Canada's Top Employers for Young People (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 36
36
SPONSOR CONTENT
CANADA’S TOP EMPLOYERS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE (2025)
CIBC offers career paths from financial planning to AI
H
elen Alemu was very
shy when she was
going to university,
but during her three
terms as a co-op
student at CIBC, she made a point
of getting comfortable with being
uncomfortable. That personal
mission made it possible for her
to make presentations in front of
several hundred people.
“In my last co-op, I was given a
lot of ownership over a project,”
says Alemu, campaign lead, digital
direct campaigns. “I reported to
the vice-president of the department and I went on to present
my business case in front of 800
people. I don’t think that I would
have gotten exposed to those types
of opportunities anywhere other
than CIBC.”
We really take the
perspective that not
one size fits all. We
try to think about
programs that develop
people in a meaningful
way for the role they’re
in today, as well as for
the future.
— Shannon Kyriakopoulos
Senior Vice President, Talent
CIBC hires over 1,000 students
annually as part of its co-op and
summer student programs. Most
are four-month placements during
the summer, although the bank
does offer some eight-month,
12-month and 16-month stints.
“We have a multitude of early
talent development programs,”
Helen Alemu, campaign lead, digital direct campaigns, at CIBC.
says Shannon Kyriakopoulos,
senior vice-president of talent.
“They are curated programs
designed to give young people
different experiences over a
couple of years before landing in a
permanent position.”
For those early in their career,
CIBC continues to hire out of traditional programs such as finance,
undergraduate business and MBA,
but over the past several years has
expanded its recruiting of STEM
(science, technology, engineering
and math) graduates.
“We are thinking about the skills
we need now and in the future,”
says Kyriakopoulos. “Things are
changing so fast that we need to
make sure we’re keeping pace. As
one example, artificial intelligence
has evolved rapidly over the past
five years. That has meant hiring
has ramped up in that space as
those skills are very much front
and centre.”
CIBC also remains a diverse
organization offering employees a
multitude of career paths. And the
bank provides mentoring as well
as learning opportunities to help
employees grow professionally.
“Mentorship was key for me
when I started as a co-op,” says
Alemu. “I met my mentor at a networking event. He was instrumental in giving me advice and he has
helped me get to where I am now.
Having someone as a mentor who
is in a senior role is so helpful.”
Kyriakopoulos adds that the
bank encourages team members
