A student from the University of Ottawa (U of O) was offered a job after she spent two days “begging” for one outside of the Rideau Centre.
Joanie Raphaelle Dantica was offered a housekeeping job at Domestic Bliss Services in Orleans after CTV aired a segment about her unusual job hunting strategy.
Dantica called her strategy “networking.” She stood outside the Rideau Centre with a sign and resumés.
“I had a couple people refer me to their church . . . I got a few business cards. I gave quite a few resumés. I had a man tell me where the best begging spots were. I had a few people feed me supper, which was great,” Dantica said.
The owner of the housekeeping service offered Dantica an interview after seeing the segment. She is now employed full-time as a housekeeper.
In March, Dantica’s employer at U of O told her they could not pay her for the month of April due to “admin issues,” and they could not renew her work-study contract until May.
After a month of unsuccessful job hunting, Dantica had two weeks to come up with the money to renew her lease.
“I’m like, great. I have two weeks. 14 days. And then I’m homeless. Literally homeless,” Dantica said.
The bilingual social science student said she began a more traditional job hunt in April, where she sent out over 700 resumés.
After having little success with this strategy, Dantica decided to stop running after jobs, and just wait for the jobs to come to her.
“Employers need people. I’m bilingual. I’m competent. I have years of experience. They want to hire me. They just don’t know it yet,” Dantica said.
A 2013 report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives suggests that Dantica’s frustrations with finding work are widespread.
In 2013, the unemployment rate for Ontario youth aged 15-24 fluctuated between 16 per cent and 17.1 per cent, which is greater than the overall Canadian rate of 13.5 per cent to 14.5 per cent, according to the report.
Pamela Wong, a media relations spokesperson for Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), said by email the Canadian government is working to help youth “make a successful transition to the workplace.”
Nathaniel Jewitt, a career counsellor at Carleton’s Co-op and Career Services, said he wants students to be aware of the services that are available to students, including online information and workshops, career fairs, networking nights, and one-on-one advising.
Career advisors are available to any student or alumnus who requests them.
Jewitt advises students to seek out career services before a crisis happens.
“There are career services here. Only a very small fraction of our students utilize those services, so I would encourage students to come early,” Jewitt said.
Now that she has a job, Dantica said she plans to start a non-governmental organization dedicated to helping students find employment. She said she hopes to have it up and running by September.
“The secret to getting a job—it’s to talk to people. People want to hire you . . . the people are far away in their offices and they’re not coming to you. So I decided what I want to do is make people go to people,” Dantica said.
In the meantime, Dantica said she is willing to go broke to continue her education, even if it means being a “pauper with a PhD.”
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