Education/training
Paid internships a win-win situationJumpstarting new grads' careersIn September 2004, Lisa Schuster was suffering from a classic case of "need a foot in the door" syndrome. |
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 [ 2007-11-14 ] |
Lisa Schuster is one of more than 8,000 post-secondary school grads who have leveraged Career Edge to prove to employers that they have what it takes to succeed. The organization has arranged internships with more than 1,000 Canadian businesses.
In September 2004, Lisa Schuster was suffering from a classic case of "need a foot in the door" syndrome.
The graduate of Camosun College in Victoria, B.C., was having a hard time parlaying her diploma in business administration into an office administrator position at an organization in her new hometown of Toronto. After three months of pounding the virtual pavement on Internet job boards, Schuster wondered if she'd ever find a full-time job in her field.
"At job interviews, employers wanted proof of concrete work experience in an office, but I had just finished school and only had retail experience," says Schuster, 29.
By fluke, one of her Google job searches turned up Career Edge, an organization that connects post-secondary school grads with meaningful entry-level work in their area of training.
The paid internships are six, nine or 12 months long, and are offered in a variety of fields, including information technology, marketing, human resources and finance.
Shortly after completing the organization's online application, she was referred to a bilingual administrative assistant opportunity at Curriculum services Canada, a non-profit that provides learning resources for teachers nationally and internationally. The interview went well and Schuster got the job.
Not only did she finally get her foot in the door in a professional work environment, but she also enjoyed the kind of workplace support unique to Career Edge interns. Through ongoing coaching and opportunities to lead key administrative projects, Schuster gained an intimate understanding of how an organization works.
"There was a lot of mentorship and a lot of room to learn and grow and take on different projects -- work that fell outside of my job description," she says. "My experience was amazing and I learned a lot. They really gave me opportunities to prove myself."
Schuster is one of more than 8,000 post-secondary school grads who have leveraged Career Edge (www.careeredge.ca) to prove to employers that they have what it takes to succeed. Established in 1996, the organization has arranged internships with more than 1,000 Canadian businesses.
Interns get to build their experience and professional network, and finally break through the frustrating cycle of "no experience, no job -- no job, no experience." Within a few months of completing internships, nearly 80% find permanent jobs at competitive salaries, and 60% of these jobs are at the intern's own host organization.
"When recent grads apply for jobs, normal recruiting practices may screen them out because they don't have relevant work experience," says Anne Lamont, president of Career Edge. "Career Edge interns are considered in a different light because we are bringing employers a different pool of talent that they might otherwise not access."
While the financial stipend an intern earns is lower than a starting salary, the upside lies not only in the mentoring, but also in the opportunities to participate in internal training programs and to professionally network.
"They are getting exposure to people within the organization that they might not otherwise have access to," she says. "Our interns enjoy more opportunities to grow."
LOW RISK
The arrangement is also a great deal for employers: they enjoy the services of educated interns at lower costs than full-time employees, and experience a low-risk way to assess new employees before offering them a job.
"Employers have been very impressed by the quality of our interns and the skills and enthusiasm they bring to the job," Lamont says.
Schuster did so well in her internship, that about halfway through she was promoted to co-ordinator of marketing and PR, and was hired on at the end of the six months. Shortly afterwards she landed a job as an account manager at Telus, where she currently oversees the accounts of more than 300 small- and medium-sized GTA businesses.
"I can't say how invaluable my internship experience was," Schuster says. "I gained a lot of insights on how an administrator supports an organization and got a great start to my career."
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