Over the last 2 years, Liberty’s Talent Acquisition team has worked on formalizing the campus program.  In this time, we have had the pleasure of welcoming over 100 students in a variety of business units – Engineering, Sustainability, Health and Safety, Operations, Finance, Accounting – to name a few.  We have been successful in fostering an environment of learning and development through challenging projects and tasks, regular lunch and learns, networking opportunities, and e-learning courses available to our students.

We welcome the knowledge and diversity of thought that these students bring to the organization and we truly value their hard work and dedication. Our intention is to support the learning, development and growth throughout their work term(s) and have been fortunate to have several return back for another term or join us part-time, full-time or on contract.

Below you will find stories from three of our co-op students who have very different, yet interesting journeys with Liberty.

I work as an Associate Internal Auditor at Liberty’s Office in Oakville, Canada. I graduated from Sheridan College from their Professional Accounting Graduate Certificate Program in December 2020, and joined Liberty to work in a full time capacity in March, 2021. But my journey doesn’t start from here.

How it all started

It was 6th January, 2020, and I was starting my first day as an Internal Audit Co-op with the organization. I still remember the very first day I walked into this amazing building, visible from a very distance, and as soon as I entered, I saw people passing by or getting their coffee from the café downstairs, and finally gearing up to start their work day!! Soon I found my way into the orientation room and got myself familiarized with everybody. Everybody was so welcoming and helped me out in all the ways possible. From that day my daily hustle started where I was attending meetings, working on different projects, attending different festival celebrations and many more things. The Internal Audit team offered me such a wide variety of tasks and supported me in any way possible, which brought out the best from me. After the completion of my co-op work term, I was offered a Part-Time position to work with the team, which brought on many more challenges, as well as new opportunities to learn, understand and gain more exposure. With all the support from my team, I was able to perform to the best of my abilities and excel.

 

How it is going so far:

One thing I loved the most about Liberty is its people. You would never realize that someone is your senior or if someone is your junior. I would like to share an experience, where we went for an event at Holiday Inn (pre-covid scenario) and I was right there sitting at the same table with the Directors, Senior Vice Presidents, and Senior Managers, altogether and having the best of the conversations and learning about their experiences. So, yeah you might come across so many people on a daily basis with whom you would have the best of your conversations. They would never disappoint you with their interactions.

The journey so far has been exceptional. I have learned a lot in the past one year. There are many things that I never heard of before in my life, which I did after coming to Liberty. Also, my learning has been a combination of various technical as well as soft skills, like communication skills, time management, stress management, which I think has benefitted in every way possible and which will help me to grow further in my career.

It has been altogether a life changing experience at Liberty until now, and I know that this graph will surely have a bullish run in the future for me. It has been an honor to work at an amazing organization, and I see that for many forthcoming years!

- Akshay Mathur, Associate Internal Auditor

 

My name is Carter Eady and I am a student from the University of Waterloo in the Environment & Business program. My role is Compliance Analyst working within the compliance department. I have been working with Liberty for a little over a year now and have had the opportunity to be involved in the amazing co-op program. Being involved in a co-op program is such an incredible experience that can lead to hands-on knowledge and development of new skills.

When I first started my co-op placement at Liberty, I knew that this was going to be one to remember. Having the opportunity to work in the office and meet several new colleagues and students in my field of study, allowed me to feel comfortable and confident from the get-go. Liberty does such a good job at making the onboarding process smooth for newcomers, whether that be a student or full-time hire. Within the first few weeks of my placement at Liberty I had quickly noticed the strong connection and passion for diversity in the workplace.

I can remember being involved in International Women’s Day and all of the inclusion involved. Chinese New Year was a celebration with fun games and commitment to learning more about employee cultures. As a student, it was excellent to see all employees coming together to celebrate holidays year round. As mentioned earlier, I had known this co-op was going to be one to remember.

Only 2 months into my placement at Liberty, the pandemic began and COVID-19 began to slowly change the world. This was a major obstacle that everyone had to overcome and working with Liberty made it easy to transition into the work from home lifestyle. Throughout my time working with Liberty as a Compliance Analyst Co-op, I gained so many new skills that have allowed me to enhance my potential and grow as an individual. Upon my co-op placement ending, I was given the opportunity to extend my time with Liberty for another 4-months, helping and supporting projects and acting as the policy administrator.

As time has gone by, I have met so many wonderful people that share the passion for diversity and inclusion in the workplace and have made my time at liberty that much more fulfilling. I can now say as a co-op student who has now been brought onto the Compliance Team full-time, I am more than ever excited to continue my growth at Liberty and further my skills and passion for renewable energy. 

- Carter Eady, Compliance Analyst

 

Working at Liberty for 3 co-op terms has been a wonderful experience for my personal and career development. I was looking for a placement where I can grow as a safety professional and Liberty is the place to do that.

The EHS team is full of strong leaders and problem solvers. It has been great to be a part of many important projects that focus on keeping people safe at work at home. Throughout the pandemic, the co-op program at Liberty has been extremely supportive and brought many opportunities to make connections and grow my knowledge. 

- Olivia Kijak, Environmental Coordinator Co-op