By Mark Squibb
You’ve heard it before (and have probably even said it yourself) – ‘No one wants to work any more.’
But that’s not the case for the hundreds of Holy Spirit High and Queen Elizabeth Regional High students who met with prospective employers at the fourth annual Holy Spirit High Job Fair earlier this month.
“I think this is a really good opportunity to get resumes out,” said Holy Spirit student Rachel Acreman. “It takes the pressure off students of having to go into a business and initiate.”
With Statistics Canada reporting record levels of unemployment for young Canadians, due to unprecedented levels of immigration and an uncertain economy caused by the Trump tariffs, finding a job is no easy task for a young person, despite any suspicions you may harbour that half the retail stores, supermarkets, and restaurants you visit nowadays are understaffed.
“I think the market is really full for teenagers trying to get jobs,” said Acreman. “So, it might be hard to find work.”
Yusuf Linthorne of Queen Elizabeth said he has been handing out resumes to fast food restaurants and retail stores over the last year but has yet to receive a call back. He was hoping the job fair might help change that.
“There’s a lot of cool jobs here – I’d work at them,” added fellow Queen Elizabeth student Gavin Day.
Some of the employers of those “cool jobs” included McDonalds, RBC, Get Messy, NL Health Services, and the towns of Paradise and Conception Bay South.
The job fair is cohosted by the Rotary Club of Avalon Northeast and the school’s Interact club.
“This is a chance to talk with employees face to face about upcoming summer employment opportunities, or post-graduate opportunities,” said Rotary chairman Rob Boychuk. “The underlying goal is to get students feeling more comfortable talking with employers, not only about jobs, but about academic career paths after high school, and reduce some of that anxiety that we all dealt with when we were at that age.”
The two clubs also cohost a career fair each winter.
Gavin Day, left, and Yusuf Linthorne of Queen Elizabeth Regional High School in Foxtrap met with several perspective employers at the Rotary and Holy Spirit High Job Fair. Mark Squibb photos
