transparency and consistency, however. So, some recommendations on how to interact with the institutions were brought forward, e.g., putting a Coordinator's name and contact info on the student's application form...for the hiring manager's benefit. Unfortunately, timelines for decisions will not be readily available. Everything is up to the individual hiring manager.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
More from EWO...unpaid work
As a matter of fact, there are situations where students and companies enter into agreements where they both benefit, and there is no (or little) remuneration. The student gets a reference, with relevant experience and the employer gets the talent and the outcomes. It's often unconventional, with the student coming to work when they're available (often they may be working unrelated roles so that they can afford to pursue the unpaid role).
The University of Waterloo (thank you, Rocco) is examining their policies and approaches to unpaid positions and trying diligently to respect the CAFCE guidelines. They're bringing creativity to how to identify "remuneration", the CAFCE term, such that honoraria, stipends, equity positions, hardware (tools and devices) provision, etc. would be recognized. It's relatively critical to ask the employer what they would have done (would the work have gone undone?) if there was not a student available in the so-called unpaid role.
Questions about insurance for the student and the Ontario Tax Credit (whether or not the amount is enough or if awareness is sufficient) were brought forward and it seems we may not have wide understanding and clarity on where we're at on these points).
The University of Waterloo (thank you, Rocco) is examining their policies and approaches to unpaid positions and trying diligently to respect the CAFCE guidelines. They're bringing creativity to how to identify "remuneration", the CAFCE term, such that honoraria, stipends, equity positions, hardware (tools and devices) provision, etc. would be recognized. It's relatively critical to ask the employer what they would have done (would the work have gone undone?) if there was not a student available in the so-called unpaid role.
Questions about insurance for the student and the Ontario Tax Credit (whether or not the amount is enough or if awareness is sufficient) were brought forward and it seems we may not have wide understanding and clarity on where we're at on these points).
Notes from the (Ryerson) EWO Conference
Beautiful days to be in Toronto...it's warm and sunny and we can get out in the amazing green spaces that dot the Ryerson campus.
Our morning began with a talk from Kelly Johnson, a social media trainer from London, who spoke about the various social media and dashboards that integrate them. A strong takeaway was that you "must understand your audience". There are various ways to participate and no right way to participate, but some are better than others for different intended outcomes.
Whether you're a lurker or a keener in any one of them, being familiar with them can't hurt. Creating a temporary presence or identity before you commit fully will allow you to familiarize yourself before you make a big commitment...and it is a commitment, of time and energy and creativity.
So identify your target audience, establish your brand, set up 2 or 3 tools, and start increasing traffic through word-of-mouth and through maintaining and developing client promotions.
With regard to Facebook, it is definitely a social space first, but with the addition of a new module called BranchOut, they're attempting to play where LinkedIn is staked out. That being the case, Facebook can be a more friendly way to ask someone to connect with you on LinkedIn. Several watchouts with Facebook...watch your privacy settings. They can change without notice as Facebook evolves new functionalities.
Two further ideas to ponder: one, you don't "pay" to play with these tools, you play to play. It takes that kind of energy and approach. And second, there are "dashboard" tools like Spredfast,
which allows simultaneous monitoring of all of the tools AND you can have multiple people accessing the same, corporate sites.
Twitter wasn't discussed too thoroughly...but clearly is big on the user/adoption front. Hey, we've even secured a posting through Twitter.
Richard Wiggers, the Director of HEQCO (dot ca), spoke to us about some research underway relative to students, experiential work, and their intersection points.
Just some of the many, many nuggets he offered (see the full report, which will be available
shortly):
Our morning began with a talk from Kelly Johnson, a social media trainer from London, who spoke about the various social media and dashboards that integrate them. A strong takeaway was that you "must understand your audience". There are various ways to participate and no right way to participate, but some are better than others for different intended outcomes.
