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Opportunities Enabled
A partnership that works for students and employers
Demand for skilled information technology workers remains high, despite ups and downs in the industry. If you're an employer with information technology (IT) job openings, here's a great way to find skilled, motivated employees.
Opportunities Enabled, formerly called Access Ability, trains people with physical disabilities for careers in IT. Students in the program, which is offered at Douglas College, go through an intense training program that combines nine months of hands-on computer training with a four-month paid internship. They focus on analysis and programming, customer support/help desk work, or hardware and software network support.
At the WCB, we've hired a number of students who have become outstanding long-term employees. Garry Reimer, manager of Systems Development Support in the WCB's Information Services Division and a member the program's Business Advisory Council, says, "We've been hiring students from Opportunities Enabled for 18 years and are very impressed with the program and the interns. More than half of them have been hired on as permanent employees."
Opportunities Enabled offers a way for people with physical disabilities — often injured workers — to get back on the job. Before entering the program, students are screened with aptitude tests and interviews to ensure they have the capacity to manage the intense workload.
Kathy Perkins, Programmer Analyst at the WCB and a graduate of the program, says, "Everyone on the course was injured or had a disability, so there was no special treatment for anyone. We learned about different areas of information technology and focused on the area we were most interested in. We were also taught how to explain technical things to non-technical people, a skill that's proven very useful on the job."
Employers who hire a student from Opportunities Enabled are getting a highly motivated employee with significant life experience, including the ability to deal with and overcome injury. The school has been very successful in matching students with employers and feedback from past employers has been excellent.
The program is now seeking employers who are interested in hiring students for a paid internship, ideally with the potential to turn into a full-time job. The next co-op session starts on June 13. If you're an employer with an internship position, please visit the Opportunities Enabled web site for more information.
As Garry explains, "This has been one of the most successful and rewarding programs that members of the British Columbia IT community have participated in over the past 18 years. It's a great opportunity for both students and employers."