CAREERS: THE NEXT GENERATION

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Building strong communities and providing direct access to highly motivated young men and women who will form Alberta's future workforce...that is exactly why CAREERS: The Next Generation works for employers. As the economy grows and labour pools continue to shrink, it becomes increasingly difficult for businesses to find the skilled employees they need to succeed.  Whose responsibility is it to ensure that today's youth have the skills and training required for the many available careers?  The answer is "everyone.” Educators, employers, the community, parents, and students are all responsible for ensuring that career opportunities and information are available for young people.
 
The role of employers is to offer the opportunity.  By participating as an employer, you can help bridge the gap between school and the workplace, and you will play a significant part in growing the workforce of tomorrow.  Through the pre-screening and selection process, CAREERS works with schools to secure committed students who are the best fit for your workplace.  You will have access to a future talent pool and you will have the opportunity to help strengthen school programs. Our employer partners teach young people workplace and employability skills, which they will carry with them for the rest of their lives and use to best advantage for both themselves and their future employers.
  Since CAREERS began in 1997, the number of employers who work with us has grown from 57 to 660.  As the days, weeks, and months pass, more and more employers embrace our goals and objectives and offer their workplaces as safe and supportive training environments for our youth - becoming the employer of choice and strong community-builders.  It's a smart investment that ensures everyone wins.
CAREERS Programs Lead to Career Success
 
CAREERS' programs have expanded to allow high school students, across the province, an opportunity to explore career success in Trades and Technologies, Health Services, and Information and Communications Technologies.  As a result, students have an increasingly diverse range of careers they can explore, and they are entering the post-secondary world and the workforce poised and motivated for accomplishment.  With the support of a very diverse group of organizations, in 2002 CAREERS programs and services helped bring careers to life for close to 22,000 Alberta high school students through classroom workshops held in 197 high schools located within 118 communities.
Trades and Technologies 
 
In the next two decades 40% of all new jobs will be in skilled trades and emerging occupations.  The demand for tradespeople is booming and many sectors are experiencing serious shortages.  People in skilled trades will likely have long, stable careers, use sophisticated technology, and make above-average salaries.  Their training involves academic as well as hands-on learning and related post-secondary education.  In Alberta, the Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) takes a unique approach to apprenticeship delivery, allowing high school students to take their apprenticeship training in concert with completing their secondary education.  Allowing students to commence their career in one of the 51 trades certified in the Province of Alberta.  An apprenticeship is a viable choice for many students, where they can 'earn as they learn', and they have access to well-paying jobs that demand a high level of skills, intelligence, commitment, and creativity. Agreements between provinces enable skilled workers to work anywhere in Canada and in many locations around the world.  In 2002, CAREERS placed 817 students in trades internships positions with 744 employers.
 
Health Services
  This pilot project was developed to strategically grow a future talent pool of high quality health care workers.  Shareholders include Alberta Health and Wellness, Capital Health Authority, Calgary Health Region, Alberta Northern Development Council (Northern Links) and CAREERS: The Next Generation.  The project allows students the opportunity to participate in 6-week summer internships in health facilities across the province.  The 2002 summer student internship was highly successful, with a 52% increase in internships within 14 Regional Health Authorities (RHA's), 16 private and volunteer facilities, and two provincial boards, providing a rich variety of placements for 216 students.  More than 70 high schools participated and interns were placed in diverse disciplines including a number of 'hard to recruit' areas.  Health care mentor feedback indicates that CAREERS students are of high academic and employability caliber and offer value-added assets to the health environment and facilities.

Information and Communications Technologies 
  This program introduces students to broad career opportunities in the digital workforce and equips them with the skills they need to thrive.  Although the well-publicized bursting of the dot-com bubble led to decreased demand in the field, employment growth continues.In 2002, CAREERS placed 23 grade 11 students in summer internship positions with 13 employers.  Despite the volatile economy, the need for education to bridge the digital divide is more critical than ever.  CAREERS will continue to strive to meet this need by preparing high school students for successful careers in information technology.  In the future, we expect a turn-around for the IT sector and look forward to a surge of participation by the tech-heavy members.

Aboriginal Youth Initiative
  Within our province is an ever-increasing, energetic and untapped labour pool.  Almost half of the Aboriginal people in Alberta are less than 20 years of age, compared with 29% of the province's overall population. This trend will continue to grow so that, by 2012, there will be 46,000 Aboriginal persons ready to enter Alberta's workforce.  This model has been developed to assist Aboriginal communities in working with their youth to gain career awareness for workforce readiness and/or transition into post-secondary programs.  CAREERS has an active presence in the northern communities of Wabasca, Loon River, Red Earth Creek, Trout Lake, and Peerless Lake.  To date, CAREERS has received strong support from Aboriginal leaders, schools, parents, educators, and industry representatives and is very optimistic about the future of this initiative and expanding it into other rural regions and urban centers.
 
As a result of our work together, students will find careers that are fulfilling, employers will have employees with the right skills, educators will be linked with employers, and communities across our province will grow and flourish.
Find out how you can become involved! 
 Call us in Edmonton at (780) 426-3414, Toll-free 1 (888) 757-7172, or visit us online at www.nextgen.org