Living The Green Dream: Eighteen Students Win Jobs Via Social Media

OTTAWA, Dec. 3, 2013 /CNW/ - The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) is pleased to announce that 18 students from across the country have won a Green Dream Internship summer job after participating in a social media contest.

The Green Dream Internship social media contest invited students to apply for a four month paid summer 2014 position with one of nine leading forest product companies. Students had to submit their application online and solicit Facebook votes in order to gain an interview for the job of a life time.  FPAC set up the contest through TheGreenestWorkforce.ca, an online resource tool that provides information on the dynamic direction of the forest products industry and career opportunities on offer right across the country.

"Under Vision2020, the forest products industry has a goal of recruiting at least 60,000 new employees by the end of the decade," says the President and CEO of FPAC, David Lindsay.  "There is no better way to reach young people than by engaging them through social media. We received a significant number of high caliber applications from students all across the country. It was gratifying to see the passion and dedication many of the students have for the industry, and we are confident about attracting the quality talent needed to join our industry now, and in the future."

All of the interns will receive an iPad mini and will be required to blog about their experience in the forest sector for the Greenestworkforce.ca website. This is the second time the Green Dream Internship contest has been held. The first group of eight interns completed their paid summer internship placements in the forest industry in August 2013, and blogged about their experience. Their blogs can be read at: http://thegreenestworkforce.ca/index.php/blog/

"We invite all Canadians to visit the GreenestWorkforce.ca website to see the exciting direction of the forest products industry and to apply for career opportunities now available," says Lindsay.

The winning candidates:

AV Group: Chemical Engineer, Atholville, NB - Winner: Ahmed Ahmed, Toronto, ON
Canfor: Electronics Engineer, Mackenzie, BC - Winner: Chris Hill, Millgrove, ON
Canfor: Mechanical Engineer, Bear Lake, Prince George, BC - Winner: Kevin Lee, Oakville, ON
Millar Western:  Environmental or Chemical Engineer, Whitecourt, AB - Winner: Elizabeth Tice, Markham, ON
Millar Western: Woodlands Operations and Roads, Whitecourt, AB - Winner: Kyle Rosychuk, Edmonton, AB
Millar Western:  Silviculture Assistant, Whitecourt, AB - Winner: Emily Harten, Sault Ste Marie, ON
Tembec:  Forestry Intern, Chapleau/Timmins, ON - Winner: Chantel Spicer, Nanaimo, BC
Tolko: Human Resources Intern, Vernon, BC - Winner: Jeremy Woo, Vernon, BC
West Fraser: Chemical Engineer, Slave Lake, AB - Winner Navjot Sanopal, Surrey, BC
Weyerhaeuser: Timberlands Forestry Intern, Grande Prairie, AB - Winner: Brooke MacKenzie, Inverhuron, ON
Weyerhaeuser: Timberlands Forestry Intern, Princeton, BC - Winner: Riley Finn, Vancouver, BC

Companies are still conducting interviews on a few positions due to the high number of excellent candidates! FPAC will post the other selected students to TheGreenestWorkforce.ca Facebook page in the coming days.

FPAC provides a voice for Canada's wood, pulp, and paper producers nationally and internationally in government, trade, and environmental affairs. The $57-billion-a-year forest products industry represents 2% of Canada's GDP and is one of Canada's largest employers operating in hundreds of communities and providing 230,000 direct jobs across the country.

SOURCE: FOREST PRODUCTS ASSOCIATION OF CANADA