Whether you're a lurker or a keener in any one of them, being familiar with them can't hurt. Creating a temporary presence or identity before you commit fully will allow you to familiarize yourself before you make a big commitment...and it is a commitment, of time and energy and creativity.
So identify your target audience, establish your brand, set up 2 or 3 tools, and start increasing traffic through word-of-mouth and through maintaining and developing client promotions.
With regard to Facebook, it is definitely a social space first, but with the addition of a new module called BranchOut, they're attempting to play where LinkedIn is staked out. That being the case, Facebook can be a more friendly way to ask someone to connect with you on LinkedIn. Several watchouts with Facebook...watch your privacy settings. They can change without notice as Facebook evolves new functionalities.
Two further ideas to ponder: one, you don't "pay" to play with these tools, you play to play. It takes that kind of energy and approach. And second, there are "dashboard" tools like Spredfast,
which allows simultaneous monitoring of all of the tools AND you can have multiple people accessing the same, corporate sites.
Twitter wasn't discussed too thoroughly...but clearly is big on the user/adoption front. Hey, we've even secured a posting through Twitter.
Richard Wiggers, the Director of HEQCO (dot ca), spoke to us about some research underway relative to students, experiential work, and their intersection points.
Just some of the many, many nuggets he offered (see the full report, which will be available
shortly):
- high school students are taking fewer and fewer part-time jobs and this is negatively impacting their "experience" quotient...which presents future concerns for practitioners and employers.
- 64% of upcoming grads (baccalaureate) anticipate going for further credentials...perhaps (?) because they aren't confident of their employment potential (most especially if they have not had chances in work-integrated learning (WIL)). Unfortunately, without relevant experience, this may improve their employability.
- 78% of students in WIL cite the EXPERIENCE as the main driver in making this choice, not PAY!
- It sounds like a good read...Intern Nation, by Ross Perlin...as it reveals tidbits like the 10s of 1000s of student/interns who work illegally in the U.S., because it's become the new norm. Part of that new norm comes about because Co-op can't deliver all of the students that would satisfy the demand. Part of that is attributed to erosion of faculty support and funding to Co-op. And now, the result, which is that 29% of Co-op opportunities in the U.S. are unpaid. Let's not let that happen in Canada.
Friday, January 28, 2011
First Day of Interviews
So much goes on behind the scenes to make career opportunities blossom for university students. There's a great team developing opportunities with the employer community and others dedicated to the logistics of bringing the parties together.
The bloom opened today. We've got a full house of employers and students who are all trying to make the best decisions for themselves.
It brings a real refreshment to the air through the energy that exudes from the overall excitement. Yes, students may be more on-edge than employers since they look at the mountain from the bottom, while the hiring people feel it through their obligation and willingness to make the right selection and keep their team moving up the mountain.
At the risk of forcing the metaphors together, everyone should recognize that flowers in the meadow on the mountain are what it's about.
The bloom opened today. We've got a full house of employers and students who are all trying to make the best decisions for themselves.
It brings a real refreshment to the air through the energy that exudes from the overall excitement. Yes, students may be more on-edge than employers since they look at the mountain from the bottom, while the hiring people feel it through their obligation and willingness to make the right selection and keep their team moving up the mountain.
At the risk of forcing the metaphors together, everyone should recognize that flowers in the meadow on the mountain are what it's about.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Is it confusing to be an intern?
We seem to use the term "intern" for a lot of different categories. I think in Canada, according to the CAFCE guidelines, there's a pretty clear definition. But, when I look at all the different situations that interns wind up in, I wonder if we're doing a favour for students and employers, let alone ourselves the practitioners, in letting loose the many different interpretations.
My most prominent (negative) image and the one which I like to have you imagine least, is the intern in the U.S. television/motion picture industry. Time was that the interns in these roles were compensated and given challenging, productive opportunities. I think those same challenges may still be there, but they've let themselves slide down the slippery slope, greased by the demand from the students and the abundance of roles, to the point where students are not paid. When that happens it means that the engagement of and by the student is lessened. Following this to the logical conclusion, the employer does not see the need to have a student work (and learn) in their workplace if they're not engaged. There are likely many flavours to this story, but I'm describing the most bitter tasting one.
