Job search network merged

YOUTH Voice adviser Liam Mcleavey, 16, Waiopehu College student.

A youth job search developed by Liam McCleavey, 16, has seen the Waiopehu College student appointed to the Education Horowhenua board and his burgeoning job search network merged with Pathways Horowhenua.

At the age of 14 Liam was given a wider perspective of the issues facing Horowhenua youth when he became deputy chairman of Horowhenua Youth Council in March of 2014, which then inspired him to create Youth Jobs Horowhenua in August that year using social media.

Youth Jobs Horowhenua quickly gained a local following connecting young people with work opportunities via Facebook.

"I saw youth employment as a massive issue in our area, so to support young people I launched Youth Jobs Horowhenua, a Facebook page that listed jobs available in the area.

Social media is a forum where young people feel comfortable, it's easy to understand and they don't have to go trawling through Seek and Trade Me," said Liam.

Six months after the launch Liam prepared a report focusing on youth employment and transition from education to employment for Horowhenua District Council's Education Horowhenua, a collaborative group of community and education sector representatives wanting to see young people in the district given every opportunity to gain a positive education experience.

As a result of his report, Liam was appointed to the board.

"I work for employers to find jobs for young people, mostly working through Facebook.

We have a massive following of over 1500 people and in one month we had over 30,000 people visit our page and website combined."

Jobs listed range from fast food to construction. A recent posting on Youth Jobs Horowhenua listing 20 job positions received more than 5800 views in 24 hours.

"I'm passionate about supporting young people into employment. It's such a great feeling when youth come up to me and say 'hey I got this job through the website', it's really rewarding," he said.

Pathways Horowhenua, a branch of Education Horowhenua, aims to create pathways into higher levels of education or employment, complimenting Liam's job search network.

"It's about the community working together to build better outcomes for our young people," Liam said.

"Seeing young people take my advice and end up in a job motivates me to keep going," he said.

¦ Check out Pathwayshorowhenua.org now, or visit www.facebook.com/pathwayshorowhenua/