Targeting Responsible Summer Jobs: Aiming for Over 50,000 Responsible Summer Jobs

T-Media announces the launch of the Responsible Summer Job 2017 (Vastuullinen kesäduuni, VKD) campaign in Finland. The campaign aims to provide young people with more responsible summer job opportunities and over 50,000 jobs.

The results of the survey conducted as part of VKD last year indicate that, according to 82% of the young respondents, having a summer job increases interest in working life.

For six consecutive years, the VKD campaign has challenged employers to offer young people more high-quality summer jobs. At the same time, hundreds of employers have made a valuable contribution by helping summer employees develop their work and life skills and boost their confidence in their own abilities.

“Positive summer job experiences and discovering one’s strengths are highly valuable in these times of rapid transformation in the world of work,” says Päivi Salminen-Kultanen, VKD project director. “For employers, offering a summer job is an excellent opportunity to make a good first impression on the next generation of professionals. 85% of those who had held a responsible summer job were willing to recommend their employer to their friends.”

The Most Responsible Summer Job 2016 is a survey that was conducted in conjunction with the VKD campaign last year. More than 5,000 young people from 95 organizations offering responsible summer jobs took part in the survey.

FEEDBACK LEADS TO BETTER SUMMER JOB EXPERIENCES

The VKD campaign helps employers understand the expectations young people have as they enter the workforce and improve the processes related to the organization’s summer job programs. In 2017, the campaign’s main objective will be to help young people identify their own strengths and improve their skills in finding summer jobs. In last year’s study, providing feedback was the area where employers needed the most improvement.

“Young people starting their first summer job first need to learn the rules of the workplace. To get the hang of things, they need a great deal of support, feedback, and guidance,” says Liisa Tenhunen-Ruotsalainen, Director of the Economic Information Office (TAT).

“This year, in collaboration with employers, we will emphasize the importance of feedback and establish practices to increase the amount of feedback,” says Päivi Salminen-Kultanen. “The immediate supervisors of the summer employees will play a key role in this.”

The VKD 2017 campaign will kick off on November 1, 2016. All summer job openings are posted online at kesaduuni.org and on Oikotie, the job site.

The Responsible Summer Job 2017 campaign is a collaboration between the Finnish Economic Information Office (TAT), T-Media, Sonera, Nokia, Destia, S-Group, and Oikotie. The campaign challenges employers to offer more high-quality summer jobs. The campaign’s employers have committed to the six principles of a good summer job: a positive application experience, meaningful work, orientation and guidance, fairness and equality, appropriate pay, and a written contract and letter of reference. In 2016, 327 employers took part in the VKD campaign, offering more than 50,000 responsible summer jobs.Summer work experience increases interest in working life. This is the view of 82 percent of the young people who responded to the Responsible Summer Job 2016 campaign survey. The goal of the Responsible Summer Job 2017 campaign, which is now launching, is to offer young people even more responsible work experiences and to exceed the 50,000 summer job mark.

For six years now, the “Responsible Summer Job” campaign has been encouraging employers to offer young people more high-quality summer jobs. At the same time, hundreds of employers have done valuable work by strengthening young people’s workplace skills and boosting their confidence in their own abilities.

– Positive summer job experiences and the discovery of one’s own strengths play a major role in the transition to working life. For employers, offering summer jobs is a unique opportunity to make a good first impression on the talent of the future. In fact, 85 percent of those who worked in responsible summer jobs were willing to recommend their employer to their friends, says Päivi Salminen-Kultanen, project manager of the Responsible Summer Job campaign.

More than 5,000 young people from 95 responsible summer job providers responded to the "Most Responsible Summer Job 2016" survey in June and July.

Providing feedback leads to better summer job experiences

The "Responsible Summer Job" campaign helps employers understand young people’s expectations of the working world and improve their summer job-related processes. The goals for the upcoming campaign period are to help young people identify their own strengths and develop the skills needed to find a summer job. In the campaign’s survey, providing feedback emerged as the area where employers most need to improve.

“The youngest workers, who are just starting their first summer jobs, need to learn the ropes of the workplace first. They need a lot of support, feedback, and guidance in this regard,” says Liisa Tenhunen-Ruotsalainen, director of the Economic Information Office (TAT).

“Together with the employers participating in the campaign, we will emphasize the importance of feedback and establish practices to encourage more feedback. The immediate supervisors of summer workers play a key role in this,” Päivi Salminen-Kultanen summarizes.

The "Responsible Summer Job 2017" campaign kicks off on November 1, 2016. All responsible summer job listings will be available on the Kesaduuni.org website and on Oikotie.

The “Responsible Summer Job 2017” campaign is a joint initiative by the Economic Information Office TAT, T-Media, Sonera, Nokia, Destia, the S Group, and Oikotie Jobs, which challenges employers to offer young people more high-quality summer jobs. The employers participating in the campaign have committed to six principles of a good summer job: a positive applicant experience, meaningful work, orientation and guidance, fairness and equality, reasonable pay, and a written employment contract and certificate. In 2016, 327 employers participated in the campaign, offering 50,000 responsible summer jobs.