It’s often said that times are tough for young people these days.
It’s becoming increasingly difficult for youth fresh out of high school, college or university to find a job. Some students lack the skills necessary to enter the job market, others have the skills and training but are struggling against barriers, including language, and some just don’t know where to start when it comes to finding a job or starting a career.
This is where S.U.C.C.E.S.S. comes in.
The Vancouver-based group of charities runs a youth employment program in Burnaby, which caters to youth struggling to break into the job market. The program, aptly named the S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Youth Employment Program or YEP, is a 12-week program that helps connect youth to entry-level jobs in various industries and provides life-skills and employability workshops through the course.
“Usually they’re the youth that are at-risk or with barriers, and barriers could be anything from ethnic background, Aboriginal, immigrant, English-as-a-second language, language barrier to previous contact with justice system to alcohol and drug abuse, single parents, mental, physical illness or disability. Pretty much anything that you can think of,” said Nazi Pashandi, project manager for YEP.
Even just being a young person without any experience in the labour force can be a barrier, Pashandi added.
The program is open to Canadian citizens, permanent residents or refugees between 15 and 30 years old who are out of school, unemployed or underemployed. (You must also be legally allowed to work in Canada.)
“During the 12-week program, we provide (youth) with employability skills, life skills and job placement,” Pashandi said.
Staff at the Burnaby-based YEP office work successful applicants to prepare them for work in the labour market. The first two weeks of the program is all about preparation. Youth are taught everything from budgeting to proper work attire. Guest speakers are brought in to share their experience and advice to the fledging group of workers.
Pashandi noted that many of the people that participate in YEP start with very little or no work experience. They’ve often never built a resume, many don’t know what it takes to find a job and most lack the confidence to get started.
But for Burnaby resident and YEP participant Jessica, who asked we not publish her last name, it wasn’t about a lack of confidence, it was about streamlining a job search that was proving very difficult.
“It’s pretty hard for new graduates right now unless you took something really specific like tech or engineering or computer science,” Jessica told the NOW.
Jessica graduated with an arts degree from the University of B.C., but she was struggling trying to find a job she qualified for. So she set out to find help and came across S.U.C.C.E.S.S.’s Youth Employment Program.
“This (program) was the first hit that came across on Google, and I just called in,” she said.
While most of the jobs available through the program are entry-level positions, often in retail or food services. There are a few entry-level office jobs available, if that’s what fits best with the youth. Some youth, like Jessica, might want to arrange their own placement. She actually went out and found a company she was interested in working for, and staff at YEP did the rest.
Jessica is now entering her fifth week at her placement job, and she couldn’t be happier. While she wouldn’t wager a guess whether or not the company will keep her once the 10 weeks are up, it’s given her the first stepping stone towards a career.
“What I think I would have had to do is volunteer with a bunch of different organizations until I’d built up my work experience that way,” she said.
After the 10-week placement is up, it’s up to the youth to find themselves permanent employment, Pashandi said.
“Or we can help them for another 12 months, in terms of follow-up or extra support … to help them get employment,” she added.
However, the additional 12 months of support is only for job search assistance, no further placements will be arranged once the initial 10 weeks are completed.
“The whole idea of this program is to help the youth get into the work force,” Pashandi said.
And if the employer chooses not to hire the youth after the work placement is complete, the youth still walks away with a good reference and some meaningful work experience (assuming they completed the program as required).
“So the next job would be way easier for them to find,” Pashandi added.
For more information about S.U.C.C.E.S.S.’s Youth Employment Program, visit www.successbc.ca, and click on the Services tab and then, from a drop down menu, click on Employment Services and select Youth Employment Program. You can also get more info by calling 604-438-7222.
The next Youth Employment Program runs from Nov. 2, 2015 to Jan. 22, 2016.
