FINAL REPORT: Electronic Youth – Creating the Current
Results
Four Primary Electronic Communication Tools
Youth are accessing job opportunities and labour market information in a number of ways through the use of electronic communication tools and resources.
1. Government Websites/ Online Job Boards
Youth are visiting websites operated directly by government organizations such as Service Canada’s Job Bank (jobbank.gc.ca), the Ontario Public Service (gojobs.gov.on.ca) or Federal Public Service (jobs.gc.ca) job boards. 43.3% of respondents chose government websites/online job boards as their most often used resource. This can be attributed to the high credibility given to government resources as trustworthy and accurate. Job opportunities and labour market information posted by government resources often include detailed information that youth are seeking. For example, most government websites and job boards provide detailed job postings that include wage rate, job description, contract term and qualifications.
2. Non-government Websites and Job Boards
Non-government websites and job boards such as workopolis.ca, monster.ca and kijiji.ca are popular resources among youth. These websites are useful because they provide a variety of job postings that range in wage rate and required experience. A major drawback cited with these websites is the hesitation to apply for jobs because of the lack of information or fraudulent job postings. Youth have to become savvy job searchers in order to spot suspicious job postings that may not be legitimate.
3. Company Specific Websites
Youth are directly visiting company specific websites to apply for jobs and/or get more information about opportunities. A lot of organizations are moving towards application processes directly on their website. This involves the candidate filling out information directly on company specific websites and submitting their resume through this system. The research team also believes that youth are going to specific company websites because they also provide credible information about the job posting or opportunity.
4. School Websites and Online Job Boards
Youth are using online job boards and websites operated by their educational institutions and program departments. Although this is not as popular as the other three listed above, school websites and job boards continue to grow as a popular resource. Many colleges and universities are introducing and expanding their career development services and complimenting them with online resources for students.
Top 5 ways Youth Share Information About Jobs
The Electronic Youth Survey indicated that the top five ways in which youth share and receive information about job postings and job trends are:
1. Emails
2. Face-to-face interaction
3. Phone calls
4. Texting
5. Facebook chat
Unexpected Findings
The most unexpected result from the survey was the response to the question about sharing labour market information. The majority of respondents, 44.9% have not shared any labour market information online in the past six months. This indicates that either youth are not accessing labour market information or that sharing the information is difficult.
Almost all of the questions relating to social media and job searching provided unexpected results from our survey. The first question asked youth if they had ever used social media in their job search. Of the respondents, 58.7% answered that they do not use social media in job searching. The research team was expecting a higher response to this question considering how many youth use social media for personal use. The following question in the survey probed youth about why they have not used social media in their job searches. The majority, 40.9% responded that they have social media accounts but were unaware that they could be used to conduct a job search. This was a trend in our research that while youth had accounts with sites like Facebook and Twitter, they did not know it could be
used to find employment or labour market information. Another 15.3% were anxious about using these sites for job searching due to privacy concerns, another trend in the team’s research.
Read the full report on "Creating the Current"
Thank-you to the Workforce Planning and Development Board for taking the lead on this project.
More about WFPDB:
In existence since 1997, the non-profit organization was originally the Elgin, Middlesex, Oxford Local Training Board (EMOLTB). The WFPDB encourages the inclusion of all parties across these three counties to help address workforce development issues.
The WFPDB also functions as the local business education council and hosting a Business and Education Network.
Short URL: http://www.workforcewindsoressex.com/?p=2767
