Employment Placement Paves Successful Career Path

Recent graduates from high school, college, or university can often encounter barriers in finding employment upon completion of their programs.  Fortunately, there are many private and government employment agencies and programs today that can help new graduates find the success they are looking for.

Carolyn Levesque is an example of someone who took advantage of a program that helped her gain employment and that allowed her broaden a skill set for her role as the Community Relations Coordinator at the Pembroke Regional Hospital.

Levesque grew up in Burlington, Ontario and in the spring of 1993. graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Arts degree in journalism from Ryerson University.  After her husband Stephane received an offer of employment here, they moved to Pembroke, a city neither of them had previously heard of.  Initially, Levesque had some trouble finding a job in her chosen field, but with her journalism background, she started doing some freelance work for The Daily Observer.  At the same time, Levesque also sought additional work and was given the opportunity to register with a program that would help enhance her work experience.

Work Experience for Young People
The program was called “Futures” and was a 16-week work placement program funded by the provincial government to help young people get hands-on work experience.  To be eligible for the program, one had meet specific criteria, be a high school, college or university graduate, and attend an interview with an employer.  In October of 1994, Levesque was successful in being placed at Pembroke’s radio station at the time, CHVR. 

During her placement at the radio station, Levesque was exposed to all different aspects of communications and worked in partnership with AECL to complete some research on a science program called “Science and You.”  “Science and You” aired on CHVR’s noon-hour newscast.  Levesque also helped out in the public affairs department at AECL including providing assistance with public tours of the facility.

Experience Helps Further Develop Skills

“The Futures program helped me to further develop my public relations skills.  It also gave me the opportunity to continue writing for a variety of audiences which helped tweak my writing abilities,” said Levesque.  “It gave me the experience I needed to help advance my career.”

After her placement with the Futures Program, Levesque was offered part-time, then full- time employment as a reporter/photographer with The Daily Observer, where she worked for five years.  In December of 1999, she came across a newspaper ad for a Community Relations Coordinator at the Pembroke General Hospital (now Pembroke Regional Hospital) and applied for the position.  Levesque was hired and began her new job in March of 2000.

“I’ve been the Community Relations Coordinator for the past seven years, responsible for all of the internal and external communications,” said Levesque.  “Some of my tasks include publishing a monthly staff newsletter, and a quarterly public newsletter, organizing staff activities, generating press releases about new programs and services, organizing special events like public open houses, and assisting staff with a variety of written materials and other public relations-based projects.”

Carolyn Levesque exemplifies how an employment service for young people can help pave the way for a successful career.  The Futures program provided Levesque with great work experience that helped further her journalism and public relations careers. 

Since that time, the Futures program has been revamped into what is now known as Job Connect, which is administered by Algonquin College in the Ottawa Valley.  Job Connect is committed to helping young people prepare for the workplace, find jobs, and gain valuable work experience.  Job Connect also provides other career and job search activities at their three locations in the Ottawa Valley. 

Read about Carolyn's work on the Pembroke Regional Hospital's website:

Job Connect has offices in Pembroke, Renfrew and Barry’s Bay.

Visit the Job Connect website to find out more.

^TOP