March 29, 2024

BY CARMEN PONCIANO

Every April students graduating from their post-secondary programs feel the pressure of finding a job in the field they have chosen to study. However, students this year can breathe a little easier thanks to a new network co-founded by Ryerson University and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce called Magnet.

This free, non-profit social initiative was created earlier this year and uses the ground-breaking technological platform WhoPlusYou as its essential tool in order to accurately search job opportunities and provide network-generated connections based on the job seeker’s qualifications and skills. In other words, rather than the job seeker spending hours looking and applying for jobs, the jobs come to you.
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WhoPlusYou is a network that generates the ideal career connection by linking the strongest matches based on the job seeker’s profile. The network presents the employers with the most qualified candidates and the job seekers are matched with the most suitable job opening. WhoPlusYou also gathers, maintains and analyzes market information depending on trends which provides employers and businesses with the market data they need.

Magnet’s main objective is to address the issue of unemployment and underemployment (not fully employed) to build a stronger community and fill the gap between youth and jobs. Eighteen colleges and universities are taking part in this new project.

“This is an instrument (to help job seekers) within our own community,” said Crystal Leng, Conestoga College’s Magnet representative.

Magnet works in three easy steps: first, by creating a profile, the system will notify the job seeker of any job opportunities matching his or her specifications. The second step is up to the job seeker, who views the job post and choses whether or not he or she wants to apply. Lastly, the application is sent to the employer who will then choose to view the profile and then make the connection with the job seeker’s consent. This gives the employer and the employee a chance to develop a secure one-on-one conversation.

“There’s lots of employers who are connecting to this website who are looking to hire,” said Samantha Ferguson, a Conestoga College Careers and Services worker.

“You want to make sure it’s built as fully as possible, your profile, because that becomes the most searchable,” she said.

It is hoped that by sending out mass emails to the students and with the use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter, Magnet will be able to make its mark within the post-secondary environment.

As for the future, Magnet is looking at expanding their network outside of colleges and universities.

“We would like to promote this off campus. Our second objective would be to target walk-in clients here at the Welcome Centre, the general public and new immigrants,” Leng said.

For more information visit www.conestogacollege.magnet.today.

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