Help us make every day Career Day

by Scott Verhoeve

As Executive Director of BEP Waterloo Region, I’d like to make a special appeal.

Young people in our community determining how they plan to enter the workforce need your help.

Finding their way through high school towards the workplace is challenging enough for any young person. To understand their strengths, options and how they can prepare, young people need opportunities to explore and experience the world of work first-hand. Those who face systemic barriers have an even greater need to identify job possibilities outside their direct experience and support to achieve their goals.

But because of the lockdowns and other measures to protect our health, there have been far fewer of these opportunities. Many co-op placements have been unavailable and teachers have been challenged to fit career exploration into their compressed time with students. That means fewer real world work experiences such as apprenticing in a skilled trade or the chance to explore careers in business, creative industries, social services, the technology sector and more.

At BEP Waterloo Region, we are concerned by the impact this lack of opportunity will have on the decisions that young people make every day about their future. We invite you to help us “make every day Career Day” so that our youth can better understand the world of work and build their skills.

Here are two specific ways you can make a difference:

1) Join the BEP’s Speakers Bureau - These volunteers make presentations in a variety of formats about their career journey, what they do and how their past experiences contributed to their current work. 2)Express an interest in providing work experiences - Waterloo Region’s schools are currently seeking employers with capacity to provide short-term, virtual co-op placements for high school students. Even a couple hours a day represents a tremendous learning opportunity for students. In Fall 2021, the hope is that more in-person placements will be available to students as well. Making a commitment at this time is not necessary. Being interested in learning more and considering potential placements is all that is required.

We believe every young person has great strengths to offer our community. But they need your help to see them and recognize how they can put them to work. By working together to support this process, we build a stronger local workforce, economy and community for everyone.

Let BEP Waterloo Region know if you or your workplace are interested in offering opportunities to inspire our youth’s career decisions.

Thank you for considering this appeal. Feel free to share it with anyone who may be interested.