With economic pressures limiting opportunities for students and new grads, local post-secondary schools are working with economic development partners to spotlight the next generation of talent in the city.
In 2022, Ottawa adviser and HR expert Heidi Hauver started working alongside Ottawa’s colleges and universities, as well as Invest Ottawa, KNBA and the Ottawa Board of Trade, to launch #HireLocalOttawa, a regional talent initiative to connect young professionals with employees.
Now, the steering group has launched a video campaign to help students and new grads spotlight their skills and make industry connections.
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“We appreciate the economic challenges that are happening in our ecosystem, so we’re really trying to highlight that great talent we have,” Hauver told OBJ on Tuesday.
“One of our main goals has always been helping the talent that choose Ottawa to stay here, build their lives here and grow here. Right now, we’ve recognized that we need different ways to help amplify these students’ voices, help them share their stories and, equally, help our employers discover new, outstanding, emerging talent.”
Miriam Hajiyeva, a third-year commerce student at Carleton University, was one of the first young people to get involved in the campaign.
Hajiyeva worked with Hauver to develop a script that discussed her area of interest, work experience, community involvement and career goals. From there, she recorded the video and posted it to LinkedIn, where #HireLocalOttawa partners such as Hauver shared it with their own extensive networks.
“In terms of confidence, it really was a booster,” said Hajiyeva. “Not only does it bridge the gap between students and employers, but it also gives you a platform to speak about yourself, which a lot of students don’t have. They don’t have a place where they can talk to employers and show their skills. There are just so many students, it’s difficult for employers to identify those who are really ambitious.”
While Hajiyeva said she’s been luckier than most, she’s seen her peers struggle to find opportunities to gain professional experience in the current job market.
“My sister is in engineering and I hear her side of it, that the job market right now isn’t the best for students,” she said. “I’ve seen a lot of friends and teammates go through the struggles of not having a job or creating a spreadsheet where you have a thousand job applications and only two or three interviews and then, unfortunately, no opportunities. It’s just been a hassle and I think it’s been normalized.”
She added, “The great thing about this campaign is that students are given a chance to showcase their skills with a platform they don’t normally have. I think it’s amazing. Hire local means recognizing that the next big leader, the next big innovator, might already be in Ottawa. So why not try to find them? Why not try to give them a platform to find themselves?”
For now, students can reach out to Hauver and her partners to work on building a video script, something Hauver hopes will build their confidence and stand out, especially as employers receive more applications than ever.
But with time, it’s a campaign that she hopes will become self-driven.
“We thought this could be an innovative way to help them exercise their muscles and hone in on those skills that we all need to improve,” she said. “It’s about building momentum. The goal is not for us to drive this campaign. We’re really looking for any student to get involved. I intentionally put the script template on my LinkedIn. The goal is for this to take on a life of its own. We’re really just building out a foundation for (students) to build on.”
