Youth of Windsor discuss jobs at the Windsor Star News Cafe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Victoria Parent

 

Youth from Windsor and Essex County came out to the Windsor Star News Cafe on a chilly Thursday night to discuss jobs and employment in the area.

YKNOT Windsor’s Dan Brown held a forum at the cafe to discuss topics such as resume building and networking steps for youth looking for employment.

Around 30 people participated in the event. People could also send tweets with questions to the six panelists. Others would watch the event which was filmed live and streamed on the web.

“We wanted to take it to the next level from the Windsor Gone forum that was held a month ago,” said Brown. The previous forum was held to discuss youth education and retention issues raised in Carolyn Thompson’s Windsor Gone series featured in the Windsor Star last month. Brown had decided to flip it to something more positive with a forum to aid Windsor youth in their job search.

Six panelists from around Windsor came to the forum from different backgrounds.These people included Danielle Mixallef, an employment consultant at St. Clair College and Nour Hachem, a project manager at St. Clair College.

“It’s not as easy as it used to be,” said Mixallef. “Right now we are in a very tough economic climate here in Windsor.”

Mixallef and the other panelists gave advice during the event. The topics ranged from resume building to interview preparation.

“You can never be skilled enough at interviews,” said Hachem. Researching the company you wish to work for and creating a professional social media page were among the discussed topics. Many of the youth who came out took the information to heart, including those who viewed the event over the web.

“It was well organized, very nice atmosphere, questions were answered tailored to students,” said Abdul Abdul, vice president of student services and a member of the Gay Straight Alliance at the University of Windsor. Abdul said he had learned a lot from the night about which employers he should target and how to build his resume.

“I feel it was very successful,” said Brown. “I am glad that everyone was here tonight to take part and to get the questions online as well.”

Brown said he is planning on making this type of forum a regular event and will be having more in the future. He and the other panelists urged youth to go online to the various job-help sites and to check out the employment help provided at St. Clair College.