Young Persons Urged to be Innovative in Search for Employment

Minister of Youth and Culture, Hon. Lisa Hanna, has implored the youth to be more proactive and innovative in their search for employment, advising that they must be willing to set themselves apart from the competition.

“You can’t sit and wait for a job to fall into your lap, because everybody is looking for the same job. What will separate you from the pack is how professional you are, and the innovative and creative and ingenious things that you are going to bring to an organisation,” she said.

The Minister was addressing students at the National Youth Service (NYS) Business Administration Camp, Eureka Road, in Kingston, on February 15.

She encouraged the young persons to be ready to give of their best when they enter the world of work, noting that employment is not only about making money.

“Working is not only about (getting) a pay cheque at the end of the week. Yes, you have to live and eat and you have bills to pay, but work is about making sure that whatever you have to do, there is such a value-added created that because of you, your company becomes the best in the world. So, you become a catalyst in that company for bringing its services all over the world and making sure that it is a Jamaican brand that you can be proud of,” Miss Hanna said.

She argued that  working is about engendering a proactive personality, about taking initiative and about being professional, “so that at the end of the day, you would have given to your company the best that you have to offer."

Miss Hanna told the students that as their Minister, she recognised and appreciated the challenges that they faced, not only as students, but as aspiring entrepreneurs and prospective members of the working world.

She noted that through the NYS, the government has taken steps to set the right platform for them to get the necessary training that will enable them to become rounded employees or entrepreneurs.

"You are actually in a privileged position. What you do with it now is out of my hands. What you do with it depends completely on you,” she emphasised.

Established in 1973, the NYS was re-launched in 1995 after a 12-year break amidst major concerns about the high level of youth unemployment, academic underachievement, the lack of training opportunities for young people and their escalating trend toward anti-social behaviour.

The NYS is mandated to tackle youth-related issues and to make a meaningful impact on the large number of unattached youth in Jamaica, now totalling more than 140,000.

By Athaliah Reynolds-Baker, JIS Reporter