Meet Casey Bellemore, a recent graduate who’s making a difference in a field where women can be hard to find.
As soon as she graduated from Saint Mary’s University with a Bachelor’s of Commerce, Casey immediately stepped into a Communications role with CarShare Atlantic.
“I am a woman working in a very tech-related role. Here, it’s the car industry meets the tech industry. Both industries are very male-dominated, so being here - I do not fit the norm.”
But that hasn’t stopped Casey from making a big impact on the company, from being directly involved with the branding and implementation of a second mode of car-sharing called ‘FLEX’, to confronting head-on a number of communication challenges that CarShare members were experiencing and implementing online solutions.
“Casey came to us as a very confident co-op student and we wanted her to stay and excel within CarShare,” says CarShare Atlantic President, Pam Cooley. “Our more timely and clear communication to clients is thanks to Casey’s work streamlining and developing stronger member services.”
Casey completed two co-op terms with CarShare Atlantic as a part of her undergrad, but hiring full-time permanent staff can be a challenge for small social enterprises. “I knew I wanted to work for CarShare after I graduated,” says Casey. “ Graduate to Opportunity helped make it possible.”
Graduate to Opportunity (GTO) makes it easier for employers in Nova Scotia to hire post-secondary graduates for permanent, full-time jobs in their chosen careers. Employers receive 25% of the grad’s year 1 salary – 35% if they are a member of a designated diversity group – and 12.5% of the grad’s year 2 salary.
“We are so grateful for GTO” says Pam “It can make such a difference to small businesses, and it’s a win-win for everyone. It helped Casey. It helped me. It helped increase our mobility because of her hard work with member services and communication.”
Since GTO began in 2015, more than 640 graduates like Casey have secured jobs in their field through GTO. 100 of these grads have identified as members of diverse groups, which includes: women in under-represented occupations, those with disabilities, African Nova Scotians, other visible minorities, Aboriginals and International graduates.
Diversity inclusion not only provides work for under-represented groups, it brings a range of new perspectives and other advantages to a company.
“Having diversity within our team rounds out our company and makes our customers feel more welcome,” says Casey. “Working with CarShare, we serve everyone from ages 19 to 87. That is a really broad range of people to serve and we have every type of person in that mix. So, to have a diverse team at CarShare, we are able to better relate to the people we are serving.”
As Nova Scotia’s population continues to age, it is important for employers to consider hiring youth, especially as it contributes to generational diversity in the workforce.
“Here in Nova Scotia, we have so many universities and colleges,” says Casey. “We have young people coming out all the time who have up-to-date education and so we have this opportunity to hire an educated workforce. You also want a diverse workforce and that is not just in race and gender but also in age and experience. As a new grad you see the world differently. We all come at the world from different places and perspectives and that helps us contribute to new ways of doing things at work.”
Casey is grateful to have a job that she loves at home, in Nova Scotia. And now Graduate to Opportunity has had a double impact on her household. Casey’s spouse graduated 4 months after she did and after learning about GTO through her, he proposed the funding incentive to a potential employer. They too applied and received the funding to hire him as a civil engineer directly after his graduation in April.
To learn more about GTO and how you can hire qualified graduates for new jobs visit the website. Application approvals are turned around within only 5 business days: https://novascotia.ca/programs/graduate-to-opportunity/
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