Interns can contribute to their employer post-graduation, pre-graduation, and any number of different ways. Internships often mean that a student is working more than the usual four- or eight-month terms. It's often 12- or 16-months. I think these are very good for the employer and moderately so for the student. It has to be managed well. Ideally the student is progressing through a cycle of roles in that time span. The point being to engage them in all different ways so as to enable them to contribute best and learn optimally. Obviously this is more the case for a series of four-month work-terms...where different employers/supervisors are involved.
This is not meant to be an extensive categorization of what it means to be an intern.
When you hear "intern", be open to the different interpretations.
My most prominent (negative) image and the one which I like to have you imagine least, is the intern in the U.S. television/motion picture industry. Time was that the interns in these roles were compensated and given challenging, productive opportunities. I think those same challenges may still be there, but they've let themselves slide down the slippery slope, greased by the demand from the students and the abundance of roles, to the point where students are not paid. When that happens it means that the engagement of and by the student is lessened. Following this to the logical conclusion, the employer does not see the need to have a student work (and learn) in their workplace if they're not engaged. There are likely many flavours to this story, but I'm describing the most bitter tasting one.
Interns can contribute to their employer post-graduation, pre-graduation, and any number of different ways. Internships often mean that a student is working more than the usual four- or eight-month terms. It's often 12- or 16-months. I think these are very good for the employer and moderately so for the student. It has to be managed well. Ideally the student is progressing through a cycle of roles in that time span. The point being to engage them in all different ways so as to enable them to contribute best and learn optimally. Obviously this is more the case for a series of four-month work-terms...where different employers/supervisors are involved.
This is not meant to be an extensive categorization of what it means to be an intern.
When you hear "intern", be open to the different interpretations.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Career Trajectories
We often speak to Co-op students about their career trajectory. Keeping in mind that the possibility for one work-term that doesn't suit a student can happen, students generally are developing their career sense, if not a definable progression, during the three or so years they're in Co-op. So, when they're finished and graduated how does this continue?
Take a research scientist...as a Co-op student you would hope they get a few good stints in the lab. Perhaps they even get to explore some notions and ideas under a good mentor. Will they ever have the rapid rise in capabilities and exposure to personal development that happens in the crucible of the work-term? If they commence work in a research lab, post-graduation, will they be drinking the same amount from a fire hose or just a water fountain?
Consider a marketing student. They see four different studios and four different organizational structures, perhaps. This in the span of three years. Is that going to happen to them again...even with the shuddering thought that they will have to bounce from job to job due to economics?
Co-op is a steep learning curve for many reasons. First, you have to learn to know yourself and sell this notion on paper. Then, you have to adjust and perform in a new working and learning world for four months and return to apply that new knowledge in class. That point isn't really expected in the conventional working world...but maybe it should be...in the sense of sharing knowledge with your team.
Have any of us thought about the rapid adjustment and the need to internalize the change that goes on in the person of a Co-op student...likely not from the vantage point of our rather more shallow, later in the career, learning curves.
Take a research scientist...as a Co-op student you would hope they get a few good stints in the lab. Perhaps they even get to explore some notions and ideas under a good mentor. Will they ever have the rapid rise in capabilities and exposure to personal development that happens in the crucible of the work-term? If they commence work in a research lab, post-graduation, will they be drinking the same amount from a fire hose or just a water fountain?
Consider a marketing student. They see four different studios and four different organizational structures, perhaps. This in the span of three years. Is that going to happen to them again...even with the shuddering thought that they will have to bounce from job to job due to economics?
Co-op is a steep learning curve for many reasons. First, you have to learn to know yourself and sell this notion on paper. Then, you have to adjust and perform in a new working and learning world for four months and return to apply that new knowledge in class. That point isn't really expected in the conventional working world...but maybe it should be...in the sense of sharing knowledge with your team.
