The University College building on Western University's main campus.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Western University would partner up with the London Economic Development Corp. With the partnership, New Western grads from the Faculty of Social Science would get more career opportunities, while London gets to keep its students in town.
The Social Science Career Apprenticeship pilot program will help Social Science students by creating a 12-month, full time, paid positions. In the first year of the program, it will provide jobs for up to 10 graduates. Joan Finegan is the Acting Dean for Social Sciences. She says why it’s important is this for students.
“When I graduated, I didn’t have a clue about how to get a job, I had no idea where my skills would be useful. I knew I learned a lot, but I didn’t know how to tell an employer what I had,” Finegan stated. “I think if I had had a program like this, I may not be where I am right now, I might not have gone back to school, because I might have been able to find a job that would make use of my skills.”
The critical factor for a graduating student is getting on the first rung of the career ladder. The Social Science Career Apprenticeship is a partnership between #WesternU and @LondonEDC, designed to help new graduates from Social Science start their career in #LdnOnt pic.twitter.com/V6TSBhJCDU
— Social Sci @WesternU (@westernuSocSci) March 15, 2021
Alan Rottenberg, whose grant is funding this program, has also done similar programs in Ontario and in BC. About 90 per cent of graduates hired through the first program (done between Queen’s University and Kingston Economic Development Corp.) were still employed with the companies that hired them after three years. Finegan explains why he chose to fund this jumpstart.
“He also had sons that had difficulty finding jobs when they graduated, he saw the struggles that they had getting jobs,” Finegan said. “He figured it was important to have this sort of thing to jumpstart their careers.”
Finegan has also had conversations with students and said they really feel like there’s no hope. She however says that this program really does give them hope.
“From my point of view, it’s a win-win for the students, so they get a job coming out of university,” Finegan stated. “Importantly, for London, we get students staying here in London, instead of going back to wherever it was they came from. So it really is really good for London and for Western students.”
More than 60 students have already applied. Those selected will be eligible to start their positions in May. Employers interested in participating in the apprenticeship are being asked to contact Robert Collins, LEDC director of workforce development, at rcollins@ledc.com.
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