Fridays from November 1st - 22nd, 2024 | Online

Employer Engagement Academy

The micro-credential for post-secondary employer relations professionals.

To find out when the next Employer Engagement Academy is taking place,
we invite you to join our mailing list.

Employers’ requirements and their relationships to campuses are evolving.

The changing labor market; AI and other new technologies; the hybrid workplace; the expansion of internship, co-op and other experiential programs; and, expanded efforts towards diversity recruitment are all having a significant impact on the work of employer relations professionals.

Become better equipped to engage employers on your campus.

Improve employer engagement

Become an invaluable resource for your employer partners

Earn your employer engagement certification 

The Employer Engagement Academy is designed for college professionals working in offices that partner with employers: career services, internship, cooperative education, and others.

4 live and interactive workshops

Collaborative group work and discussions

12 hours of active learning

Dedicated web portal with discussion board

Online educational materials (video recordings, slides, worksheets)

Highly experienced and knowledgeable instructors

Upon successful completion of this program, graduates will be able to:

  • Identify employers’ top challenges and share various tactics to support them in addressing these challenges
  • Understand the employers’ context and think creatively about how to support their success
  • Discuss and develop concrete methods career offices can apply to better support employers’ diversity recruitment efforts
  • Identify strategies for sourcing employer leads and identifying business development opportunities
  • View the “selling” aspects of employer relations as an opportunity to become a trusted advisor and help clients solve key challenges
  • Examine various techniques for nurturing and building stronger relationships with employer partners
  • Collaborate with employer relations professionals to co-create high-impact employer events, practice consultative conversations, and share value-add practices for engaging employers
  • Acquire the tools to help employer partners build a solid business case for student hiring
  • Measure their performance against key success factors and create an action plan to improve employer relations on campus
  • Understand the three key elements to building stronger relationships with employer partners and the value of a consultative approach
Expand Learning Outcomes

The Employer Engagement Academy features four, 3-hour sessions that include workshops, presentations and panel discussions that will be presented live online over a span of 4 weeks.

Weekly sessions will include opportunities for participants to reflect on their learning, take part in small and large group discussions, meet with their peers, and complete self-guided learning and research assignments.

In addition to the 3-hour sessions, it is expected that participants will complete 1-2 hours of homework each week. Homework will consist of posting and commenting on discussion board topics, connecting with other participants, watching video recordings, and completing a final quiz.

With intended learning outcomes, participants will be supported via a dedicated web portal to access educational materials, connect with peers, post and comment on coursework, discuss topics of interest, and share best practices and information over the course of the program.

All 3-hour sessions will be recorded and made available for review for 4 months after the completion of the program.

Friday, Nov 1, 2024

1:00 PM - 4:00 PM EST

  • What Is the Role of the Employer Relations Professional?
  • Employers' Top Challenges: How Schools Solve Problems for Their Employer Partners
  • Employer Relations Pro Panel: Focus on Sourcing Leads & Business Development Skills

Friday, Nov 8, 2024

1:00 PM - 4:00 PM EST

  • Panel: How Campus Recruiting Works: The Employers’ Perspective
  • Evaluating your strengths, weaknesses and opportunities with the Employer Relations Scorecard

Friday, Nov 15, 2024

1:00 PM - 4:00 PM EST

  • Creating High Impact Employer Events
  • Building Employer Relations for the Long Term: Creating Client Ecstasy
  • And Action! Practicing Consultative Conversations through Role Play

Friday, Nov 22, 2024

1:00 PM - 4:00 PM EST

  • Employer Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: The Role of Schools in the DEI Challenge
  • Helping Your Employer Partners Build a Solid Case to Increase Student Hiring
  • Key Cohort Roundtables: Collaborative Group Work on Common Challenges
  • Next Steps: Turning Learnings into Action Plans

Presenters

Additional panelists to be announced soon.

Ashley Silva

Global Atlantic Financial Company

AVP, Talent Acquisition

Cheri Hurtubise

Siemens Healthineers

Head of University & Diversity Recruiting, Americas - Talent Acquisition Manager

Elizabeth Chominski

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Director of Corporate Partnerships at Gies

Graham Donald

Brainstorm Strategy Group Inc.

