There are lots of special employment resources for under folks under 29 from YES.

Youth Employment Services YES

To become a YES client, call 416-504-5516 or   //www.yes.on.ca/ It’s FREE!

YES also has resources for young entrepreneurs. Perhaps as compliments to the RISE Asset Development. //www.yes.on.ca/yes-takes-charge-in-supporting-young-entrepreneurs-across-canada/

Empowering The Employment Sector To Serve Youth With Mental Health Issues

Youth Employment Services YES is excited to provide Employment Agencies with a workshop curriculum package that has been developed to help Employment Specialists better support youth living with mental health issues seek and maintain employment.

These workshops are beneficial for other employment agencies but they can also help us as job seekers.

Sample: from the “Choosing to Disclose” workshop – //www.yes.on.ca/mental-health-curriculum/

When to Disclose

When it comes to disclosing, one can chose to disclose at numerous different times:

-Before the interview

–PROS: Upfront honesty. Easy. Let’s employer decide if your mental health condition is an issue before even offering an interview.

–CONS: May disqualify you as a candidate for the position with no opportunity for you to present yourself, your skills, and qualifications (i.e. potential discrimination).

-During the interview

–PROS: Opportunity to respond positively, in person, to specific issues/concerns that the employer may have about your mental health condition.

–CONS: May create an interview situation where the employer focuses more on your mental health and how that could potentially impact your work performance rather than your skills.

-After the interview, but before accepting the position

–PROS: Potential for legal recourse if disclosing your disability changes the hiring decision and you are confident in knowing that your mental health will not affect your job performance.

–CONS: Hiring manager may have felt that you should have disclosed before, which may lead to some degree of distrust.

-Once having started in the role

–PROS: Gives you the chance to show your ability to do the job before disclosing.

–CONS: May causes nervousness over having an “episode” on the job and should an “episode” occur, manager/coworkers would be unknowing of how to support. Employer may try to accuse you of omitting important information on your application if your condition/medication/treatment could affect your job