Jaclyn Carlisle is a reporter for The Globe and Mail. Her feature,

Students:Shh! We’re hunting jobs,

will be published in the Careers section of The Globe andMail, on Wednesday, March 10

, 2010. This feature successfully targets universityeducated students, who are in the midst of or beginning their job search amidsthigh rates of unemployment and joblessness. This newsworthy feature commentson Canada’s unemployment rates and gives a taste of job hunting post-recession,suitably for The Globe and Mail, a national newspaper delivering Canada’s in depthcoverage of national, international and business news.

Students: Shh! We’rehunting jobs.

The Recession may be over, but the era of high joblessness haslikely just begun. Start your hunt now; exposure, networking andtechnical skills are key to scoring that job post-graduation.

Jaclyn CarlisleSpecial to The Globe and Mail: CareeersWednesday, March 10, 2010.

usyn Dixon, a recent graduate of Humber College’s PR postgraduate certificateprogram, just caught a job within the Communications department of SunLife Financial.This is an impressive feat considering we’re in the midst of an economy with anunemployment rate of 8.3 per cent. And it comes during a nightmare for most students; whenSusyn graduated in August, the student jobless rate had hit a rate of 19.2 per cent, according toStatistics Canada. A figure that is unlikely to drastically change anytime soon.So how did Mrs. Dixon get the job?Since wrapping up her B.Comm degree from Ryerson University, she has received her postgraduate PR certificate from Humber College; a program she chose because of its excellentreputation within Toronto’s communications sector.Susyn believes that the exposure, networking and technical skills she developed during her studies allowed her resume to read more like a proof, than a can-do list; giving her an edgeagainst potential competitors.“Practical experience is more than just padding for your resume,” said Susyn “It helps to set youapart.”During her studies, Susyn volunteered at a TIFF event through Building BlocksCommunications. She also successfully completed an internship at Optimum PR, a division of

Cosette Communications. Exposure that was valuable in introducing her to consumer productPR and agency PR respectively, two streams in the myriad of specializations within publicrelations.“It’s important to find the right fit,” said Susyn, of the experience her volunteering and interningprovided her. These experiences were a part of her research of potential employers. It allowedher to explore the sectors that she could potentially be working in after graduation. Preventingher from “getting trapped within an area of communications,” said Susyn. “That just isn’t the bestfit.”Susyn also penned the winning article for CPRS-Toronto’s 60

Anniversary Student EssayContest. It required her to interview CPRS-Toronto’s past-presidents, introducing her to BarbaraSheffield. When internship season rolled around, Sheffield personally recommended Susyn toPR firms. This article served as important exposure as it introduced her to the CPRS andactively demonstrated her excellent writing ability; a crucial skill in communications.An active member of both the CPRS and IABC Toronto chapters, Susyn recommends joiningprofessional organizations within your field during your schooling as they present invaluablenetworking opportunities. The networking and professional development opportunitiespresented by these organizations can lead to future employment. “Take advantage of what theyoffer,” she said.Taking every opportunity for meaningful experience during school is critical in a jobless era. Themore experience you have upon graduation, the better. In the midst of an economy that isseeing belt-tightening, financial slashing, and layoffs across the board, a graduate is not onlyracing against their peers, but against their more experienced predecessors as well.This is where technical skills come into play. Today’s students are expected to have thetechnical know-how to complete job tasks upon graduation. Graduates heading into the PR fieldshould be particularly adept at “pitching proposals, media monitoring and creating media lists,”said Susyn, “They should be familiar with social media and comfortable with web-baseddatabases like fpn.infomart.com.” Luckily for Susyn, these were skills that she was able todevelop during the course of her schooling.Why would an employer want to hire an inexperienced candidate over a well-seasoned one?The truth is: they don’t. The high rate of joblessness is forcing well seasoned professionals inevery sector to apply for jobs which would have previously been considered beneath them, thisincludes entry-level positions usually filled by recent graduates.The Recession may be over, but the unemployment rate has remained depressingly high.Starting your hunt while in school will help to prepare you for the workforce. Exposure,networking, and technical skills are critical to scoring that job post-graduation. Happy hunting,students.