Post-secondary students in P.E.I. say they struggle to find jobs to help pay for rent, food, tuition
Students say finding jobs can be a challenge, but there are ways to be successful
Some post-secondary students on Prince Edward Island have been struggling to find part-time and full-time employment during or after their studies.
George Jiang, president of the UPEI student union and a fourth-year history student, said he contstantly hears concerns over finding employment from his fellow students.
"It's competitive, and [they] don't have enough positions to offer for the qualified potential employees," he said.
Jiang said many students rely on part-time jobs during the school year to help pay for tuition, rent, groceries and living expenses.
"That ties into the whole bigger picture problem of affordability, which once they're in that financial stress, they're likely to have other mental health issues, which would also affect their academic performance at school," he said.
According to Statistics Canada, the P.E.I. youth unemployment for November 2024 was 11.9 per cent.
Megan MacLean, the director of experiential education at UPEI, said she is concerned about the lack of opportunities for students to gain experience to help them succeed in their careers.
"When I see that unemployment rate [go] higher, I do worry about how students can maintain their education and continue to pursue that, for sure," she said.
"A higher youth unemployment rate speaks to the economics of the current climate that we're living and working within, where there are employers who are continuing to struggle to kind of pay staff with rising costs of everything."
Students and career counselors at UPEI do have advice for others on how to find a job, though.
Look 'in the right place'
Deanelle Magbanua, a second-year psychology student, said she spent three months looking for her first job and applied for over 200 positions.
"There's jobs everywhere as long as you're looking for them and as long as you're looking in the right place," she said.
"I know that I definitely have applied to so many jobs and just kept getting rejected. But then… I realized what I was doing wrong, which was basically applying in the wrong sites."
Kylah Hennessey, a career counsellor at UPEI, agreed that knowing where to apply is key.
"Often students start big — and by big, that's sort of like the online job boards like Indeed that are, you know, more across the country. And that's usually too big if you're actually looking to stay on P.E.I."
'Tailor your resume'
Luciana Quiroa, a third-year business administration student, said it can be challenging for post-secondary students to find work because so many people with great experience are applying for jobs, which makes the job search competitive.
She recommends students tweak their resume every time they apply for a new kind of job.
"Tailoring your resume and your cover letter might be a little time-consuming, so sometimes students struggle at keeping that momentum in applying."
In addition, Hennessey said work experience is essential for students, but it doesn't always have to be paid experience.
"Volunteer[ing] can also help them learn some skills," she said. "At the end of a degree, if there hasn't been any work, paid or unpaid, that becomes more of a challenge for a student to move forward with employment and making career decisions."
'Just keep applying'
Quiroa said her advice to students struggling to find work is to stay motivated.
"I applied to so many different positions. And then you get an interview, first round, second round… Sometimes you don't hear back, but just keep applying."
As for Magbanua, she said she's glad she got rejected so many times because the first job she did land proved to be very fulfilling.
"Everyone gets rejected, and that's OK," Quiroa said.
"That's a learning experience, and then you get more comfortable interviewing and applying for jobs. And then I think everything happens for a reason. So, in the end, you'll get your best placement or work or job that you would imagine."
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