The future's sunny for a career in TV

Page B5

If you're looking for an opportunity to get into the world of television broadcasting, the Weather Network would like to hear from you.

The Weather Network and its sister company MeteoMedia, which operates in French, are Canada's only 24-hour specialty channels devoted to weather and environmental issues.

"And we're also Canada's leading private sector weather information provider," said Michelle Grech, human resources manager with the Weather Network.

In an attempt to attract potential Aboriginal employees to the network, the human resources department has been involved in a number of outreach initiatives, including attending the Canadian Aboriginal Festival at Skydome to learn more about Aboriginal culture, and visiting schools and colleges to let students know about career opportunities at the Weather Network.

"Basically, our goal is to be the employer of choice, and build relationships with the Aboriginal community," Grech said.

"One of the things we've done recently is we co-ordinated a luncheon at the University of Toronto in the First Nations House. And we did that in October of 2001. And basically it was just introducing ourselves and outreaching to the students, and making them comfortable with us, and hoping that they'd be interested in working here and developing a long-term work relationship," she said.

Another recent initiative was an Aboriginal cultural awareness training session held for managers at the Weather Network.

"It was excellent. I think everyone was really receptive, and we're just trying to sort of make sure that we're a diverse organization," Grech said.

The network also offers internships, co-op placements and job shadowing, designed to give people hands-on experience in a broadcast environment.

Although there are currently no full-time positions open at the Weather Network, the network always welcomes inquiries and applications from any Aboriginal candidates interested in joining the team.

"There are certain positions that we do recruit for, but we are pretty open in terms of meeting people and seeing what their skills and their educational background is, and trying to incorporate them within our organization as best as we can. So we're very open, basically, to meeting any of the Aboriginal students or candidates who are interested in working here," Grech said.

The team at the Weather Network includes meteorologist, producers, on-air personalities, graphic artists, switcher/editors, production assistants, news writers, as well as members of the sales department, accounting department, human resource department, information technology department, Web department, a new media division a multimedia division, and also a division that provides up-to-date weather maps and forecasts for the day.

While some positions have a certain set of qualifications for candidates to meet, there is some flexibility for the right candidate, Grech explained.

"If we see that people have potential, and there are certain skills and experience that they have and if they're willing to learn, I think it's all in terms of the attitude of the individual and if they're willing to grow and learn with us, then we are definitely willing to invest our time with them.

"I think there's a lot of opportunities for growth and advancement within the company. There are training opportunities that are available. And it's a great place to work," Grech said.

"We have a very extensive values and beliefs system, and we always want to make sure that we're creating an environment that encourages excellence and initiative, and is fair and respectful to all. And I think that that's really important. I think that shows in the environment that we've created here, to make sure that's a very open, and a fun place to work.

"We'd like to be the employer of choice, and we welcome all candidates to consider working at the Weather Network, for its environment and the opportunities, and the people that work here. And we hope that eople will join us and grow with us," Grech said.

For more information about career opportunities with the Weather Network, e-mail the human resources department at hr2@on.pelmorex.com.