Job searching is not something that tends to bring people joy. The idea of advancing your career is exciting, and so is the shiny new paycheck—the process of getting there, not so much. Gen Zers are finding it more difficult than ever before to secure employment in today’s job market, and discouraging words from those around us definitely doesn’t help.
In September, Ontario’s Premier, Doug Ford, made a speech in which he said that young people are “not looking hard enough” when it comes to finding employment. Personally, I feel like I’ve always looked hard enough. Or at least as hard as possible while trying to balance school.
My first experience in job searching and failing to find anything was in high school. I searched for jobs throughout most of my high school career and even received a callback from one, only to be told they had no positions available for students. I kept searching and building my resume through volunteer work, and finally received a call for my first interview at SportChek, a Canadian sporting goods store. The interview went well, and I started working there the summer before my first year of university. I worked there for a little less than a year before getting laid off due to departmental cuts, and then I began another job search.
I searched for months and volunteered even more with the goal of finding another part-time job to pay for school. Finally, in September, I received an interview invitation from the Toronto Public Library after applying in May. This interview went well again, and I was finally employed again in November of this year.
While I was unemployed, I applied to TMU’s co-op program to gain professional experience before graduating. TMU’s co-op program provides many supports to enhance students’ job-search experience. Students can book meetings with the Career, Co-op, and Student Success office to prepare for interviews, and are assigned peer advisors. As part of the faculty of arts co-op program, students are enrolled in a co-op preparation course where we learn how to do things like analyze job postings, build our resumes and complete group research to prepare us for when we land a job.
Even with all these supports in place for students, many of them, myself included, find it difficult to land their first co-op job. It’s a disheartening and stressful process to tailor applications for different roles and companies, all while trying to complete their school work in a timely and successful manner.
I’ve looked and applied as consistently as I can for a co-op placement for the upcoming winter semester, and other than a couple of online pre-interviews, I haven’t had any luck.
The Canadian job market is said to be improving, with unemployment declining and the federal government increasing funding to address youth unemployment and create more work placements and summer jobs.Although many students are still feeling the impacts of the difficult job market, I hope that these changes will make it easier for all of us to find work as we grow older.