TalentEgg.ca connects students and grads with high-quality jobs and internships.
If your company wants to recruit up-and-coming talent, don’t limit yourself to campus career fairs. They simply don’t cut it with Generation Y. If you’re a recent university grad wanting to launch your career, learn how to differentiate yourself from the countless other grads armed with a degree.
That advice comes from Lauren Friese, founder and president of TalentEgg.ca, an online resource that connects students and grads with high-quality jobs and internships.
The “find a job” section is the most popular among visitors but don’t apply for a position without taking advantage of career advice available in TalentEgg’s career incubator and career toolbox, Friese advises.
“It’s crazy to me that students don’t spend the time to develop their soft skills and understand what’s expected of them in the workplace,” she says. “The best thing you can do is invest the time to make yourself stand out by either having a remarkable resumé or presenting yourself remarkably well in an interview.”
The 27-year-old understands all too well the challenges of transitioning from university to the workplace. Unsure what to do with her economics degree, the Queen’s University grad earned a Masters from the London School of Economics.
While in England, Friese discovered online services that helped connect students with employers interested in hiring them. She hadn’t seen anything like them back home and wondered if the concept could work in Canada. She called Canadian employers and learned they were concerned about reaching Gen Y and filling positions being vacated by retiring baby boomers.
TalentEgg is designed to help bridge the gap between employers and recent grads. It’s dedicated to helping students and recent graduates overcome challenges to finding career-launching jobs — challenges that lead many to accept jobs that don’t necessarily match their skills and interests.
The site’s career incubator features hundreds of helpful articles — two new articles are posted daily — on topics like “10 different career paths in marketing you probably never heard of,” and “What can I do with my computer science degree.”
The career toolbox features how-to articles and videos on topics like writing a resumé, as well as an employer directory that allows you to browse employers currently on TalentEgg by alphabetical order.
Political science student Kassandra Linklater of Vancouver, B.C., is using the site in a bid to land a summer internship. “Having so much information available in a centralized location is really helpful,” she says.
Interview preparation and a series of video interviews that provide insight into what recruiters are looking for have been particularly useful, she says.
At the same time, Friese spends time encouraging employers to consider hiring recent grads. “I think an employer should think about the growth curve a recent grad can offer their organization, especially if they are willing to offer training,” she says.