Image Credit: Contributed/Olivia Watt

KAMLOOPS - When Thompson Rivers University grad Olivia Watt initially applied for a Green Dream internship the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) was offering, the Canfor Human Resources intern did not anticipate what would happen next.

While working at the head office for Canadian Forest Products Ltd. (Canfor), Watt admits she was “very surprised” and excited when she heard her application was chosen and said, “I couldn’t recall exactly what they even told me.”

Since starting her full-time job in May with Canfor’s human resources department and talent acquisition team, Watt has been fully engrossed with her job’s responsibilities that include assisting with job postings and coordinating interviews. Within this role, Watt regularly interacts with candidates and operations staff and has also been able to learn about various career paths within the forestry industry.

Launched in 2013, FPAC’s internship program was designed by FPAC and its members to raise awareness among college and university students and tell them about job opportunities in the forest sector.  The goal was to connect the industry with the next generation of workers and help those choosing career paths to become aware and enthused about a career in the forest industry.

Watt, now a summertime Vancouver resident who will return to Kamloops in the fall to continue her studies in human resources, says she really likes that her internship allows her to integrate the labour market information (LMI) tool FPAC showed them during orientation.

Called The Greenest Workforce Job Match Tool, FPAC’s first-of-its-kind online tool assists with matching job openings at Canadian forest products companies with job seekers as well as provides detailed labour market information about the sector.

“It’s so helpful because people looking for jobs in forestry can get what they need easily as everything is listed right in front of them,” says Watt.

The online LMI is searchable at the national, provincial and regional levels, as well as by occupation. This market information aims to help employers make sound business and human resources decisions, assist industry associations and post-secondary institutions to address skills issues and reduce the likelihood of new skills shortages in the industry.

For employers, the Job Match Tool means quick, efficient, access to a national talent pool. All employers in the Canadian forest products sector can post jobs, use the tool to identify candidates, and access trends and other data to help guide company HR strategies.

The new tool is also expected to boost employment by bringing employers and job seekers together more quickly, thereby reducing the lag between an employer’s decision to hire and the time that the post is actually filled.

To read about the Green Dream Team’s summertime job experiences, visit this online blog.

To learn more about the Greenest Workforce Job Match Tool, visit them online. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2016