By Heather Workman
The first “Grub in the Hub” event between BC Tech and ACE BC/Yukon kicked off on Friday January 12th at the BC Tech offices. BC Tech provided pizza and refreshments beforehand and then we convened in the open office area for the one hour event. Thirty entrepreneurs braved the rain to hear from our panelists about the benefits and rewards of bringing co-op talent onboard.
I had the privilege of moderating the panel of employers and an Industrial Technology Advisor. We kicked off the session with our ACE BC/Yukon website on the big screen and our video. Made sure to highlight the Post a Job button as well showed participants where the Employer link was located. Led the panel through a series of questions about how and why they hire co-op students, the various processes they encounter as well as the elements they have incorporated to make their co-op students comfortable and productive.
There was a good discussion with these questions followed by a rapid-fire myth busting portion and last but not least, a slide deck regarding funding options from Erik Kaas, Industrial Technology Advisor for NRC-IRAP. Joining me on the panel was Leo Ping, Senior R&D Manager, ACL; Megan Ritchie, Recruiter from A Thinking Ape and Dalena Nguyen, past co-op student and now Community Manager for BC Jobs. Good interaction afterwards and we were pleased with the questions being asked. BC Tech was happy with the panel as well.
Next step is the Co-op Collision Day for companies only interested in hiring co-op students on Tuesday February 27th at 5:30 PM. Students can sign up now so please share the link with your student groups. If every co-op school referred one or two employers to BC Tech, it would be a smashing success.