Petrina Francis, Education Reporter
Students pay keen attention at a Career Day seminar at Stella Maris Pastoral Centre in St. Andrew on Friday. The seminar was held under the auspices of the Rotary Club of East Kingston and Port Royal in collaboration with the Scientific Research Council. - Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer
THERE ARE many job opportunities available for young people but not enough qualified persons available to fill those positions, said Paul McCallum, chairman of a career symposium last Friday, at the Stella Maris Pastoral Centre in St. Andrew.
Many job seekers are qualified at the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) level but have failed to move on to higher education, he said. Once job seekers get the right qualifications, they can demand the jobs they want, he said. He told The Gleaner that the aim of the symposium was to expose students to different types of traditional and non-traditional careers.
Scores of high school students packed the Stella Maris hall for the symposium, which was organised by the Rotary Club of East Kingston and Port Royal and the Scientific Research Council. The symposium was held under the theme 'Career Vibes in 2005'.
Delivering a Powerpoint presentation on trends in the labour market, Steven Kerr, human development manager at the Planning Institute of Jamaica, told students that they should conduct extensive research and know where the demand for jobs is.
He outlined several career paths that students could pursue and informed them about the changing shape of the working world where employees could now work from home and send the finished product to the boss by email.
Winsome Heron-Fearon, lecturer at the Mico College, informed the students that volunteerism is very important as it can heighten self-esteem.
She added that volunteerism can be a foot in the door to a future career.
The lecturer advised students to find an area of interest and help others because it would also be beneficial to them.
