by Stephanie Kjaerbaek

Created on: August 31, 2008

Many people I know have education and skills but are underemployed. They often work in construction or the hospitality industry. A teenager can walk off the street into any fancy bar or lounge. He can obtain a job without experience and education. Many of these people are making very good money for their age.

It is unfair that people like myself, trained in accounting and office administration, are not offered jobs because of lack of experience. Often, at career fairs and employment centers, people are told to go back to school. After obtaining education, they find it impossible to obtain even a part-time or full-time position in their field. The employer wants experience.

Canada is a nepotist's society. The people who benefit are the people known to the employer. Education, merit, personality and experience do not matter. It is about who-knows-who. Many people have felt duped by an economic system that requires education only to have it discarded later because the employer wants experience. When people go to talk to employers about jobs, they are told to get an education first before a job.

Oftentimes, if people have experience, they are offered lower quality jobs in the industry. People keep talking about overqualified individuals. If somebody was overqualified, he simply wouldn't be offered a job. I have applied for dozens of waitressing jobs only to be offered busser and hostess positions. The management would be hiring for serving and ads would be posted for these positions. As I have several years of experience as a waitress, I am not being offered this due to excessive education and experience. I have a diploma in office administration and accounting, several credits towards an arts degree, First Aid training and could be certified for a Human Service Worker certificate if I applied.

Given this background, I have been frustrated by the lack of relevance in the employment world. For years, I pounded the pavement in search of an office position and received offers of telemarketing and sales instead. It is amazing to me that someone would offer a job that is not being requested when the job is not filled to a person with more experience. The problem is not about overqualification. It is about treating people with the utmost disrespect when he or she does what is necessary to succeed. That is also a Canadian attitude, one people will disagree with, but I have lived in this country my whole life. I fully believe that employers treat people with disrespect, especially

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