Career Buzz Podcast: Underemployed youth? Imagine what you’ll gain by becoming an MP candidate!

“After I get more experience,” was the response 23-year-old Eleni MacDonald gave after receiving an email asking who was interested in becoming a candidate in this federal election (Sept. 30, 2105). However, after a 30-minute conversation with the Ontario Green Party organizer who said, “I think you’d make an excellent candidate,” Eleni replied, “Okay, let’s do this!”

That’s how Eleni added ‘Member of Parliament Candidate’ to her resume, concurrent with her job at Lenscrafters, and after a degree and a post-grad diploma. Imagine how future prospective employers will respond to the skills she’s developing: communication, leadership, debating, initiative, media relations, and more.

How the clues apply to you: Opportunities pop up all the time yet so often we feel unprepared. Take a page out of Eleni MacDonald’s playbook, and next opportunity, just say, yes. Also, as you consider where to put your vote, consider all the parties’ jobs and youth employment platforms. Eleni talked about the Greens national Community and Environment Service Corps, which would provide $1 billion per year to municipalities to hire Canadian youth. Tell your candidates you care, and support #VoteYouthJobs by contacting your candidates through www.voteyouthjobs.ca

Download and enjoy learning from the Sept. 30, 2015 podcast, also featuring Emil Boychuk and Janice Chappell-Traimer of Association of Career Educators. Or, listen to any of our 300+ archived Career Buzz podcasts. (Hint: Use SEARCH at bottom right of any CareerCycles.com webpage for your topic, e.g. “circus”).

*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA