The Forum for International Trade Training (FITT) is proud to announce Allyson Fraser as the recipient of Export Development Canada (EDC) – Forum for International Trade Training (FITT) Student Internship for 2019. Allyson will work with EDC’s Exporter Outreach Group.

Getting the work experience to attain the CITP designation

The EDC – FITT student internship is offered annually to one full-time student who has successfully completed the FITTskills international business program. This one-year internship is designed to aid this individual by giving them the work experience necessary to apply for their Certified International Trade Professional (CITP) designation. The FITT CITP designation is the world’s leading professional designation for global business practitioners.

EDC is Canada’s export credit agency, offering information, knowledge and innovative commercial solutions to help Canadian exporters and investors expand their international business. EDC’s knowledge and partnerships are used by more than 10,000 Canadian companies and their global customers in up to 200 markets worldwide each year.

Graduate of International Business program

Allyson Fraser is a graduate of Algonquin College’s Business Administration – International Business program, which has been accredited by FITT.

“Before going to Algonquin College, international trade was not a field that I knew much about. The first Forum for International Trade Training (FITT) course that I took was Global Business Environment; it was a great introduction to the rest of the FITT curriculum and built a solid foundation that I was excited to build upon.

As I continued through my program, I found that the classes built upon FITT were my favourite. The training was very comprehensive, and the final projects were built upon realistic scenarios that one would face while attempting to engage in international trade. I was impressed by the fact that my final projects counted toward both my class grade and the Certified International Trade Professional (CITP) designation.

My father is a small business owner and I have seen first-hand how much goes into owning and operating a local business. After graduating the program, I felt empowered to help other entrepreneurs like him grow their businesses by engaging in international trade. The EDC x FITT Intern position will give me the chance to do exactly that and I could not be more thrilled!”

The Forum for International Trade Training (FITT) offers a sincere congratulations to Allyson for being chosen for this unique opportunity and extends best wishes to Allyson for future success in her chosen field of international trade!

The post Congratulations to the newest EDC-FITT Student Intern of 2019! appeared first on Trade Ready.

Ever since Samantha Caldwell spent a semester of her undergrad abroad in Hong Kong, she knew she wanted to pursue a career in international trade.

The city, with its characteristic vibrant cosmopolitan nature, sparked her immediate interest in wealth creation and building global trade relationships.

She soon discovered a student opportunity at Export Development Canada (EDC) and went for it, forming the beginning of a great learning experience, as well as a leap into her future career.

Connecting the dots between a dream and the tools to succeed

The experience inspired Samantha to study for a career in global trade prompting her to enrol in the International Business Management Program at Algonquin College. The program connected her with the right people to learn the industry from, and she was soon equipped with the practical skills and knowledge she needed to excel.

“Each of the professors came from a unique international business background. This was a huge asset because they each had their own experiences to draw from while teaching. They were also able to emphasize which aspects of the material they thought were the most useful in an international business context,” Samantha explains.

I wanted to learn about international business in a practical setting, which is exactly what the FITTskills program promised and delivered.

“I also wanted to stay with EDC and grow in my career within the organization. I thought the FITTskills program would equip me with relevant skills.”

An opportunity she couldn’t pass up

As she completed the program, she learned about the EDC-FITT internship offered annually through the two organizations and a lightbulb went off. It was the perfect bridge for her between her current student position and a her long-term career goals: helping clients directly and doing the work she first dreamed about in Hong Kong.

“I knew I wanted to stay with EDC and hopefully move into a customer facing role. After completing the International Business Management program, the EDC-FITT internship seemed like the perfect fit.”

After applying for the internship, she was selected as the successful candidate by EDC and was able to start her new role soon after.

Marc Beaulieu, Director of Sales Enablement at EDC, is Samantha’s manager and has overseen her transition into the role and her progression throughout the internship.

Marc says,

We were looking for an intern who would be engaged, personable, had experience in a sales or customer service role and had a solid knowledge of international business practices and trade.

Samantha was thrilled to be awarded the internship opportunity and to take a big step forward in her international business career. She recalls her feelings upon finding out she had been chosen for the position;

“It definitely didn’t sink in for a couple of hours. I was very happy and excited.”

Wowing her colleagues from day one

Her passion and enthusiasm were evident to her colleagues from her first day on the job.

“Samantha leverages her learning from the FITTskills program to add value to business owners beyond EDC’s solutions – sharing trade advice, knowledge and industry contacts,” Marc explains.

“She is a definite asset to the team and EDC. As she gains experience, she will have the opportunity to help more Canadian SMEs achieve their international business goals.”

