NCDS surpasses its expectations

The employment centre at the local Northern Communit and Development Services (NCDS) centre has announced it has gone slightly above its target for helping teens find jobs this summer.
The centre, a subsidy of the Ontario government, originally had hoped to find 67 people subsidized jobs but they succeeded in placing 70. They’ve also placed another 20 people in Fort Frances, and offered employment advice to others.
“[Sixty-seven placments] was our goal and that’s what happened,” said Mandy Wilson, the summer jobs service co-ordinator.
The program, called the “Summer Jobs Service,” offered employers a $2 subsidy if they hired a student. A minimum of $600 was offered this way, and Wilson said as much as $1,200 was put towards one job.
Hazel Williams, co-owner of the Trail’s End Lodge in Emo, appreciated the subsidy in return for the training she offered the two students who worked with her.
“We realized that high school students, and even post-secondary students, took about a month to train,” Williams said. “[The subsidy] gives us something back for hours of training.”
Students looking for a job had to fill out an application form to participate in the program. Like an application for any job, they had to give their name, phone number, previous work experience, etc.
The centre then helped place them–based on the information they’d given–with employers who had already expressed an interest in getting the subsidy.
They also helped students find odd jobs or part-time ones throughout the school year.
Finally, they offered résumé-writing workshops, tips on how to write a good cover letter, and computers to search the Internet.
“Most of the students who applied here have gotten some kind of help,” Wilson said.