It isn’t all all bad news for job-hunting students

Despite standing in a line of hundreds of students desperately searching for summer employment at a job fair, 18-year-old Julia Poissant isn’t fazed.

She’s well aware that the job market is shrinking around the world, but she isn’t willing to worry.

“I know there’s problems, but I’m feeling fairly confident,” she said. “You just have to look for opportunities and be proactive, I guess.”

Amid the global economic downturn, it’s hard for even seasoned workers not to feel like the sky is falling.

The picture can seem bleaker still for people who are just starting out in the job market, or hoping to score a part-time or summer job.

These fears are partly backed up by the most recent unemployment figures, which showed an almost 15 per cent unemployment rate for those aged 15-24, the highest in 11 years.

But experts say Poissant might have the right idea – there’s hope for younger people, who come more cheaply and with more flexibility than older workers and who have the potential to stay with a company for years after the economy recovers.

“I think there’s a lot more doom and gloom than the reality,” said Kirk Hill, the executive director of the Career Management Centre at Simon Fraser University’s business school.

“Yes, the job market is probably about the toughest in a few years, but there’s a few things to your benefit, being younger.”

Those newly graduating may be able to get positions at companies that otherwise aren’t able to hire permanent workers, said Hill.

“They may be able to do a co-op or they may be able to do an internship or a short-term contract because their hiring freezes don’t affect that,” he said.

Plenty of employers signed up for the city of Calgary’s youth employment centre job fair, said Lisa Wieser, community relations liaison at the centre.

“They are still kind of looking at that generation’s perspective and the energy they bring to the workplace and that and they really see a benefit in that.”

Interested employers come from a wide variety of sectors, including health care, recreation and child care, she said. A variety of retail positions are also open.