He also added that,

“From day one, Samantha has been very proactive and engaging with other team members and has shown a great interest and desire in contributing to the team’s success. She integrated well with the team very quickly.”

A partnership made in heaven

It is that passion, energy and enthusiasm, backed by a strong knowledge base in all aspects of international trade, that sets Samantha and FITTskills educated individuals, ahead of the crowd.

Participating in the EDC-FITT internship is great for EDC because of the targeted knowledge of the FITTskills Program. EDC gains a knowledgeable intern, well-versed in international business practices.

“We have had great successes with the FITT partnership,” Marc says.

In turn, EDC provides those individuals with top-notch, ongoing training and countless opportunities to directly apply that knowledge on the job. It’s these qualities makes the EDC-FITT partnership such a strong one.

“EDC’s Youth Education Program fulfills our mandate to help build the capacity of the next generation of business leaders by awarding scholarships and internship positions to Canadian students with a demonstrated interest in international business.”

And Samantha is certainly no exception, as Marc explains:

“She has a genuine passion for helping Canadian companies. Her strong customer service skills, and fresh innovative perspective are assets to the team. She never hesitates to challenge the status quo.”

The learning never stops

Samantha’s mornings at EDC begin with a team huddle to discuss daily priorities. Then she proceeds to training sessions, which involve onboarding and familiarization with all of EDC’s products. During this training she will also get to shadow various teams across the organization to get to the heart of what EDC does for its clients.

“Samantha has always been fully engaged in her training program, always prepared for coaching and demonstrates a thorough understanding of the material covered. She is also able to quickly apply that knowledge as well as her FITTskills training when managing customer requests,” Marc explains.

When it comes to training, Samantha is enjoying broadening her skill set and becoming more and more integrated in the EDC workforce.

“Every day is fast paced and full of learning, which I am loving,” she says.

Samantha is also lucky enough to have a large pool of knowledgeable colleagues to inspire her every day. Samantha speaks highly of one particular colleague, her mentor Suzanne Marenger, Senior Trade Advisor at EDC.

“Suzanne has been such a great educator as I transitioned to Inside Sales. I feel privileged to be able to learn from her depth of knowledge and to see every day her passion for helping clients,” Samantha says.

The feeling is mutual. Suzanne is impressed with Samantha’s aptitude, enthusiasm and work ethic.

“Samantha is a joy to work with,” Suzanne explains. “She has a professional maturity that exceeds my expectations. When she says that learning is important to her, she means it!”

When she’s not in training, Samantha is involved in hands-on activities, speaking with potential clients and assessing their needs to match with suitable EDC products and services. She also acts as a resource during webinars to answer global trade-related questions.

When asked what Samantha enjoys most about working with EDC, she can’t say enough about her positive work environment and the impact that she and her colleagues have on their clients, and even their country.

“I really like that the status quo can be questioned. EDC employees are encouraged to have a ‘continuous improvement’ mindset, to make processes more customer oriented and efficient.”

I’m very proud to work at a company whose mandate is to grow the Canadian economy by supporting domestic companies in international trade.

Going forward in her career, Samantha wants to continue to learn and grow with EDC and continue her education.

“I really enjoy working at EDC so I hope I can continue to gain more experience in the Business Development group. A personal priority is to complete a Master’s degree in 2-5 years.”

We have no doubt that Samantha will continue to flourish in her career with EDC and look forward to following her on that journey of success.

Interested in being the next EDC-FITT intern? Keep your eyes out over the next few weeks for when we post the next EDC-FITT Internship!

The post EDC-FITT intern makes a leap forward in her dream to help build global trade relationships appeared first on Trade Ready.

Last year FITT formed an affiliate partnership with Icecorp—one of Canada’s leading international forwarding, customs brokerage, and third party logistics companies—to help promote education regarding the international trade industry. As part of the agreement, Icecorp created internship opportunities for FITT-trained students across Canada.

 “We are always looking for young, enthusiastic students and recent graduates to join our team and gain practical experience in global logistics. Thank you FITT!”
~ Mark Stevenson, Vice President of Operations at Icecorp

Atsushi Tabei, a graduate from Arbutus College in Vancouver, was selected for a position with Icecorp’s export and import staff in their Toronto office.

“I was so excited because I was dying to use the knowledge I learned in FITTskills in practical situations,” said Atsushi. “I have been realizing many differences between my understanding and practical situations in international trading. So I am enjoying learning the differences every time. My supervisor and coworker are also so friendly, and I am enjoying chatting with them.”

Atsushi is a courteous, hard-working, no-nonsense individual who always wants to ensure he has put forth his best work, said Patrick Liem, his former FITTskills instructor at Arbutus College.

