THE Jamaica Employers’ Federation (JEF) on Thursday launched a youth employment handbook, giving Jamaican high school and university graduates a local perspective on the many variables at play in the job market.

Titled Ready for Work and Business Handbook, the 36-page booklet which was compiled over an eight-month period, gives young jobseekers advice on not just how to get a foot in the door, but also how to keep one’s job and knowing when to move on to other professional interests or higher educational opportunities. It addresses the establishment of the Caribbean Single Market (CSM) and urges readers to take advantage of the cross-border opportunities it provides.

Ready for Work and Business is also complete with a summary of the country’s labour laws, frequently asked questions on labour-related matters, and a list of youth and employment agencies.

“We found that a number of students were unclear as to how they should proceed, how they should manage their lives, chart their careers, prepare for work, look at life in a different way apart from the traditional lines of study. And being the employers’ rep, we know exactly what employers are looking for so what we’ve done is put it in a book which we think is handy, concise, (and) gets to the point,” said JEF chief executive officer, Jacqueline Coke-Lloyd at the launch during the federation’s annual national youth employment forum on the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies.

The forum was held under the theme ‘Talent, Technology and Policy – Driving Business Innovation’.

“We think it’s going to be very helpful not only to the education system but to the training system,” she told the Observer.

Thursday’s forum drew on the knowledge and expertise of private sector managers to address the small group of students who attended.

General manager of the human resources division at J Wray and Nephew, Jacqueline Irons, made the booklet come alive as she gave practical tips to the prospective employees while chief executive officer of Development Partners and Management International, Sherrone Lobban focused on innovation and creativity in the workplace.

Irons told the Observer after the forum that employees today must have certain qualities that make them stand out, that make them employees of choice.

“They have to have a level of enthusiasm. They have to have the right attitude, they have to be flexible,” she said, using the anecdote of an employee at J Wray and Nephew who learned to drive the forklift outside of his regular job. That skill, she said, saved him from being sacked when his former position was made redundant due to an automation thrust at the company.

“Do not go to the workplace and say ‘I’m not employed to do that’. Learn as much as you can from anyone that you can,” she advised.

Lobban encouraged the group to take advantage of their hobbies and other recreational activities to launch into innovative entrepreneurial projects.

Some of the students with whom the Observer spoke yesterday said although they had not yet had a chance to read through the handbook, they found the information useful.

The booklet, in the meanwhile, was declared ready for marketing by parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Senator Warren Newby.