Kingston Ecomonic Development Corporation has launched intake of the 2023 Queen’s Apprenticeship: Kingston. The program connects new Queen’s graduates from the arts, humanities and social sciences with a Kingston employer. 

“It certainly is a daunting prospect when you’re graduating and you’re just kind of pushed out…not only is the program giving students the ability to tap into some jobs that aren’t necessarily available to the wider public, but there’s also a mentorship component that goes along with it…Anyone who gets one of the jobs is matched up with a mentor who takes them under their wing for the first 12 months of their career,” says Rob Tamblyn, business development manager with Kingston Economic Development Corporation.

He says the mentorship aspect of the program is really beneficial.

“There’s always something that comes up during that first year when you’re out of school and I really think the mentorship aspect of this program really is beneficial, it’s almost like a sounding board for the student to try and guide them along the path to wherever their career may take them,” says Tamblyn.

In 2023, the program will fund 15 new careers in Kingston. 

“Kingston does a great job of producing talent from the three institutes of higher learning, but we don’t do a good job of keeping them here…When students graduate quite often the first thing is I’ve got to get to a bigger city, but Kingston really does have a lot to offer…Kingston is a great place to start your career,” says Tamblyn.

He adds right now there’s so much need for talent and there are unique opportunities available.

“It doesn’t matter what sector, I don’t think there’s ever been a time when there’s so much need for talent, that’s everything from the tourism sector, we’ve had manufacturing come in, health and health sciences. The good thing about this program is it does identify some unique opportunities and if you sign up for the program you’re the only ones that are seeing those,” says Tamblyn.

Tamblyn says Economic Development is trying to engage with students earlier to find out what opportunities they would be interested in and then try to recruit them with local businesses.

“There are a number of opportunities they feel they would like to pursue and we’re actively trying to recruit some of those opportunities…lots of opportunities in marketing, content management, we’re also pursuing those opportunities with different businesses…If we can identify opportunities within the community for employment that students are interested in, then I think it’s a win-win for everybody.”

The program was created in Kingston by philanthropist Alan Rottenberg, and is funded through the Canadian Career Apprenticeship Foundation. 

“Alan Rottenberg who has connections through Queens, really thought it would be a great idea to try to give students that are graduating with arts degrees a bit of a leg up…He and his foundation put in just under $400,000 in grant contributions which translated into just over $2.5 million in salaries for the Kingston community. Employers receive up to $2,500 per month for 4 months…on a 12 month commitment,” says Tamblyn.

He adds the program has since expanded to other communities. The deadline for employers to submit job postings is Feb. 10, 2023, and the deadline for students to submit applications is Feb. 26. The earliest start date for the positions is May 1.

Listen to the full CFRC interview with Rob Tamblyn below: