Generation Jobless
 

A really good documentary from CBC.

Interested in your people's thoughts.

CBC - Doc Zone - Episode - Generation Jobless

:okay:

Education does not always mean skill. Nor does it mean a person will gain experience because of said education. It's also a two way street. Many of this generation have an inflated sense of entitlement. They deserve a job, or so they think. I get that it's hard to get a first job, but it was the same for the rest of us. I get that putting your nose to the grindstone isn't the easier, and probably not the best, way to get a career going, but it still works.

There's a lack of work in Vancouver. The economy sucks and the work simply isn't here. I left Vancouver because of that. The older generation at work who were going to retire simply didn't because of the economy crashing. They stuck on to try to make up the difference in their pension or rrsp's, or whatever reason it is they stick around. I moved to Edmonton. Not my first choice, but in doing so, I increased my income by almost 90%. There's work. There's places that will hire right off the street, only requirement being a pulse.

When you're that young and you have zero chance of starting a job or a career where you are, you have to look at the other options. Maybe a change of province. Maybe time to look at a different field. I can certainly appreciate that they chose their degree to major in and they'd like to use it, but if the work isn't there, the work isn't there.

TekDragon I thought you are a conductor for CN Rail, are you still doing that?

Hits on so many thoughts that i had expressed with others i went to school with, This is scary. I Dropped out and they continued their educations. I got ahead by gaining experiences while they now work part time at Starbucks or MacDonalds etc. As nice as it would have been to get that education im glad i have been able able to make some money instead of falling behind :(

This video is funny to me.

Young grads are slow at figuring out which jobs are there and which are going with the wind.

This is the same as in the states. Having a Ba or Masters doesn't mean shit when there are no jobs, only fast food jobs.

When I became unemployed a few years ago It smacked me in the face just how hard a decent job is to find even with experience. I've said it here before and I'll say it again, education is good, experience is great but networking and contacts are going to make it or break it for most people.

I thought I was going to switch careers but I got a rude awaking. At the end of the day I had to use my contacts to pickup another job in the same industry I was trying to escape. Think about your friends and family members and how they got there jobs. I"m willing to bet many if not most of them knew somebody, had an in that helped them get where there foot in the door.

After watching the video, my takeaways are:

-you have to be willing to move to where the work is
-do research into what the job prospects are for the field you choose
-choose professions you know there is a demand for

That Ontario example of a 60 per cent unemployment rate for new teachers doesn't surprise me. What surprises me is that people pursue it, knowing this. That one guy, has been a substitute teacher for nine years and delivers pizza on the side.

The girl in the documentary has a urban geology degree. You're not exactly going to have employers lining up to hire you. If she is willing to move to Alberta she will likely find a job pretty quick. Land-use planning is a big part of the government's priority due it's wealth of natural resources.

And the other girls she works with. One has a history degree and the other, a modern European studies degree. Job prospects just aren't there.

:tears:

My thoughts are there should be mandatory co-ops like an apprenticeship.

There are many useless degrees out there in my opinion. Why not let them realize it after the first year when they can't even get a co-op job instead of wasting three more years doing a degree in urban european knitting.

You can read every book and study for 4 years how to swim. Doesn't mean you can swim if someone throws you in the ocean. Only way is experience.

canadian gov't ain't going to do shit. so getting people to protest to get government means nothing. Schools are businesses and they don't give a shit. You wnat them to stop people taking Business cause there are too many accountants out there? they don't give a shit, jut keep charging you fees and off you go register.

you know our mechanics are turning out tons of people too but there aren't a lot of jobs.

I get how awesome people are finding great jobs in Alberta. Yes I know that's awesome, there are tons of jobs in China too, or Singapore but are you going ot do that? It's a tough call to pack up your bags and go.

Im taking courses part time at BCIT and the girl I am sitting next to in one of my classes has a BA in Psych from UBC but she hasn't been able to use it in finding a career, I think her exact words were "it didn't prepare me" so now shes back in school with a more defined path.


As for the guy who was talking about networking...Definitely agree, I had a girl working for me and she got a job with the help of a former co-worker (and a VERY generous reference from me) which led her to make more contacts...in 4 months she was making more money then me with less skill, the same company she now works for has never even considered me for any of the positions I have applied for despite the fact that I have more experience then her.

Yep. Transferred to the Edmonton yard, working the road instead of the yard now, about a 90% raise doing it.

I find it difficult to subscribe to the dogma of "paying your dues". The level at which those dues are paid is descending lower and lower, to a point where neglecting the presence of exploitation would be extremely ignorant on the part of those already "in" and established.

I think the problem is this mentality of "I have to go to some sort of post-secondary program". Obviously the top students will have an easier time finding a job, but I think the majority of the people with employment problems were faced with a choice of going to university and study something like Basket weaving or going to college. I'm going to make a bold statement and say that the people who do go to university to study Basket weaving are generally people who are somewhat insecure that they have this fear of going to college and having a societal "label", or they're completely lost and become monkey see monkey do (everyone else is going to uni, I guess I will), or they're genuinely interested in what they study (I'm going to say the majority these people will be employed).

Going to college here doesn't really solve your problems either. Just because you study business at Cap, it doesn't mean you can become an investment banker. I'm not saying you won't be able to find a job, but you're going to be competing with the grads coming out of Sauder, Beedie, and all the other institutions. Furthermore, this is exceptionally worse here because of a saturated job market and post secondary institutions expanding their programs for the sole purpose of profit.

I do feel that the education system here is part of the problem and it's only going to get worse. School's do a very lacklustre job of preparing you for anything, if any of you guys are in highschool you've probably done or are doing planning 10, which is a mandatory course thats supposed to prepare you. I was fortunate enough to have a badass teacher who went out of his way to help everyone out, but the majority of my friends had teachers that didn't give a shit and just stuck to the useless curriculum they were provided with. Being a senior in an extremely academically inclined school (biggest AP program in Canada), I see tons of people with high grades that skip out on grad events and socializing because all they've done in school for the past 5 years is learn how to get a high mark on a test. Yes, some of those people are going to Harvard, MIT, Princeton and ivy league schools, but what about those with that personality that aren't quantatively gifted? Those people are extremely awkward and can't even look you in the eye, much less pass a job interview.

This is somewhat off-topic but I want to touch on grade inflation. School has gotten progressively easier throughout the years and after the removal of provincial exams, this can cause problems. I have friends that are getting extremely high grades because of easy teachers. A lot of these people are applying to programs such as sciences, engineering, etc. What's going to happen? they'll most likely get in, but, I know of atleast a couple that won't be able to handle the difficulty and weren't assessed to a proper level to meet the requirements to STAY in the program.

In my opinion, I also think society plays a huge role in this problem. There's so much competition and pressure marketed these days on kids to get into university and find a job that all they focus on is getting good marks and forgo a lot of the activities that build up attributes people actually desire, such as fun, confidence, and the ability to step outside of your comfort zone.

This got a little longer then I intended but it's Sunday and I'm bored, consider this as a point of view from a current high school senior.

^ I was one of those students that went to a university to study something I don't like because of societal pressures :fuckthatshit:.. I stayed at SFU for 3 semesters before I decided to go to Kwantlen to do accounting. I rather have a somewhat useful degree in a lower tier school than an useless degree in a higher ranked university.

The best advice I was given in highschool - "it's not what you know, it's who you know"

the higher you climb the ladder , the more prevalent it is.

didn't watch the 45 min vid...only read the article

What makes you say the 20's crowd today have a sense of entitlement? May be that has to do with more of the spoiled vancouver culture...but most stats all point to young Canadians having a tougher time than not just the previous generation but new grads a decade ago.

I do agree with the rest of your post that if you don't have much luck..you have to move to where the jobs are.

It's kinda sad how young adults cannot obtain jobs the traditional way and that persistence will likely not even pay off..y'know..going around office to office door to door with resumes. It's all word of mouth and who ya know.

I dont think companies these days appreciate people coming into their office asking for a job.

At least not my last workplace..

Its not just a Vancouver Phenomenon, you can find information on Millenials or Generation Y with a quick google search.

Generation Y - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gen Y start date 1982 end date 2004
studies have found a strong sense of Narcissism and entitlement

I have co worker who went into electrical apprenticeship right after high school. Now they are making 80 k a year at age of 22. They have minimum education but they are pretty set. I wish I went into trade when I was 18 .
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^ grass is greener on the other side

it depends on what field you are in i guess
some don't have many postings so it's either connections or persistence.

Well if you do have contacts, it's way more better to get a job easily..By my experience it's also sometimes a second language may occur in most post jobs and craigslist ads! for example: Since the population is huge. Speaking mandarin or Cantonese in most parts like Richmond is always a asset. Even in the car dealership in which i got a interview for service advisor and got rejected with 2 year experience in automotive while they Hired a guy with no experience but speak 2nd language. It was a bummer!

You get jobs through people. Contacts & networking are everything in this day and age. If you don't know somebody, you better make sure that in your class of 150, you were in the top 10, because if you weren't your not even getting a call for a 2nd interview.

I have personal experience where it took me 8 months to get my current job, even then I knew someone here. While job hunting I searched online, I made tons of phone calls, and I did atleast 50-100 COLD CALLS. Something no young person seems to want to do anymore. They figure a fucking email is "good enough." At the 8 month mark, I hit a peak of getting 3 interviews, and happily got a job.. Best part was the other 2 companies, never even called to say I didn't make the cut.

It's something where school is still necessary, but only to a point. I've found that experience now outweighs schooling. Thus I'm on the fence whether I should go back for another Certificate to expand my knowledge or just keep working. (Yet if I can't get a LOA then most likely this idea is dead in the water)

Advice: Go to school, but while is school make lots of friends in the same industry. Keep in contact with everyone so you have a better chance of getting a job. Yet most importantly.. WHILE still in school, get internships, co-ops, even part-time jobs in the industry. Without the experience, the likelihood of getting a job is slim-to-none.

mello's right. you pretty much have to be like this guy and know a guy that knows a guy

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