Workforce Open Doors helps young job seekers

When Sandwich secondary school student Nick Albano was pondering his future, not only was his career pathway unclear, he wasn't sure where to even begin to look for ideas.

With help from the staff at his high school, Albano eventually found his way to a yearlong placement with Centreline-windsor, but he wishes a program like the newly unveiled Open Doors platform had been there when he was sorting out his future.

“This program is going to help students because it gets you connected to a company right away,” said Albano, who has accepted a position with Centreline upon his graduation in June.

“I was thinking of going into construction for OYAP (Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program). Then I'd heard about Centreline and manufacturing, so I decided to give it a shot.

“This helps narrow it down finding what you like.”

Karl Mroczkowski, Centreline's employee development training and safety co-ordinator, said coop placements and experiential learning are major sources of new talent for the company.

Mroczkowski said Centreline has hosted hundreds of students in co-op or OYAP placements over the past decade and many remain as employees.

“In the past 10 years, I've had to rely on my networking skills, connecting with teachers, OYAP teachers and others through word of mouth,” said Mroczkowski, who also served on the committee advising Workforce Windsoressex on Open Doors.

“As an industry, they can register and say what they have available and for educators and students it's a one-stop place to look.

“For example, I got a call from a teacher at Assumption (Thursday) morning looking for a place for their students. Now she won't have to make all these phone calls.”

The Open Doors project (www. workforcewindsoressex.com/ open-doors) has been three years in the making and was made possible by a $74,000 federal grant from the Community Recovery Program. It was created in consultation with the city's Pathway to Potential and the United Way's Prosper Us Cradle to Careers programs.

“It'll be a great resource for all four local school boards as well as our post-secondary institutions,” said Workforce Windsoressex project communications lead Sarah Robson.

Employers are responding positively to the project, she said, adding that 65 companies have so far registered on the website, a number that is growing daily.

“This is paving the way for our future workforce,” said Hawkins and Co. Accounting chief operating officer Danielle Ramsten.

“It opens the opportunity to step into dynamic workplaces. It connects students and employers with forward-thinking companies.

“It's a chance for businesses to highlight their achievements and build relationships with their future workforce.”

Robson said currently co-op placements commonly rely on the networks of an individual educator or employer. She noted the strength of Open Doors is its simplicity in extending those networks, centralizing the variety of opportunities available while saving time for everyone.

“Employers have shared that it's not that they're not open to having students and experiential learning, but if they're not approached by a co-op co-ordinator, they don't get a co-op student,” Robson said.

“This way, they can get out there to the universe that they're willing to take on a student or offer tours or be a speaker.”

Robson said manufacturing firms represent most of the companies currently registered, but there's an effort to get the word out to attract a more diverse choice of options.

“I'd love to see more tech opportunities on the board,” Robson said. “We have a lot of manufacturing opportunities because of our connections from Manufacturing Day.”