'I'll do your boring tasks:' Vancouver student's plea for work highlights struggle to land summer job
Clare Hennig | CBC News | Posted: July 10, 2019 4:26 AM | Last Updated: July 10, 2019
Most jobs require experience — but that only comes from having a first job
Have a dog that needs walking while you go for a beer? Or need some mediocre-to-adequate advice from a complete stranger during an existential crisis?
Julia Delapuente, a 19-year-old university student from Mexico, is eager to do the job — any job — in her quest to find summer work.
"I have too much free time," her job-seeking poster boldly declares.
"I'll do your boring tasks."
Delapuente, who's studying industrial design at Emily Carr, posted her flyers around Vancouver hoping for a call back.
She hopes to earn enough money to buy a piano this summer.
"I wasn't really aiming for the stars," she said.
"I just want a job."
Economists have pointed to the falling unemployment rate in recent months and predicted that the addition of tens of thousands of new jobs bodes well for those entering the workforce.
But Delapuente, like many young students, faces a catch-22 in her hunt.
"[Employers] always ask for at least a year of experience and I can't get experience if I don't get a job," she told CBC's On The Coast.
"It's just a vicious cycle."
She spent a month or so looking for a job through the usual channels before getting creative.
Her posters quickly took off on social media, with some people commenting on her "refreshing honesty."
But that hasn't helped her land a job, so far.
"I have a lot of people trying to sell me pianos but not giving me a job," she said.
"It's not a success story yet."