Founder & President

Karin Hanson

Michigan State University

Director of Employer Relations and Communications

Michelle Kelley

Langan

Senior Campus Talent Acquisition Specialist & Team Lead

Nicole Ramirez

Conagra Brands

Manager, Early Talent

Stéphanie Joseph

Marsh, Canada, US & Bermuda

Senior TA Consultant, University Relations

Jason John

University of Toronto Mississauga

Assistant Director, Employer Relations & Marketing, Career Centre

Dana Tonus

Brock University

Manager, Employer Relations & Partnerships, CCEE

Julie Rahmer

Learning, Research & Engagement Lead

As the Employer Engagement Academy’s dedicated program support person, I’m committed to ensuring that participants and presenters get the most out of their experiences. I am happy to answer questions and provide information and updates to ensure that you are well equipped for this unique learning opportunity.

"The Employer Engagement Academy was an incredibly helpful resource. The workshops, panels, and networking opportunities were invaluable. This academy was a perfect place to build a roadmap for the future and assess my strategic approach to employer engagement. I can't recommend it enough!"

Monica Barry

Associate Director, Employer Relations & Outreach, University of Chicago

"I highly recommend this program to anyone in the employer relations field, who is interested in learning, sharing best practices, hearing from employer panels, joining in on lively discussions, and building their network, not to mention, receiving a micro-credential once completed! This program was informative, engaging, and probably the best PD I have ever been a part of, and it continues to be, with access to the dashboard, resources, network, and discussion board for six months after the program! Money well spent."

Kelleen Schonfeldt

Partnership Coordinator (Allied Health Sciences), Career Centre, Cambrian College

"I highly recommend this program to professionals involved in Employer Engagement. The program integrates various elements of the employer engagement experience and introduces participants to innovative ideas and diverse perspectives. It also facilitates a deeper understanding of personal strengths and areas for improvement in approaching employer engagement. This program is invaluable not only for newcomers but also for seasoned professionals, providing a platform to exchange insights and knowledge."

Katherine Byron

Assistant Director/Coordinator of Employer Engagement for Students & Alumni, Coastal Carolina University

"I'm excited to put what I've learned into practice, and in turn strengthen relationships between Dalhousie University's employer partners, students, and alumni! This has been a wonderful professional development experience!"

Nia MacFarlane

Coordinator, Employer Engagement & Events Career Services Dalhousie University

"The Employer Engagement Academy gave me more clarity on all the streams concerning employer relations. Hearing the fantastic experiences of panelists and my classmates has provided a wide variety of ideas I can propose and execute inside the institution I work for. I am grateful for receiving the opportunity to participate in this program."

Carlos Davalos

Corporate Relations Liaison, Business Development, Douglas College

"I appreciated the approach presented in the Employer Engagement Academy that provided fundamental strategies and tactics that are proven best practices in relationship building, sales and CRM – which are typically outside of higher education – we were encouraged to use these to add value for our universities and employers."

Chrys Tsilibes

Assistant Director, Corporate Partner Relations, Center for Career Development, University of Connecticut – Stamford

"Participating in this year's Employer Engagement Academy was an extraordinary journey. The opportunity to connect and engage in stimulating discussions with like-minded employer engagement specialists from esteemed post-secondary institutions nationwide proved to be an invaluable asset for my professional growth. The insights and knowledge acquired will greatly contribute to my efforts in engaging employers interested in hiring student talent, as well as providing positive support to those hosting our exceptional students in internships and future co-op opportunities."

Kazi Kabir

External Relations Officer, Arts & Science Co-op, University of Toronto Scarborough

"The Employer Engagement Academy was an amazing opportunity, professional and down-to-earth. Speakers were informative and engaging on relevant topics. Group activities were thought provoking and provided great insight on what is happening coast to coast with post-secondary employer relations!"

