By Nick Candiotto
Toronto Sun

In March 2003, 21-year-old Darryl Lorde had been out of work for eight months and was undecided about his future.

"I was tired of working for minimum wage and bouncing from job to job," Lorde says. "I wanted a career and needed to decide what direction to take." Enter JobStart.

"Darryl was energetic and really wanted to find a profession," says Merissa Preston, apprenticeship employment consultant with JobStart. "But he had several obstacles we had to overcome."

"In order to get into any kind of training, I needed to get my GED and my driver's license," Lorde recalls.

By August, through Job Connect's literacy and basic skills program, Darryl obtained his GED -- sending him to Preston.

"Within a few days of being referred to me, Darryl had an interview," Preston says. "He was hired and started work at the end of the month." Darryl began a three-week work trial at Midas with an eye towards earning an apprenticeship.

"We had worked with JobStart before and think it is an excellent program," says Midas owner Robin Singh. "And in Darryl we got an excellent employee. He has been great."

So great, in fact, that Darryl has taken on new and additional responsibilities throughout his time with Midas.

"When I first started, I was just doing basic things like oil changes and tire rotations," Lorde remembers. "I wanted to do more so I asked them to teach me more."

"He's been catching on so fast, showing daily improvement," Singh says, "so now he's getting into much harder work. Darryl's a very fast learner."

Those learning skills will be tested over the next five years as Darryl enters Midas' apprenticeship program.

To find out more about the services offered at JobStart, visit them on the Web at www.jobstart-cawl.org or call 416-231-2295.

To identify your neighbourhood youth employment centre for hiring made easy at no cost to you, visit the following Web site: www.oayec.org/yejd_locations.html.



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