Have any of us thought about the rapid adjustment and the need to internalize the change that goes on in the person of a Co-op student...likely not from the vantage point of our rather more shallow, later in the career, learning curves.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The Latest Installment
As in, I haven't written anything in a while...it's now pent up. And a certain double-meaning derives from the fact that I have just met with the most recent class of Co-op students getting ready to enter the job search cycle.
No apologies for not having written. It's the first two months of a new job and that over-ruled several other priorities.
What I want to remark upon is the tremendous quality of the preparation that students have put forth. We have been reviewing their resumes for grading purposes and I can say that I have been very pleasantly surprised. I see order and attention to the requirements which may not always have been evident before. Congratulations to this class.
Having just returned from a CAFCE event in Winnipeg, we were able to learn from some experts int he field about the nature and nurture of the upcoming Generation Y. What I remember specifically about the characterization of these people is their reliance upon their parents for guidance and nurturing and the social and workplace habits that result in them having a dependance in instantaneous social connections (read: Facebook and Twitter). What and how should we respond?
We (the older generations, be it Gen X or Boomers) need to acknowledge that IT IS NOW DIFFERENT. Our models and our expectations are not transferred to these people. They need to be responded to differently, but we should not yield on our business-performance expectations. It's just that we need to tailor our strategies and styles to suit. That's what leaders do. For example, if I want to lead a horse to water, I don't pull and I don't push. I need to motivate the horse on her terms. Is the horse thirsty? It will be. If it isn't, how much am I willing to accommodate until the act of drinking the water is done? That's not meant to be trite. My point is that you need to understand the natural balance between comprehending the other and where you need them to be.
In other terms, if you've been to another culture, you'll understand that your way is not THE way. In the Globe and Mail the other day, in a discussion about work/life balance we learned of a young father who sells flowers for 17 hours a day. He does this for 2 months in a row and takes a month off. Why? So that his cousin can work and have an income. Wouldn't we naturally assume that he needed a vacation? No. He was balancing against a greater need that the extended family would be successful.
It's really challenging to look at things from the others' perspective. Give it a try...everday.
No apologies for not having written. It's the first two months of a new job and that over-ruled several other priorities.
What I want to remark upon is the tremendous quality of the preparation that students have put forth. We have been reviewing their resumes for grading purposes and I can say that I have been very pleasantly surprised. I see order and attention to the requirements which may not always have been evident before. Congratulations to this class.
Having just returned from a CAFCE event in Winnipeg, we were able to learn from some experts int he field about the nature and nurture of the upcoming Generation Y. What I remember specifically about the characterization of these people is their reliance upon their parents for guidance and nurturing and the social and workplace habits that result in them having a dependance in instantaneous social connections (read: Facebook and Twitter). What and how should we respond?
We (the older generations, be it Gen X or Boomers) need to acknowledge that IT IS NOW DIFFERENT. Our models and our expectations are not transferred to these people. They need to be responded to differently, but we should not yield on our business-performance expectations. It's just that we need to tailor our strategies and styles to suit. That's what leaders do. For example, if I want to lead a horse to water, I don't pull and I don't push. I need to motivate the horse on her terms. Is the horse thirsty? It will be. If it isn't, how much am I willing to accommodate until the act of drinking the water is done? That's not meant to be trite. My point is that you need to understand the natural balance between comprehending the other and where you need them to be.
In other terms, if you've been to another culture, you'll understand that your way is not THE way. In the Globe and Mail the other day, in a discussion about work/life balance we learned of a young father who sells flowers for 17 hours a day. He does this for 2 months in a row and takes a month off. Why? So that his cousin can work and have an income. Wouldn't we naturally assume that he needed a vacation? No. He was balancing against a greater need that the extended family would be successful.
It's really challenging to look at things from the others' perspective. Give it a try...everday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)