On Monday, Fanshawe College announced that it would be partnering with the non-profit organization, Helmets to Hardhats (H2H). The new partnership aims to help military-connected Fanshawe students find high skilled trade job opportunities.
H2H has been helping veterans in Canada find jobs since 2012. Fanshawe has been actively working to cement its place as a military-connected college, by helping students transition from service life to civilian life.
Fanshawe is the first college in Canada to partner with H2H. Fanshawe’s Director of Employment and Student Entrepreneurial Services, Darlene O’Neill said the partnership just made sense.
“[H2H] have really strong employer relations, much like we do, but different ones,” she said. “And so they are able to place the the military-connected people in those positions at either a level one, level two, level three or journey person apprentice based on their academic experience, plus through military experience.”
O’Neill further explained the struggles faced by those transitioning away from military life into college life.
“Post secondary is very individualistic, you’re there on your path,” explained O’Neill. “Your goal is in employment, future employment. And so some of the challenges they face is, they feel that they’re not part of the college community. Sometimes they feel isolated. Oftentimes, they have a sense of anxiety around returning to learning, particularly if they’ve been in leadership roles. And all of a sudden now they’re, they’re in a student role, which is a little different.”
Fanshawe’s shift to becoming a military-connected college seeks to ease that transition by providing supports to military-connected students. The partnership with H2H is yet another way that Fanshawe is striving to help transfer military skills to high skilled trade positions.
But the partnership is helping more than just students.
“The skilled trades are in very high demand,” said O’Neill. “And a lot of people are not pursuing the skilled trades anymore. So it’s going to rejuvenate the skilled trades, it’s going to help with those labor gaps and help the the industry itself rebuild.”
Students across various programs will be able to take advantage of the resources provided by H2H. O’Neill said H2H focuses primarily on connecting students to apprenticeships and journeyperson roles. That extends to students in property management, engineering and even the culinary arts.
“So there’s so many opportunities that are going to be open for our students,” said O’Neill. “And we’re really excited about it. And I just I think it’s a fantastic partnership.”
Comments