Reboot Plus helps youth explore career pathways

Empowering vulnerable youth

Reboot Plus is completing a successful pilot of helping vulnerable youth and connecting them with professionals to explore career pathways. The goals of the program were to encourage youth participants to re-engage in their education, develop career goals and create action plans for working towards their goals. The 16-week program connected youth participants with many professionals in their careers of interest, mostly through the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, to help them explore these career paths. This helped them better plan their next steps.

A great success of the Reboot Plus program was helping motivate participants to return to school. In addition to touring Bow Valley College, participants had the opportunity to visit SAIT and Mount Royal University, to better understand their educational options. During the program, two Reboot Plus participants started academic upgrading at Bow Valley College, with three more applying for upgrading to start classes in the fall. At least one of the participants really enjoyed SAIT and plans to apply as a student. Another participant indicated that she really enjoyed visiting Mount Royal University and is considering it as an option for her future, whereas she did not previously know much about the institution.

Overall, the participants gained a lot more confidence. One of the participants, Maria, commented that she “can see [herself] doing a lot more things now.” Through workshops on career exploration, career advising, and guest speakers from professionals in the community, participants gained skills in communication, assertiveness and even understanding business attire. Maria also mentioned that the program “definitely helped with my resume building,” and said, “I learned a lot about myself and about my personality that I never would have thought mattered.”

Connecting with industry professionals

Many participants indicated that their favourite parts of the Reboot Plus program were the guest speakers and the informational interviews. The professionals who took part in the informational interviews had an important impact on the participants’ lives, giving the participants more clarity about careers. Maria had an informational interview with a medical sonographer but did not know very much about it. Inspired by her informational interview, Maria now has plans to return to school to eventually become a medical sonographer.

Participants and the professionals involved in the Reboot Plus program found that they benefitted from the informational interviews. “I learned a lot from them. There were certain ones that introduced jobs and careers that I’ve never even heard of,” one youth participant commented. Sally Morse, a professional from Spectra Supply who participated in an informational interview with a participant interested in business administration, said, “I enjoyed listening to the student’s journey and connecting with her through conversation. With today’s informational overload, it’s important to create these moments where students can have real conversations with professionals who work in their area of interest.”

Participating with a purpose

When asked about why she participated in the informational interviews, Nancy Bosscha, an instructor at Bow Valley College with the Interior Decorating Diploma program, mentioned,

“I want people to understand better what it is to be a designer or decorator in the 21st Century. These roles are changing, and talking to people who are interested in these fields, is a way of me expressing what role the designer/decorator plays in society today while allowing the next generation to create better opportunities for generations that follow.” She also noted about the participants, “It was interesting seeing how little they believe in themselves while others see so much opportunity in them. Often, it is not about being at risk, but having someone who believes in you open the doors that can change your world.”

As the program is wrapping up, the team has been working with participants to ensure that they will have the support needed to be successful after completing Reboot Plus. Three of the youth participants will be attending the Youth Skills Connection program offered at Bow Valley College, which aims to develop employability and job search skills along with job search support and a work subsidy for the first 8 weeks of their employment.

Participants, professionals, and the team received value from the Reboot Plus program. This can be summed up by Sally Morse: “Through the Reboot Plus program, the participants can start building their network, which is a great thing to do early on. I was so happy to be part of this program and highly recommend it to other professionals to become a mentor and provide real-life advice to the next generation.”

To learn more about the Reboot Plus Program, visit their website: https://rebootplus.ca/