March (up)on the labour market

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About project March (up)on the labour market …

March (up)on the Labour market is admission free project, which offers free support and creates a platform for sustainable integration and sovereigning young people entering the labor market.

The project aims to offer career empowerment and full support to participants, increasing their employment potential and employment.

The project was created and launched due to the deepening disparities between existing real jobs and the number of unemployed people. Young people entering the labor market are placed in disadvantaged position. Without relevant work experience they are taking jobs that are under stage of their education and knowledge, abilities, skills and attitudes and are inadequate and precarious (eg. insecure, short-term, temporary employment, only part-time, replacing maternity leave, for the duration of the traineeship etc.). We want to change this together with young people.

It is created for young people between 15 and 29 years of age, who want to work and are not yet employed. More specifically, it aims at those who:

  • are students of final year undergraduate and postgraduate studies;
  • completed secondary education programs;
  • are unemployed;
  • have the status of a job seeker;
  • fictitious enrolled in school programs because of the potential student work;
  • early school leavers.

Funding for the project was obtained within the public call for projects in the field for the promotion of active citizenship of young people and rising employment from 2016 to 2018. We are co-financed by the Republic of Slovenia, Ministry of education and the European Union through the European Social Fund. Our activities are free of charge for the participants.

And what are the goals of project March (up)on the Labour market?

First and foremost, the goal is certainly our common contribution to reducing youth unemployment. By the end of 2018, we set the general objectives of the latter:

Get 18 young people employment after participating in Karierni zaganjalnik or Training for youth workers of March;

We will strengthen the implementation of youth work in Central Slovenia, Gorenjska and Obalno-kraška region with the introduction of new contents, aimed at raising employment opportunities for young people through Training for youth workers of March;

Young people involved in the project will actively participate in social processes in the field of employment.

How do we deal with all this?

We have created a Karierni zaganjalnik (roughly translated as Career Starter or Career Louncher). Are you wondering what this could be?

It is an integrated set of activities working with group of individuals, or better – individual work with our support, which is more than just a bureaucratic life. Karierni zaganjalnik consists of two months of intensive individual work and work in small groups on the interests of participants. It strengthens young people to confidently enter the labor market and in employment or self-employment. It includes work in the areas of assertiveness, career guidance and active citizenship. Two months of intense work followed by active citizenship action (which is not necessarily non-conventional) and they make ZAPOSLIŠČE – an event created by the participants of Karierni zaganjalnik, which will be a unique way to present themselves to their relevant employers and / or funders. There they also receive feedback on their presentations. This is followed by 4 months individual support, individualized according to current needs of participant.

We are also preparing Training for March youth workers. Why? To spread the practice of working with young people in each local environment, of course. Participants of the Training for March youth workers learn and get encouraged to use the techniques for the construction of groups and group dynamics. They know and understand the contents of Karierni zaganjalnik and its purpose, are acquainted with the objectives of the training, Zaposlišče and individual support within Karierni zaganjalnik. They will learn the contents of the latter to implement and reinforce a set of informal methods of work, which will be used for the implementation of Karierni zaganjalnik in local environment. Students will develop a modification plan and perform Karierni zaganjalnik in their own local area. Within the individual support plan we will prepare participants for animation of local participants and implementation of Karierni zaganjalnik, adapted to the local environment. We will carry out what 2 one-week-long trainings. When? Read News on Mars, the news will be published. 🙂

 

And what are the key results of project March?

Participant of Karierni zaganjalnik will, based on awareness of his- or her own knowledge, skills, qualifications and the nature of relations and strengthening of those,  design presentation for employers. At the organized event – Zaposlišče –  he or she will talk to employers, thus creating an opportunity for positive feedback, further personal meeting – dialogue and equalize the balance of power between the protagonists. Employers will be presented to a wider range of skills of young people to enable them to develop in ways that go beyond the narrow professional (sectoral) policies. Participant of Training for March youth workers will gain the necessary skills and support in the transfer of the case-law of the local environment, which may have potential job offers. The project aims to show to employers and other general public, that today’s young people are the basis for the development of society, positive confirmation could lead to increase their interest for participation in society processes on all levels.

 

Who is who?

Marchers, or sometimes also Martians, just because it soumds funny-  we are a team youth workers in March (up)on the labor market project. We are active, professional, playful and flexible. Our aim is to support participants through the activities of Karierni zaganjalniki and Zaposlišče, that we organize. Our team consists of Katja, Maruša, Senta, Tina and Dijana.

From our first Training for Youth workers in local areas, also Kaja joined our team in 2017. We can’t wait what, or it is better to say who, the year 2018 will bring in the team!