The University of Windsor and community partners like Windsor Hackforge and Connecting Windsor-Essex have collaborated to create and offer a series of workshops to help teach career-building skills.

The “Improving Employability Summer Series” is designed for international students in the Master of Engineering (MEng) and Master of Applied Computing (MAC) programs as they look to gain additional skills that will be useful as they transition into their careers in Canada.

“The events have been curated with the goal of helping students improve their chances of employment in Canada,” says Victoria Abboud, series creator, organizer, and UWindsor professor.

This series, Dr. Abboud says, brings together insights from industry and community organizations, including research from Europe and Australia, that will support students as they embark on careers in Canada.

“The series complements the courses in both MEng and MAC by engaging students in co-curricular activities,” she says.

“Offering these sessions engages the participants with the public and experts to learn about Canadian, and Windsor-Essex, work environments. Their education can help secure employment, and the co-curricular skills like leadership, innovation, inclusive practices, etc. help them build careers."

The series opened May 27 and will continue with:

• Wednesday, May 29 – Becoming an innovative employee in the workplace
• Thursday, June 6 – From campus to career: Alumni insights on STEM education and employment
• Monday, June 17 – Introduction to agile project development
• Friday, July 12 – Career planning in Canada for the IT and engineering sectors

Thomas Carey of Workplace Innovation for Canada will lead the May 29 workshop. He says his session will help students understand what employers may expect from them and how they can begin to prepare themselves with the required capabilities.

“In job ads from Canadian employers in tech sectors, the expectation for ‘innovative’ employees frequently appears,” says Dr. Carey.

“For newcomers to Canada, it may not be clear what they will be expected to know and do as employee innovators: innovation can mean different things in different cultural settings, and there is a greater public emphasis in Canada on entrepreneurial innovation than on employee innovation.”

Although the free workshops and events are intended for international graduate students, they are open to current students and the public. Registration is required. Some registration links are still in development so visit the Windsor Hackforge event website for details. Contact Abboud with any questions at vabboud@uwindsor.ca.