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Students struggle with job search

Summer means vacations and fun in the sun for some, but this year’s break is proving to be stressful for many students looking for work.

Summer means vacations and fun in the sun for some, but this year’s break is proving to be stressful for many students looking for work.

Layoffs in many sectors across Alberta, especially oil and gas, have made the job market competitive and many university students have found it difficult to land temporary full-time employment.

Megan Kennedy, a graduate of Holy Trinity Academy, attends the University of Lethbridge. Each summer, she returns home to work and save money for the upcoming school year.

Kennedy wasn't able to find full-time work this year, but managed to land a part-time job through a family friend.

“I’m doing janitorial work at the library, cleaning in the evenings,” she said. “Normally I get approximately 10 hours per week.”

She continues to send out resumes and apply for jobs, but after two months has yet to find additional employment. If not for family friends, she said she would have been out of luck this summer.

She is grateful to have the opportunity to make some money to help out with her living expenses for the 2016-2017 year.

“It’s not as much as I wanted, but it’s still work, which is the best I can ask for right now,” said Kennedy. “It’s not just here either. I’ve got friends in Okotoks that were hunting for a good month before they got work and I have friends down in Lethbridge that still don’t have work.”

Without full-time employment this year, she said it will be more difficult to manage finances going into her next year of university. She has arranged with the cleaning company to work weekends and holidays when she is home in Okotoks, but Kennedy said she will have to find something in Lethbridge as well.

“I’m probably going to hunt for something part-time during the school year, which I didn’t want to do because it’s more stress during school,” said Kennedy. “But I won’t be able to afford to eat otherwise.”

Some students have had a little more luck in the Okotoks area. Ashton Siqueira, a student at St. Mary’s University, said he didn’t have to think about the job hunt this year because of his past experience.

“I had a job through the year at Okotoks Cinemas,” said Siqueira. “I was part-time there and I’d worked there the summer before, but I’d also worked at McDonald’s last year so I got full-time work there this year too.”

He left his position at the movie theatre to take on more hours at McDonald’s to help make ends meet, he said. Working at McDonald’s last summer left him in a good position for this year, he said.

“They let me take a leave last year and then I was able to come back and get hours, no problem,” said Ashton.

Many of his friends have had the same success, he said. Most worked part-time through the school year and took on full-time hours at the same jobs once the winter semester ended in April.

“I have heard about people whose kids have had a hard time,” said Siqueira. “I guess I kind of prepared for it. My parents suggested I have a part-time job throughout the year to make sure I had work, so I was aware of it.”

Dawn Hansen, coordinator and coach at McBride Career Group said people should widen their search and promote themselves more. Even so, she said the job hunt is difficult for many students right now because the market is flooded with people in need of work.

“Some adults are looking at work they might not have considered before just to pay the bills,” said Hansen. “They’re picking up more retail, landscaping and labour work, which is what students would normally be taking.”

At the end of May, the unemployment rate for Alberta youth ages 15 to 24 was 12.5 per cent, up from 10.9 per cent in 2015, she said.

Hansen said students need to use strategies, like getting help and ideas from professionals at career centres and getting out from behind the computer.

“If you’re someone who just sits and looks online, you’re not as likely to find work,” said Hansen. “You need to get out there and meet people face-to-face and you have to look everywhere. Online is a good start, but you can also take your resumes right into a business.”

She said many employers have stopped advertising job opportunities in the past few months because they were being inundated with resumes. She recommends people take initiative and approach businesses to see what may be available for them beyond the classifieds.

Many students hope to get summer employment that suits their future goals or provides a certain environment like office work or labour work, she said. This year, students need to look for whatever they can find to pay the bills, she said.

“It’s all about being flexible,” said Hansen.

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