ISRI announces the open enrollment period for its Pathways program that matches ISRI members with prospective employment candidates from across the country. All interested companies should fill out this brief questionnaire before Sept. 8 to participate in the free program.
In 2021, ISRI’s Senior Vice President of Advocacy Cheryl Coleman developed the Sustainability Pathways Program — a talent pipeline that provides recycling industry internships, and fellowships to college students and recent graduates — with a focus on students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Native American Colleges and Universities (NACU), trade schools and community colleges. Pathways connects students with opportunities to utilize their education within ISRI member companies and inspires them to learn more about the recycled material industry’s valuable role in the world.
The 2023-2024 enrollment period is now open for ISRI member companies! This program, which is available as a member benefit at no additional cost, provides a vetted pool of intern and fellow candidates to hire from. Member companies with no formal internship or fellowship program are encouraged to enroll, as the program provides an easy on-ramp and support for onboarding an intern. Last year’s Pathways participants include Radius Recycling, Sims, Bob’s Metals, Charleston Metal and Steel, Pratt Industries, Allied Alloys, Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) and WM.
After ISRI members complete the questionnaire, ISRI’s team will schedule short follow-up calls with each interested member to walk through the program and get them started with candidate matches.
Pathways Coordinator Abigail Shaw and team have implemented feedback from existing ISRI member participants to create a more streamlined, easier process for both member employers and students. The goal is to get as many students and ISRI companies involved as possible.
ISRI Intern Christina Zhang created an Airtable database that makes it simple for students to provide individual resumes and specific job search criteria, such as employment type, preferred region and discipline. It’s also user-friendly for ISRI members to share hiring needs and details. Airtable is a secure, private user experience that provides members with sorting and filtering capabilities and automatic updates on available candidates that match with their needs.
The Pathways team is continuing to spread the word about the service and how members can be involved. ISRI is represented at career fairs across the country to encourage student participation, and Pathways member participants are contacted in advance about fairs in their respective areas to encourage in-person attendance.
All ISRI members are encouraged to be part of Pathways by enrolling here and can contact Abigail Shaw, ashaw@isri.org, for questions or more information on participation.
