At Management Career Services, we understand the important role funding plays in student recruitment for many employer partners. Not only does our team equip itself with the expertise to help you navigate government funding such as the Co-operative Education Incentive (CEI) and the Student Work Placement Program (SWPP), we steward the Dal Business Work Term Subsidy Program. The program is available on a first come, first served basis to eligible employer partners; organizations that cannot hire without funding and were not able to secure funding through other sources.

With no application deadline, this program fits into any recruitment schedule. Organizations may be eligible to receive 50% of a student’s salary of $18/hr plus vacation pay. This subsidy program operates similarly to a scholarship, where funds are delivered directly from Dalhousie to the student.

Since 2020, nearly 30 work terms have been partially funded through the Dal Business Work Term Subsidy Program. The Get REAL Movement is one of the organization that has been selected for this funding; a national non-profit organization combatting 2SLGBTQ+ discrimination, racism, and bullying in schools, summer camps, and workplaces through education and support impacting more than one million youth annually. Chris Studer, Executive Director of The Get REAL Movement, shares his experience hiring Dalhousie business students with support from funding.

“We hire students in part because so much of our programming is youth-focused, and so working with young people is a must. We also hire students because we founded the organization when we were in university ourselves, and so we have always believed in the power and abilities of young people who want to work hard to give back and make positive change in their own communities,” says Chris. “Working with business students from Dal has provided and infused our organization with fresh perspectives and important insights that have led to important new systems, milestones, partners, campus engagement, and most of all, new members of our Get REAL community, who we are still in touch with to this day!”

Chris was first introduced to Dalhousie’s Commerce Co-op program in 2018 by a friend, whose step-sister was looking for a summer co-op.

“That student was Caitlin Ladd, who came on board and to say she exceeded our expectations that summer would be putting it mildly. We then found out about the funding opportunities that existed for Dal co-op partners and non-profit organizations, and as working with Caitlin was such a great experience, we decided to apply for funding and were able to hire Ella Cha, who was also outstanding. Fast forward to four years later and we had the need and capacity to take on another student, and so we worked with Dal once again for support. Flavia da Cruz Silveira just finished her co-op with us in March.”

Chris has no hesitation in sharing that their experience with Dal business students has been outstanding across the board, including their most recent hire. “Flavia has been a perfect example of that high calibre of work. Throughout Flavia’s semester with us, she contributed to many different aspects and areas of the organization.” Chris explains that Flavia’s tasks varied in depth and breadth, from outreach, to research, to working on the ground to successfully lead the rebuilding of the Get REAL Dalhousie Chapter. “Flavia’s impact has been significant. She has also been just a wonderful person to work with, someone any business or organization would be lucky to have on their team.”

For some organizations, the biggest barrier to student recruitment is financial constraints, and this barrier can be even more prominent depending on the industry or sector. “In the non-profit and charity world, the work is needed but the resources are scarce. We have been extremely grateful to have been a recipient of funding support from Dalhousie,” says Chris. “In addition to this funding being crucial, and thus highly impactful, the entire process – from the application, to the logistics – is extremely manageable from start to finish, with support from Management Career Services every step of the way.”

If you are a small- or medium-sized enterprise interested in learning about funding options to support your Dalhousie business student recruitment, contact Joseph Habchi at ceibus@dal.ca.

“If having the kind of person on your team who brings valuable business acumen, fresh eyes for opportunities, new perspectives for solving old headaches, and a finger on the pulse of university and college age students is important to you, I could not recommend this co-op program more,” says Chris.