What's in it for a Host?

Welcoming an intern requires time and energy. And management must support this effort. So why do it?

• Private sector organisations are asked to do their share to alleviate youth unemployment. The Public sector, as one of the most important employers in the country, has to show its leadership in this area. By providing a young person the opportunity to gain essential workplace experience, we can be proud that we are contributing to Canada's future prosperity. We are also demonstrating that our workplaces are supportive and conducive to community involvement.
• Federal Public Sector institutions have a wealth of experience, talent and knowledge to offer. They offer an amazing diversity of challenges. By welcoming a young person in your worksite, you give them a chance to discover your organisation. They could become your ambassadors!
• By making room and time for an intern, both the host organisation and the mentor can get:
  • Satisfaction: in accepting a challenge and meeting a goal.
  • Pride: in knowing it helped someone and contributed in a young person's accomplishments.
  • Sharpened Management/Leadership/Interpersonal skills: mentoring is an important professional competency. Challenging and coaching an intern sharpens one's skills.
  • Fresh perspectives: an intern brings new insights, vitality and enthusiasm to the workplace.

Any Federal Public Sector institution can propose an internship. But it requires a voluntary mentor... someone, at any level? willing to share knowledge and skills, willing to be a coach, a guide, and a source of moral support. And if your employees are wondering what they will get out of it, tell them to just ask someone who's done it. They'll tell you about the vitality these young people have brought to their workplaces. Their energy. Their dedication. Their commitment to make the most out of the opportunity. They'll also tell you that the time they invest in mentoring is more than worth it.

All interns are paid directly by the YMCA not by your Department or Agency. The YMCA is the interns' legal employer. They are not replacement workers, nor are they intended to fill specific positions. The focus is on broadly based developmental assignments that will provide interns with the tools they'll need to be successfully employed, or self-employed, at the end of the program.

If your Department or Agency creates an internship opportunity for a youth at risk (non-graduate or youth facing multiple barriers to employment), the mentor will receive on-going support from a YMCA counsellor. The YMCA will also provide assessment and counselling service for non-graduates, and at least four weeks of preparatory training. Throughout the internship, a YMCA counsellor will visit the intern regularly.

Secondary school graduates also benefit from assessment services by the YMCA and visits by the YMCA counsellor. Mentors of secondary school graduates can also receive support and assistance from the counsellor.

Where do I go From Here?

Host organisations submit applications to the Federal Public Sector Youth Internship Program (FPSYIP) by fax at (819) 934-7613. Applications are studied in terms of criteria related to the quality of the internship (for example, the possibility of acquiring significant learning experience that will give the young person useful skills and experience), the unemployment rate in the province where the internship will take place, and the education requirements.

Non-graduate or Secondary School Internships:

• Once the internship application is approved, it is sent to the YMCA, which recruits and selects the candidates. The YMCA contacts the host organisation directly.

Post-secondary Graduate Internships:

• Once internship applications are approved, the FPSYIP management informs the host organisation and posts the description of the internship on this site. Candidates send their résumés directly to the host organisation. The mentor selects the candidates he/she would like to meet for an interview, and informs the YMCA of the choice and provides the name and address of the young intern.

* Selected candidates may not be members of the mentor's immediate family or that of another person in the work unit where the internship is to take place.

To find out more about the program, you can reach us via e-mail or call at (819) 934-7631.