Dear Government,
As a current full-time mature student who is returning to school in September I am happy to see so many wonderful opportunities available for summer employment! After working for 10 years in your funded Call Centers in Halifax, I am finally doing something that I love and it’s so great that I can obtain employment in my field for a few months and gain valuable experience to build my resume and support my “career” change!
BUT WAIT! All these institutions are able to offer student employment because of grants through the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment Strategy.
And what do we have here? An age criteria of 16 – 30!
I see that because I am over 30 I do not have the same need for student employment as younger students. Also, I apparently do not have the same right to student employment even though I AM A STUDENT!
The irony of it is all of the institutions using these grants also like to advertise that they are Equal Opportunity Employers.
I guess ageism doesn’t count.
What a joke.
This article appears in Apr 24-30, 2008.
It does sound a bit like ageism but I think the Youth Employment Strategy was developed to provide work experience to young people who might not otherwise be able to get jobs because of lack of experience. The assumption is that mature students are probably changing careers later in life and don’t face the same “no experience” barrier. You mentioned you have work experience, so perhaps you are expected to have an easier time finding summer employment. You may want to look around though, because the government may fund programs for people in your situation. Good luck with the career change.