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Here, reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions (§29) of the Copyright Act from today's Regina Leader-Post is an article about potential employer support to reservists
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=9de7fda3-7274-425f-9368-100eb47fc34d
Web site designed to assist reservists
Adrian Alleyne, The Leader-Post
Published: Thursday, November 06, 2008
They take the time to train for potential battle, they train during the evenings and on their weekends, and they often have to use their own vacation time from work.
Reservists have been a significant part of the Canadian Forces for years, and one reservist from Hamilton has created a Web site called civiside.com that will help ensure the reserves stay strong.
Approximately 40 per cent of reservists are students, and this Web site aims at helping reservists who are graduating from university connect with jobs that are "reservist friendly," according to Ken Seville, a member of the 23 Service Battalion in Hamilton and co-founder of Civi-Side Inc., a Hamilton-based company.
"I've been a reservist for 31/2 years and in that time I've seen a lot of part-time soldiers like myself leaving the Forces because they've been working for employers who won't support their request for time off to do training," said Seville.
"That request is typically very modest, for example from my own unit, people asking for two weeks off and being turned down."
Recently in Saskatchewan a number of organizations signed a Declaration of Support in order to support their employees who are part of the Reserve Forces.
The Moose Jaw Police Service, Regina Police Service, Regina Provincial Correctional Centre, Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region, SaskTel, University of Saskatchewan and the Province of Saskatchewan were some of the organizations that signed the declaration, but this Web site takes it a step further.
Reservists can post resumes on the site and employers can post jobs on the site. If someone's credentials match a job posting they will get a notification from Civi-Side explaining the job and what city it's in, according to Seville.
"The core problem I'm trying to solve is if I can get them working for employers who will support their military career, just by giving that minimum two weeks a year off, then we can keep more people within the system. We'd be able to develop more leaders (and) train new recruits," said Seville.
The Canadian Forces Liaison Council sees this new initiative as another opportunity for reservists.
"It's a good resource for the employer to seek employees, and once they've seen the reserves training and the accomplishments that they bring to a civilian job, those would almost inevitably be the first people hired," said Vaughn Schofield, Saskatchewan chair of the Canadian Forces Liaison Council.
"(Reservists) have such extensive training and they have the morals and the good things you look for in an employee."
The Canadian government has said that it would like to add 5,000 additional troops to the reserves, but Seville is concerned about how they will be trained if they are constantly being lost to indifferent employers.
This new Web site could be the answer, because it could work as a recruiting mechanism as well.
"I think this could be very attractive as a recruiting tool," said Seville. "To say to a potential recruit that 'You'll have a job during school, but even afterwards, after you graduate there are Canadian employers out there who want to hire you because you're a reservist.' "
Schofield realizes that the commitment from employers is a difficult one to agree to because of worker shortages, but she appreciates what Seville is doing.
"I think it's an excellent effort on his part," added Schofield.
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=9de7fda3-7274-425f-9368-100eb47fc34d
Web site designed to assist reservists
Adrian Alleyne, The Leader-Post
Published: Thursday, November 06, 2008
They take the time to train for potential battle, they train during the evenings and on their weekends, and they often have to use their own vacation time from work.
Reservists have been a significant part of the Canadian Forces for years, and one reservist from Hamilton has created a Web site called civiside.com that will help ensure the reserves stay strong.
Approximately 40 per cent of reservists are students, and this Web site aims at helping reservists who are graduating from university connect with jobs that are "reservist friendly," according to Ken Seville, a member of the 23 Service Battalion in Hamilton and co-founder of Civi-Side Inc., a Hamilton-based company.
"I've been a reservist for 31/2 years and in that time I've seen a lot of part-time soldiers like myself leaving the Forces because they've been working for employers who won't support their request for time off to do training," said Seville.
"That request is typically very modest, for example from my own unit, people asking for two weeks off and being turned down."
Recently in Saskatchewan a number of organizations signed a Declaration of Support in order to support their employees who are part of the Reserve Forces.
The Moose Jaw Police Service, Regina Police Service, Regina Provincial Correctional Centre, Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region, SaskTel, University of Saskatchewan and the Province of Saskatchewan were some of the organizations that signed the declaration, but this Web site takes it a step further.
Reservists can post resumes on the site and employers can post jobs on the site. If someone's credentials match a job posting they will get a notification from Civi-Side explaining the job and what city it's in, according to Seville.
"The core problem I'm trying to solve is if I can get them working for employers who will support their military career, just by giving that minimum two weeks a year off, then we can keep more people within the system. We'd be able to develop more leaders (and) train new recruits," said Seville.
The Canadian Forces Liaison Council sees this new initiative as another opportunity for reservists.
"It's a good resource for the employer to seek employees, and once they've seen the reserves training and the accomplishments that they bring to a civilian job, those would almost inevitably be the first people hired," said Vaughn Schofield, Saskatchewan chair of the Canadian Forces Liaison Council.
"(Reservists) have such extensive training and they have the morals and the good things you look for in an employee."
The Canadian government has said that it would like to add 5,000 additional troops to the reserves, but Seville is concerned about how they will be trained if they are constantly being lost to indifferent employers.
This new Web site could be the answer, because it could work as a recruiting mechanism as well.
"I think this could be very attractive as a recruiting tool," said Seville. "To say to a potential recruit that 'You'll have a job during school, but even afterwards, after you graduate there are Canadian employers out there who want to hire you because you're a reservist.' "
Schofield realizes that the commitment from employers is a difficult one to agree to because of worker shortages, but she appreciates what Seville is doing.
"I think it's an excellent effort on his part," added Schofield.
