b"Start Your Career in the Electrical IndustryTHE ELECTRICAL APPRENTICE TRAINING ALLIANCEBy ROBERT O'DONNELLT industryintheGreaterprocedures. The Alliance accepts applicantsThe Alliance intake process is very competi-Theconstruction TorontoArea(GTA)hasbeenundersig- throughouttheyear,withanonlineskillstive and has a large number of applicants on nificant stress in the last few years to recruitassessment process that is followed by an in- an ongoing basis, says Mark Wood, Director andtraintheskilledlabourforcetomeetperson interview with a contractor and unionof the Alliance. Once a candidate has suc-the increasing demands of clients.Electricalrepresentative.Successfulcandidatesthencessfullycompletedthepreliminaryassess-contractors and their need for electricians aretake a 60-hour safety & orientation programment, they attend an in-person standardized not immune to this pressure. before they are dispatched to a contractor.panelinterview,consistingofacontractor TheGreaterTorontoECAhasbeenCandidates are required to have completedrepresentative, a union representative and an channellingthedemandsofitsmembersecondary school, with credits in grade 12advisor from the Alliance. Although it can be contractors into an expanded and rebrandedmath and English, and a physics credit (oran intimidating process, the Alliance provides JointApprenticeshipCouncil(JAC),theGeneralEducationDevelopmentGEDtipstocandidatesonhowtoprepareand ElectricalApprenticeTrainingAlliance.Inequivalent). They are required to provide sec- basically deal with the anxiety of the process.a newly renovated and expanded facility inondary school transcripts, provide a resumeOncedispatched,pre-apprenticeswork Richmond Hill, the Alliance is tasked withwiththreereferences,andallcandidates1,800hoursundertheprovincialIBEW recruitingandprovidingsupplementarymust write a short essay on why they want toagreement before they are sponsored as first-training to pre-apprentices and apprenticesbecome an electrician. term apprentices. Under the low-rise housing to become electricians and network cabling specialistsonbehalfofthe300member contractors of the Greater Toronto ECA and its labour partner, International Brotherhood ofElectricalWorkers(IBEW)Local353. Therearepresently2,484apprenticesand pre-apprentices in the program.Itisanextremelyimportantactivityfor our industry, says Mike Mulgrew, current President of the association. We service a very diverse market that is growing at a quick pace. Totakeonnewwork,ourmember contractorsneedtobeconfidentthey have access to a reliable and highly skilled labourforce.TheAllianceisourvehicle tocreatethisneededlabourpool.Along with the physical expansion of our training facility, we and IBEW Local 353 have been updatingourrecruitmentandselection procedures to ensure we are accessing the best talent available. The Electrical Apprentice Training Alliance recruits approximately 300 new pre-appren-ticesayear.Basedonanexternalreview and audit, along with its name, the Alliance revampeditsrecruitmentandselection Ontario Electrical Contractor27"