By Ashley Wiebe

New program offers paid training, work experience for unemployed

Dec 20, 2016 | 2:34 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — 2016 has been a hard year for many in Medicine Hat, with the jobless rate in the city reaching 13 per cent during the summer.

There are those who have been job hunting for months while struggling to make ends meet, but a new program will offer job seekers paid training and industry experience, offering hope the new year brings new opportunities.

Bob Will with Being Human Services says the Generation Y to Z training program will help people between the ages of 15 and 30 find work.

“A lot of young people aren’t getting hired because they don’t have the experience and they can’t get the experience if they don’t get the job,” Will said.

It’s a pattern the employment agency is all too familiar with, but the new training program will help change that.

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It offers individuals six months of paid classroom training and industry experience.

“It’s earn while you learn, so the individuals are going to come in and get paid while they’re taking the eight weeks of classes as well as their 16 weeks of work experience with employers that are out in the community, Will added.

Being Human Services will pay minimum wage with funding provided by the federal government and employers will top up that pay to industry standards.

Project coordinator Luke Knapczyk said it’s not just one field that resumes will be geared towards.

“Some of the candidates that we’ve recently talked to are interested in areas such as the trades,” he said.

Riley Gillis, who is participating in the program, said he initially was not sure what he wanted to do for a living, but has made a decision to pursue the trades.

“I definitely want to get into the electrical trade and kind of go from there,” the 20-year-old said.

Now he’s got some help making sure he gets there,but it’s about earning more than a paycheque.

“You could be walking in there with a job and a career,” Gillis said.

For more information on Being Human Services and the programs offered, click here