TRIECAllPost-recession hiring – a simple, free strategy for employers

Brampton Board of Trade – Trade Talks
September 2009

Claire DeVeale-Blane

Headlines are increasingly heralding an end to the current recession. This is welcome, optimistic news. Companies have scrambled since late last year to adjust their operational and financial plans to bleaker economic conditions.

In the same way that the recession forced change and adaptation upon organizations, an eventual market upswing is likely to demand different, but significant adjustments as well.

For many, this means thawing out frozen hiring plans.

It should be obvious that while individual companies have been affected differently by the recession, it’s possible that many will begin hiring at roughly the same time. And, with companies potentially tapping the labour market simultaneously (much to the delight of a recession-weary workforce), the most successful companies will have long had their recruitment strategies prepared and ready for execution.

Are you ready to compete for post-recession talent?

Apart from dusting off your traditional hiring practices and strategies, there is one simple, no-cost option to add to your toolkit – establish a relationship with a non-profit employment agency that serves skilled immigrants.

Why? Job developers at these non-profit, government-funded organizations can provide you with pre-assessed, job-ready employment candidates completely free of charge. Think of them as your no-fee recruitment firm.

How? These agencies typically provide settlement and labour market preparation assistance to newcomers. We know that many newcomers are highly skilled individuals with enviable educational and professional credentials. Many have proven high functionality with the English language. Job developers are constantly seeking employment opportunities for their skilled immigrant clients since their agencies receive a portion of funding based on placements. So, job developers have a vested interest in making the acquaintance of any employer with appropriate job opportunities and forwarding quality candidates for consideration.

All it takes is to market your employment opportunities to a job developer at a non-profit employment agency serving immigrants – in addition to all of the other ways in which you’ve traditionally advertised job openings at your company.

Who are these agencies? In a recent issue of Canadian Newcomer Magazine, the publication listed approximately 39 agency locations across Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga, each presumably with at least one job developer on staff.

To save yourself the task of establishing one-to-one relationships with each of these organizations, TRIEC can introduce you to one job developer from a CASIP agency (CASIP stands for the Consortium of Agencies Serving Internationally-trained Persons), who will then serve as a liaison with the job developers at the other CASIP member agencies.

CASIP is a network of eight such non-profit employment agencies that serves immigrants and is organized to provide employers with one point of contact – a single job developer – to help you tap the combined talent pool of skilled immigrant candidates from the CASIP agencies.

With the promise of pre-assessed, job-ready candidates from a collective talent pool of thousands of skilled immigrant candidates, a CASIP connection can provide immediate time and costs savings.

And who wouldn’t want time and costs savings, not to mention no-cost services, after all the work that went into dealing with a recession?

To post your employment opportunities to CASIP and establish a relationship with a job developer, please contact Rodel Imbarlina-Ramos in the Peel/Halton office of TRIEC (Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council) at (905) 896-4994 or at rramos@triec.ca

Reference: Brampton Board of Trade – Trade Talks