Page 4 — Over The Edge -- February 17, 1997

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CALLING ALL
— YOUTH

by Paul Berard

The solution to Youth
Unemployment is here!

At least according to the
Federal Government.

Last week, the Federal
Government released their
youth strategy after a year of
holding it back. The plan
simply involves the installation
of a website. So, intrigued, I
put the address into the office
computer and, within seconds,
I was greeted with a friendly
looking picture, (shown on this
page for those without
computer access), the headline
“Youth Resource Network of
Canada” and the option of
reading the page in either
English or French.

So far, very nice.

I chose English and was given
the second page, with nine
buttons labeled from “How to
use this site” to “Job
Opportunity” and “Training
and Education”. After viewing.
the page for several seconds I
chose “Self Employment” and
sat back and waited for the
screen to come up.

After a couple of seconds, I
received a page entitled “Self
Employment: Information on
How to Start Your Own
Business”. What followed the
title, however, was less than
what I had expected.

A two page list of other web
sites linked to the
government’s site.

Now, I’m not too sure, but
there would seem to be some
serious problems with this
concept. First of all, the
individual looking to access

such information would
require a computer terminal
with Internet access. This cuts
down on the number of people
who can gain access to the
information in the first place.
A possible solution to this is to
have the local job posting
businesses access the site, print
out hard copy and place it
where people without
computer access could receive
such information.

Secondly, the fact that the
entire site which merely sends
you off to another, already
established site does not seem
to be a solution to the problem
of Youth Unemployment. If I
am recalling my Business 11
from high school correctly, I
seem to recall that only 3% of
ALL jobs in the workplace are
advertised in any form, be it
newspaper or website.

Ultimately, this responsibility
of finding a job lies with the
youth of the country. Lots of
people have told me that they
haven’t been able to find a job.
The problem with these people
is that they expect to make
$100,000 a year as soon as they
start working. Students and
youth should not be afraid to
start out with lower income
jobs as they have many years
left to live. Starting out at the

bottom might not be where you , F

planned on being, but it does
give you a chance to work up
from there. The jobs exist out
there if you drop off enough
resumes and do a continual
follow up.

I’m not saying that the

process of getting hired is easy
or even fun. There might be a
shortage of work in the field
that you expected to go into,
but working in a temporary
position could be something to
add to your resume in the
future. Experience is worth a
million bucks when an
employer looks at you.

To close, the Youth Resource
Network of Canada is not the.
ultimate solution as it does not
create jobs, but it does have the
potential to be a place where
youth can start to gain skills
that will help them get a job.

Just remember, in the end, it’s
you that gets yourself the
position.

THE EDITOR AT

berap000@unbc.edu
with your questions,
comments and letters!

Over The Edge Salutes The Following:

Mike of Rocketfish
Productions for the press
passes to the Big Sugar
concert.

All the staff that attended the
press conference’ twice
because it got cancelled,
without complaining anywhere
as much as Paul Berard did.
(Kidding, Paul) *

Johnny Kolman of JamBC for
playing phone tag with us and
finally getting through to our
reporters.

The PGSO for letting us into
the Trout Quintet performance
to review it.

The poor beaten staff who
searched high and low for

pictures to place with the
Fashion article and went crazy
about the whole thing. We're
sorry about your sanity.

The dozens of people who
always get forgotten. We really
are very sorry for forgetting
you. No really, we medn that.
Why don't you believe us.

OVER THE
EDGE NEEDS
YOU!

Do you want to get involved with a
student group? Do you want to learn new
things? Want the chance to do cool things
you wouldn't get the chance to otherwise?

If so, Over The Edge wants you!

Positions are now available as writers,
photographers arid layout personnel!

All that's required is for you to come
down and see us in our office in the
Wintergarden on the Prince George
campus!

Freelance reporters and photographers are
welcome! No student turned away!

So, what are YOU waiting for? Use your
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students, for students!