Four promotional videos to help recruit postsecondary students for PERCÉ internships

videos PERCE lowresCHARLOTTETOWN – Jan. 19, 2017 – RDÉE Prince Edward Island has just launched four promotional videos to help recruit postsecondary students from PEI for PERCÉ, its summer internship program.

Produced by Foulkes Productions of Charlottetown and funded by Innovation PEI, each of these videos gave an opportunity to a former participant to explain how PERCÉ helped them on their career path so that he or she could settle here on PEI.

The « stars » of these testimonial videos are:

•    Gabriel Arsenault, a 2005 Francophone participant, who has been working for several years in the prosthetics and orthotics department at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown;
•    Nathan Brown, a 2012 Francophone participant, who was a mechanic’s helper at Wellington Service Station in Wellington;
•    Shannon Moore, a 2014 Francophone participant, who now teaches at Montague Consolidated school;
•    Nathan MacIsaac, a 2015 Anglophone participant, who worked with the Alzheimer’s Society of PEI (English video).

Stéphane Blanchard, youth development officer with the RDÉE, explained it is sometimes hard to reach PEI’s university and college students to speak to them about the program since they are dispersed throughout the country. Newspaper articles and advertisements in local publications only reach a few potential clients.

However, video clips can easily be distributed through net-based media throughout the world: web sites and social media pages such as www.percepe.ca, www.rdeeipe.net/vidoes/, www.youtube.com/user/rdeeipe3439 as well as the RDÉE’s and PERCE’s Facebook pages.

RECRUITING

As he launched the recruiting campaign for participants Jan. 19 in Charlottetown and Jan. 20 in Summerside, Blanchard reminded everyone that the program aims at helping young adults, at their last or second-last year of college or university studies, acquire a paid work experience in their field of studies on PEI for 10-12 weeks. The global objective of the program is to convince as many of these youth to move back to PEI, on a permanent basis, after their studies to make a life and a career for themselves.

« These internships will help the youth confirm if they’ve chosen the right field. And, in some cases, the internships will help them access advanced studies, » added Blanchard. « And when comes the time to look for work after their studies, their résumé will already show they have good work experience in their field of studies – which employers always appreciate. »

Surveys of former participants show that 82 per cent of them have returned to PEI or will shortly move back.

Blanchard also mentioned that the 30 chosen youth this year will participate in a week of orientation and personal and professional exploration before starting their internship. They will have the opportunity to visit several work locations that are related to the students’ fields of study.

SUPPORT TO EMPLOYERS

The program also always seeks employers who are willing to take in a summer intern. The PERCÉ program will reimburse them $6 an hour to help pay for the intern’s wages, for up to 37.5 hours a week for a maximum of 12 weeks.

All those who would like to learn more about the program are urged to consult the www.percepe.ca website. There, interested parties can fill out registration forms for students or employers. Or, Blanchard can be contacted directly at (902) 370-7333, Ext. 402.

All parents of youth who are in their last or second last year of studies are urged to pass on the message.

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CUTLINE: Video producer Darin Foulkes from Foulkes Productions in Charlottetown, left, and Stéphane Blanchard, youth economic development officer with RDÉE PEI, officially launched, on Jan. 19 in Charlottetown, four promotional videos for the PERCÉ bilingual internship program.

 

For more information:
Stéphane Blanchard
Youth economic development officer
RDÉE Prince Edward Island
(902) 3760-73333, Ext. 402
stephane@rdeeipe.org