Reboot Plus connects young people in London, Ontario with local employers so they can explore careers, build confidence, and discover new pathways into the workforce.
Starting a career can feel confusing, especially for young people who have not followed a traditional school path. Reboot Plus helps them explore their options, meet employers, and see that their future can include meaningful work.
Employers are facing their own challenge. Many need skilled people now, and they also need to build a strong workforce for the future.
For the London Chamber of Commerce, these two challenges are closely connected.
“We spend a lot of time talking to businesses about their challenges finding skilled people, so we also need to be part of the solution,” says Kristen Duever, COO of the London Chamber of Commerce.
That perspective made Reboot Plus a natural fit.
Reboot Plus gives young people a chance to explore careers, meet employers, and start seeing themselves in the workforce. For the Chamber, it also helped local businesses think differently about where future talent can come from.
Looking Beyond the Usual Career Path
One key lesson was simple: a young person’s school experience does not tell the whole story about what they can do.
“We can sometimes make the mistake of assuming that if someone hasn’t succeeded in a traditional classroom, they won’t succeed in the workplace,” Kristen says.
“But those are two very different things.”
A young person may be creative, practical, capable and good with people; strengths that don’t necessarily show up in a transcript or résumé.
“We shouldn’t confuse someone’s educational experience with their potential.”
That idea is central to Reboot Plus. The program does not define young people by where they have struggled. It helps them explore what they can do, what interests them, and where their strengths could lead.
For employers, those conversations can provide a different perspective on talent.
“You can look at someone’s educational history and make a judgment about what they can or can’t do. But sit down with that person for 20 minutes and have a real conversation, and you may see something completely different.”
Why Real Career Conversations Matter
Career information can explain what a job requires. But a real conversation with someone who does the work can make that career feel easier to imagine.
Through Reboot Plus, young people asked professionals about their work, learned what different careers are really like, and heard the stories behind people’s career paths.
“They get an honest, real-world perspective,” Kristen says.
Those conversations can be particularly valuable because career trajectories rarely follow a perfectly straight path.
“Most of us have taken some unexpected turns along the way. Knowing that can make the future feel a little less intimidating.”
For a young person who is uncertain about their future, hearing how someone else navigated their own career can help make the possibilities feel more attainable.
It also creates space for young people to ask questions they may not think to ask in a classroom or find answered in a career guide.
How Local Businesses Benefit from Reboot Plus
While Reboot Plus is designed to help young people explore their futures, Kristen found that the experience offered something to participating businesses as well.
“The feedback was really positive,” the Kristen says. “Many of the business participants were pleasantly surprised by how much they got out of the experience themselves.”
Young people’s questions, perspectives and ideas provided an opportunity for professionals to look at their own workplaces and assumptions differently.
These conversations help both sides see things differently.
Youth career development is not only about helping young people prepare for jobs. It can also help employers look at talent in new ways and notice skills they may have missed before.
Building a Stronger Local Talent Pipeline
For employers, connecting with young people can do more than give back to the community. It can help them spot future talent early.
Kristen sees opportunities for employers to become involved through job shadowing, mentorship, work experiences, internships and entry-level opportunities.
It also encourages employers to consider whether every credential listed in a job description is genuinely necessary.
Sometimes, the best way to spot potential is to start with a conversation. “You might discover skills and potential that wouldn’t have been obvious on a résumé.”
For local businesses, this means thinking differently about where talent comes from. It means looking at a person’s strengths, interests, and potential, not just their education history.
This work is about more than helping one young person or one business. It is about building a stronger future for London.
“London’s future depends on having a strong, skilled and adaptable workforce,” Kristen says. If young people don’t see a pathway into meaningful careers, and employers aren’t looking broadly enough for talent, both sides miss opportunities.
That is why partnerships between youth programs and the business community matter.
Reboot Plus creates a space where young people can explore possibilities, build connections and begin seeing themselves as part of the workforce. At the same time, it gives employers an opportunity to meet emerging talent and reconsider what potential can look like.
For Kristen, Reboot Plus connects directly to London’s future: a stronger workforce, a stronger economy, and more young people who can see a place for themselves here.
“We want young people to see that there are opportunities for them here, and we want businesses to recognize the talent that’s already in our community.”
Rethinking What Potential Looks Like
The future workforce won’t come from a single pathway.
Some young people will follow traditional educational routes. Others will take different turns, discover their strengths through experience and find careers in ways that aren’t always captured by a résumé.
Reboot Plus creates opportunities to make those connections earlier.
And for employers, the lesson from the London Chamber of Commerce is simple: don’t let a traditional definition of success prevent you from seeing potential.
Sometimes, all it takes is a conversation.
The Reboot Plus project is funded by the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Centre.
Le projet Reboot Plus est financé par le Centre des Compétences futures du gouvernement du Canada.