Never underestimate the power of a summer job to sway one’s career choices. Peter Braid will vouch for that.
“Twenty-five years ago I was working for a member of parliament as a summer student,” Braid said in a recent interview. “Now I’m a member of parliament.”
In the summers of 1987-89, Braid worked in the constituency office of Waterloo MP Walter McLean.
He answered phones, handled cases for constituents and did a laundry list of fetching-and-carrying jobs that typically fall to interns under other duties as assigned.
Braid didn’t get his student job under the federal Canada Summer Jobs program. But one of his privileges these days as an MP is to have a say in the focus of the program in his riding. His choices: non-profit, high-tech and environment.
Across Canada, CSJ subsidizes wages to create employment opportunities for young men and women who are in post-secondary education, or heading into it out of high school.
“It’s not just about creating summer jobs for students; it’s about creating the workforce of tomorrow,” Braid said.
The program opens opportunities for about 35,000 people every year. Among them, students such as Shubhagata Sengupta and Sreekar Tripuranthakam, Capacity Canada’s summer interns this year.
Sengupta, now a fourth-year communications student at Wilfrid Laurier University, completed his second internship with Capacity this summer. He kept Capacity’s website and social-media outlets fed and watered.He also shared his skills with other non-profits that need a primer on social media.
“You get better experience,” Sengupta said about working at a small non-profit. “You’re not limited to one role. You hop in as the need arises. It’s like a start-up.”
Tripuranthakam researched human resources policies to prepare a package for Capacity Canada. The experience took him outside his usual field of study – he is a third-year economics student at the University of Waterloo -and prompted him to tweak his degree.
“I took an HR course last year, but after working in it this summer, I decided to take it up as a minor, Tripuranthakam said. “It’s been a good eye-opener for me.”
The students helped Capacity manage a busy year as the organization extended its reach across the country and changed its name from Capacity Waterloo Region.
Summer interns bring new energy into the workplace, said Andrew Wilding, Capacity’s director of operations.
“They have new ideas and ways of doing things that I wouldn’t usually consider because I’m not always in the digital-media space,” Wilding said. “They help us leverage our resources.”
Both 20, Sengupta and Tripuranthakam said their peers are sometimes puzzled by their interest in working in the non-profit sector.
But they, added, they get a great sense of satisfaction knowing the work they do improves not just one organization, but the community around it.
Braid said he likes what Capacity Canada does by “providing the important not-for-profit sector with tools, support and expertise needed to become more successful.” He stopped by Capacity’s offices earlier in August to meet Sengupta and Tripuranthakam.
“It’s rewarding to see these two students having such enriching, fulfilling experiences through Canada Summer Jobs, and seeing the work experience complement their studies,” Braid said later. “They realize that even as summer students they can make a tangible contribution to an organization. And that’s what we all want to do in our careers.”
By Christian Aagaard
