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The Dreaded Job Search
THE DREADED JOB SEARCH
University holidays are finally upon us, and the time has come for us university students to start catching up on the tasks that were put aside during the thirteen-odd weeks of chaos we call tertiary education. For most of us, this list of activities includes catching up with friends, cleaning out our rooms, fixing up our cars and trying to make a bit of money. Unfortunately for many young people on the Central Coast, this list also includes the amazingly daunting task of looking for a job. For myself, the very thought of job searching causes dramatic music to ring loud in my ears, and a feeling of dread to grow in the pit of my stomach. Why is this? Perhaps it is because I have seen first-hand, the incredible struggle a young person must endure to find a job on the Central Coast.
University holidays are finally upon us, and the time has come for us university students to start catching up on the tasks that were put aside during the thirteen-odd weeks of chaos we call tertiary education. For most of us, this list of activities includes catching up with friends, cleaning out our rooms, fixing up our cars and trying to make a bit of money. Unfortunately for many young people on the Central Coast, this list also includes the amazingly daunting task of looking for a job. For myself, the very thought of job searching causes dramatic music to ring loud in my ears, and a feeling of dread to grow in the pit of my stomach. Why is this? Perhaps it is because I have seen first-hand, the incredible struggle a young person must endure to find a job on the Central Coast.
The first hurdle a young person must leap is those two little nasty words: “EXPERIENCE NECESSARY”.
This hurdle in itself is one of the biggest problems young people have with achieving employment. These words would not be so difficult to endure if they were only attached to specialty jobs and higher ranking careers (which we all accept would require experience to perform), but when employers decide that they require experience for even the most menial, entry-level jobs, that’s when the confounding cycle begins. Put your hands up all of those who have said, or heard said from frustrated job seekers, the statement; “I need experience to get a job, but I need a job to get experience!?”
No doubt if I was speaking to a room full of job seekers aged 15-24, I would immediately have dozens of hands waving in my face.
Why is it that the employers of today are so reluctant to provide training for entry level positions? Surely you don’t need extensive retail experience to know how to sell a dress, or extensive customer service skills to be able to talk to customers or answer a phone? There are many jobs out there that the average teenager can perform with only a small amount of training. Yet, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for a young person to become trained in a job of interest, or begin some sort of career that is not limited to fast food restaurants and supermarket checkouts.
A little trivia for you now:
Did you know that according to workplace.gov.au, there are approximately 14738 job seekers on the Central Coast?
Did you know that of these job seekers, 3340 are aged between 15 and 24?
That means that 22% of the job seeker population is made up of young people.
These figures do not include those who are not receiving government support while they look/train for work.
Did you know that according to workplace.gov.au, the unemployment rate on the Central Coast is 5.9%?
Did you know that this is 2.1% lower than the teenage full-time unemployment to population ratio of 8.0%?
Now, I didn’t mean to bombard you with so many statistics, but I just wanted to illustrate a bit better (although these statistics don’t give the full, comprehensive picture), the fact that young people on the Central Coast represent a disproportionate amount of the unemployed and job seeker population.
So, while I’ve illustrated what is obvious to many young job seekers, this also brings about another problem with finding a job as a young person: competition.
With so many young job seekers looking for work, and so few opportunities for entry into employment, the amount of people a person must compete with in order to get a job is enormous. I have heard from many of my friends who have appeared at an interview, only to find it is a group interview with twenty-odd other applicants. Many I know have had their applications turned away simply because there were too many applications for the employer to handle.
Another worrying issue affecting a young person’s search for employment or a career is the lack of variety in industries local to the Central Coast. For those who are not content to work as sales assistants or trainee landscapers for the rest of their lives (I am exaggerating of course), there is not much variety to choose from. Young people who want a career, not just a job, can usually be found migrating to and from Sydney or Newcastle to study their chosen profession, or to work for companies who were willing to give training and provide career opportunities.
I’m not sure exactly how this problem of youth unemployment can be fixed, but I’m sure it will take the combined effort of the local government and Central Coast businesses to make youth employment more achievable. Perhaps young people could have better employment options if businesses were more willing (or had more incentives) to provide training to young candidates, or if the industrial sector of the Central Coast was given some sort of boost (although I realise this is easier said than done).
In the mean time fellow job seekers and students, we must persevere with our constant letter writing, resume printing, door knocking and ad circling, endure the turn-downs, travelling and group interviews, and keep an eye out for cadetships, internships, traineeships, apprenticeships and any other ‘ship’ that comes our way.