URegina offers free classes for unemployed grads

Pollock says the University of Regina has the highest job placement rate in Saskatchewan at 97 per cent.

“We know that our grads are very employable already,” she says.

“We’re not guaranteeing a job. What we’re doing is saying that if you aren’t in a meaningful role that you’ve been studying for and aiming for over the last four years, in six months after graduation we will guarantee a year’s worth of honing skills that you may have found that you’re lacking.”

Students would also have to keep a job search or networking log, along with a professional portfolio that includes a resume, job-search plan and 20 to 40 employer contacts.

Addison doesn’t qualify for the program because he’s already in his third year of university studies. But he knows firsthand that students wonder what they’re going to do when they graduate and if they’re going to be able to find a job.

“I think every student does feel that way,” says Addison. “This (guarantee) definitely acts as a cushion because if they don’t find employment within six months then they’re welcomed back for a year of paid school.”

“There’s so much pressure going through four years, trying to get your degree and then sort of figure out what you’re going to do after,” he adds. “If I was a part of this U of R guarantee program, I’d be in the middle of my four-year degree program and I’d realize, ‘Well the U of R has my back, they’ll catch me if I fall and can’t find employment after six months.”‘

“It definitely takes the pressure off.”

- The Canadian Press