Julie Stuart

Employer Relations Consultant, Career Services, Niagara College Canada

"As someone who started in employer relations in the pandemic, participating in this program was a great opportunity for me to learn more about my area as a whole since everything has been so different for the majority of my time in this role. From breakout sessions with peers, to employer feedback on key topics surrounding our role, to best practices, this program gives employer relations professionals at all levels something to takeaway."

Dylan Tedder

Assistant Director of Employer Relations and Internships, Arkansas State University

"This was a great program and I have many takeaways for my "idea" whiteboard in my office. As employer developers, we often attend events and conferences for the main purpose of building and fostering new relationships with PD being an additional bonus. This was a great opportunity to give relationship builders their own PD exclusively focused on learning, growing and planning for the future. I would highly recommend!"

Venessa Magny

Talent Partnership Consultant, Goodman School of Business, Brock University

"The Employer Engagement Academy allowed me the opportunity to network with amazing professionals and learn great insights on how to build our relationships with employers!"

Erin Bruce

Associate Director, Employer Relations, Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, Indiana University College of Arts & Sciences

"The Employer Engagement Academy was a very engaging and insightful course that helped me better understand employers’ changing recruitment needs when it comes to hiring students and how I can better support them while navigating the evolving labor market. It was also a great avenue for meeting many other colleagues from various universities across Canada! I am looking forward to implementing some of the takeaways from this course."

Nadira Al-Nasleh, M.Ed.

Employer Engagement and Events Coordinator, Bissett Student Success Centre, Dalhousie University

"The Employer Engagement Academy is a great resource for those who are new to the field and for seasoned professionals who'd like a refresher. The material is broad, relevant, and useful."

Shana Love

Assistant Director, Experiential Learning, Career Center, UC Berkeley

"As a new person working in this field, the Employer Engagement Academy provided important insights into current issues. I picked up terminology and concepts from discussions, awareness of current employer and student trends. Thanks to this course, and the willingness of experienced participants, I can carry on intelligent discussions with folks at my institute and have meaningful info to share. This program brought me up to speed quickly. The format allowed me to meet others in the industry personally. Through this class, I've forged many new contacts in the field- I feel like I've entered a national cooperative process, and that's pretty exciting!"

Sandy MacKay

Work-Integrated Learning Coordinator, Office of Experiential Education, University of New Brunswick

"The Employer Engagement Academy was such a valuable experience as we spent each week diving into content that impacts the day-to-day work of employer relations professionals. From discussing how employer relations professionals aid their employer partners with their top challenges, to how our work ties into our employers' DEI initiatives, the content was relevant, current and insightful. I also loved making connections with many employer relations professionals from across the country! It was great hearing and learning from employer relations professionals at various stages within this career."

Naomi Pollek

MBA, Manager, Student & Employer Relations, CareerHub, Milwaukee Area Technical College

View All

FAQs

What will I learn during this program?

In addition to practicing professional skills such as communication, managing/processing information, problem-solving, time-management, and teamwork/collaboration, after completing the Employer Engagement Academy program, you'll achieve a number of learning outcomes.

What is the schedule and time commitment?

The core of the program is four, 3-hour sessions held over 4 weeks. In addition to the 3-hour sessions, it is expected that participants will complete 1-2 hours of homework each week consisting of posting and commenting on discussion board topics, connecting with co-participants, watching video recordings, and completing a final quiz.

All sessions will be recorded so that participants can access any sessions that conflict with their personal schedules.

Will there be recordings available?

Yes, all sessions will be recorded and available exclusively to program participants on the dedicated web portal for 4 months after the completion of the program.

What happens if I miss a session?

There’s a good chance that a session or two may conflict with your other commitments. Recordings of sessions will be posted on the web portal along with educational materials within 24 hours of each workshop, so you’ll have plenty of opportunity to catch up.

Who should participate?

If you work directly with the employers that hire your students, then the Employer Engagement Academy is designed for you.

Can you help me convince my boss to invest in this?

Absolutely. Please send an email to Julie Rahmer at julie@brainstorm.ca and I will send you an email template.

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