Are you employable? An interview with Tammy Tsang

Are you young and out of work? Are you worried about your future career prospects? Well, I can’t help you, but I know someone who can: Tammy Tsang.

Tammy is a fierce young entrepreneur who just successfully organized the XYBOOM Conference. Just in case you missed the buzz around town, XYBOOM was a conference about rising concerns of youth unemployment (Generation Y), as Baby Boomers begin to retire from the workforce while Generation X is reluctant to hire Gen Y’ers because of factors such as inexperience, and an inflated sense of entitlement. Many think that there aren’t enough Gen X’ers to fill the positions left open by the Baby Boomers, and the Gen Y’ers are not experienced enough to full those positions.Â This has already led to the highest rate of youth unemployment in 30 years, and left approximately 450,000 Canadian youth unemployed, which leads to a vicious cycle; since they cannot get jobs, they cannot build experience, which leads to even more diminishing prospects.Â In addition, many youth are reluctant to find employment in blue-collar jobs, and expect to find a high-paying white-collar job coming out of post secondary.

Employers are responding to this problem in various ways, such as finding immigrants to fill blue collar or managerial positions. However, many believe that such solutions are only makeshift, and that we need to find a more fundamental solution to this problem.

You might want to scream at this point: It’s not my fault! You are right, it isn’t. You are merely a tiny cog in the capitalist machine that is our society (no offence). However, there are steps you can take to pull yourself ahead of the race. First, experience is key. Do not think your employers will care about your grades. Start working, volunteering and doing internships while you are in school. Consider starting your own company, if you’re up for it.

You thought there would be a second, didn’t you? Well, I guess you can read upÂ on the problem. Get educated, and be ready. It’s a tough world out there, kid.

Photo from www.xyboom.ca

About the Author: Justin Choi

Justin is in his second year at UBC. He enjoys listening to Korean rap, and when he isnâ€™t writing offensive articles on his blog, heâ€™s writing offensive articles for various magazines. He mainly procrastinates, but he occasionally finds time to participate in volunteer activities around the community. His favourite writers include Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Mark Twain, Tom Stoppard, and Maddox.

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