“He was a great guy to have in the classroom. And like Columbo (the TV detective), when you think you’re done with Atsushi, he always asks just one more question…,” said Patrick.

Graziella Nogueira, a graduate of Vancouver Career College, was selected for a position in Icecorp’s Vancouver Operations department.

I was very excited when I found out,” said Graziella. “I felt honoured and blessed.”

Graziella’s former FITTskills instructor Derek Thompson was also thrilled to hear about her internship.

“Graziella is extremely driven and she always has an appetite for learning more,” he said. “She came into the program with some business experience but she just didn’t know which direction she wanted to take it. She always had the spark, we just helped to provide some direction and focus for that energy.”

Derek went on to add that one of the main benefits of the FITTskills program is that it’s very practical and business-focused. It’s designed to give the student all the key foundations of business that they’ll need in order to be successful in the international marketplace.

“All business today is international business,” he said.

“If you aren’t taking business courses that have an international perspective as a foundation, you will be missing out on a lot of business and career opportunities in the future.” 

Graziella began her internship at the end of February, and she says it has been going great. She’s been able to apply what she learned in her program directly to the work she’s doing at Icecorp, and she says it has been interesting and enjoyable to see it all come together. Additionally, she says the people she is working with are very knowledgeable and accommodating in terms of helping her to continue learning as much as she can.

I’m sure I still have lots to learn in this journey, but the path has been very rewarding!

“Ultimately, my dream career would fit in my lifestyle; travelling, making new contacts, building relationships, negotiating,” she said. “The globalization and optimization of information, process and EDI allows people to do everything, virtually from everywhere, as long as you have a computer and a phone.”

We’re looking forward to continuing to work with Icecorp to offer great internship opportunities to FITTskills-trained students. Does your company offer internship positions to students, and how has it benefited your business? And if you’re a student, are you looking for more internship opportunities like these? Leave us your comments below!

The post FITTskills students launch export/import careers with internships at Icecorp Logistics Inc. appeared first on Trade Ready.

“I was so excited when I found out,” she said. “I think this is a really great starting position for my career, and I’m looking forward to building on my learning with this experience.”

The EDC-FITT internship is a position that’s offered annually to one student who has graduated from the FITTskills program and shown great accomplishment.

Megan was selected for a number of reasons.

“During her interview Megan displayed her maturity, her industry knowledge and her ability to articulate international business concepts clearly and confidently,” said Tom Prowse, one of the managers of EDC’s Small Business Solutions team for which Megan will be working.

I’m really looking forward to working with Megan. One thing I really like about graduates from the FITT program is that they’ve chosen to devote so many months of their lives to studying just international trade. They have focus, and they can very clearly articulate why they chose that path, and that they’re committed to it.

Before being chosen as the EDC-FITT intern, Megan excelled through all eight FITTskills courses at Algonquin College. And her hard work definitely didn’t go unnoticed.

“It has been my pleasure and privilege to have Megan as my student in the International Business Management Graduate Certificate Program,” commented Norman Lomow, CITP, professor and coordinator at Algonquin College. “Megan is one of the students who stands out amongst the thousands as knowing where she’s going and how to get there. I’m certain she’ll succeed at the very highest level in the international trade career she is striving for.”

Last year’s EDC-FITT intern, Stephanie Kam, is a prime example of how beneficial this internship opportunity can be for budding global business professionals. Since she began at EDC, Stephanie has worked her way up to a full-time account manager position, and she’ll soon be moving on to the organization’s Legal department. In fact, all past EDC-FITT interns have been offered full-time employment with EDC.

“Looking back, I am extremely grateful for the role the internship played in shaping my career,” she said. “My manager placed a lot of trust in me and I had the opportunity to lead presentations at banks, incubators and professional service firms. And I found myself drawing upon my knowledge gained from the FITT program during my client meetings with CEOs and CFOs of Canadian exporting companies.”

Her best advice for future EDC-FITT interns like Megan?

“Be proactive,” she suggested. “EDC is looking for outgoing people in this client-facing role who have a passion for international trade, so develop your written and oral communications skills.”

Megan will begin her internship in June with three months of training so she can get familiarized with the inner workings of EDC. She’ll then move on to assisting her Small Business Solutions team in helping Canadian companies with their exporting endeavours.

Megan says she’s really looking forward to starting at EDC, and to start applying everything she’s learned about international trade to real-life situations.

“Being chosen for this internship is so great,” she said, “and the internship has the added bonus of providing me with the one year of experience I need to apply for my Certified International Trade Professional (CITP) designation.”

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