EDMONTON, May 28, 2015 /CNW/ - Hundreds of high school students are looking for internships this summer to put their learning to work, and gain valuable on-the-job experience. Hiring interns today solve workforce shortages of the future.
CAREERS: The Next Generation connects students with employers to provide youth with opportunities to explore a career in health care and trades through the Health Services Youth Initiative and the high school Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP).
Student demand for CAREERS summer internships have exceeded the number of employer placements. Employers in health and trades are needed throughout the province to meet the demand.
"This is more than a summer job, it's a chance for a high school student to reaffirm their career choice by putting their studies to work," said Carmen Wyton, Vice-President, Stakeholder Relations. "We're asking employers in the health care and trades to open their doors to a young person this summer."
A student internship is an investment in the future of Alberta's workforce, and an opportunity for any employer to 'grow their own skilled workforce'. Despite the downturn in the economy, demand for skilled workers in health care and trades still exist and could return to critical levels when the economy heats up again.
"It is always the right time to build your skilled workforce," said Wyton. "The student interns and apprentices today are the technicians, aides and journeypersons you will need tomorrow. Providing a young person with a practical experience in times like these maintains employer productivity and gives the student a leg up in their career path."
Employers with opportunities in health care, trades or technologies are encouraged to contact CAREERS: The Next Generation to match them with students in their community who are ready eager, and very able to help an employer.
Background
CAREERS: The Next Generation is a unique organization providing opportunities for students to explore career options, and helps them earn while they learn through internship. We partner with government, educators, communities, industry, parents and students to introduce youth to rewarding careers in trades, health services and technology, and develop the skilled workers of the future.
In 2014, 2,083 interns were place with more than 1,300 Alberta employers took on through CAREERS: The Next Generation. Learn more at www.nextgen.org.
CAREERS Health Services Youth Initiative
This initiative provides high school students with the ability to explore careers in the health occupations and helps students narrow down their career options to the best-suited individual career path.
The program began in 2001 and has grown in popularity with each passing year. CAREERS: The Next Generation works with school districts, and public and private health care providers to match students with employers based on their career interests.
Students who discover their career passion tend to be more focused in high school and demonstrate high energy and innovation in the workplace. Those who participate in the Health Services Youth Initiative complete their studies from high school through post-secondary in a shorter timeframe and quickly develop their careers to become engaged and productive contributors to the Alberta economy.
In 2014, CAREERS placed 331 students into internships covering a range of careers including nursing and patient care support, rehabilitation, laboratory, bio medical, diagnostic imaging and health administration.
Registered Apprenticeship Program
CAREERS: The Next Generation supports the provincial Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) that allows high school students to begin their apprenticeship while they're still in high school. CAREERS matches student apprentices with employers in more than 50 career pathways. RAP students are both full-time students and registered apprentices who split their time between an approved work site and their high school studies.
CAREERS also offers a Co-op Apprenticeship program for newly graduated high school students that provides the opportunity to gain up to four years of apprenticeship training in any one of the trades. This program is offered in Medicine Hat and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
CAREERS placed more than 1,600 students into trades internships last year that included auto service technician, carpenter, electrician, heavy equipment technician, sheet metal worker and welder.
SOURCE CAREERS: The Next Generation
Image with caption: "CAREERS: The Next Generation (CNW Group/CAREERS: The Next Generation)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150528_C6788_PHOTO_EN_17236.jpg
Mike Lupien, Senior Manager, Communications, CAREERS: The Next Generation, 780-292-0906, [email protected]; Carmen Wyton, Vice-President, Stakeholder Relations, CAREERS: The Next Generation, 780-257-2270, [email protected]
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