Program matches businesses and job seekers
Article mis en ligne le jeudi 3 février 2011

CDN-NDG residents looking for work close to home have a new tool available to them, thanks to an initiative by Montreal's 10 Corporations de développement économique communautaire (CDEC). The program links businesses and workers in the same area.

"People are very happy when we call them," said Linda Orefice, an employment counsellor with the CDN-NDG CDEC.

"The response is positive and businesses are open to sending us their employment needs. Overall, I think it's a great project."

The free program was launched last November and has so far helped roughly 150 people across Montreal. Workers and businesses in the CDN-NDG borough will be matched up in an area that includes CDN-NDG and other boroughs in the west island.

The pilot project is scheduled to run until March 2012, though Orefice said it will likely continue after that date. There are two employees at the CDN-NDG CDEC running the program.

The project was mandated by Emploi-Québec, and while it provides the service to any business within the area, individuals looking for a job have to be currently receiving employment assistance.

"It's for a period of about three months - the candidate comes here and we evaluate his profile, make minor corrections to his CV, ask about needs in employment, and then we register him in the system," explained Orefice.

The whole project, including the candidate profiles and job offers, is input into a computer program to match them up. "We can search by keywords. We can put in specific data and have things come up easily," she said.

The CDEC sends the CVs of the individuals who qualify for a particular job opening to the business, and follows up later on.

Right now, Orefice is trying to get the word out about the initiative. The CDEC is calling individuals who are receiving employment assistance to let them know about the opportunity. It is partnering with other non-profit agencies that offer employment services, so that their clients can be referred to the program.

The organization is also going through job postings on company websites and making cold calls to selected businesses.

[Anja Karadeglija]