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The 2023 Application Process opens soon. Make sure your contact information is current to receive updates.

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Employer Involvement

Your business can help guide local teens toward the right career path.

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Sign up to receive emails and information regarding Genesee County employment opportunities, career fairs, apprenticeships and career prep programs.

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About the program

The Summer Youth Initiative (SYI) program helps hundreds of qualified teens find employment each year

Each year Flint & Genesee Education & Talent works with area nonprofit and for-profit businesses to hire students just like you. As a Summer Youth Initiative (SYI) teen you can gain more than just a job. You can also get experience, learn valuable social skills and make connections that could one day direct you toward your dream job.

Teens are hired following the SYI Job Fair in the spring — as well as throughout the year. Past SYI employers have included schools, summer day camps, urban gardening and community beautification projects and general office settings.

Requirements

Teens interested in participating in SYI are required to:

  • Have successfully completed the TeenQuest pre-employment leadership training
  • Be 14 to 19 years old
  • Currently be in grades 9-12
  • Reside and attend school in Genesee County, either public, private, charter, alternative or home school

Registration

2022 Application Process is closed. Make sure your contact information is current to receive updates.

Check back in spring 2023 for more information on the 2023 SYI Job Fair, during which TeenQuest graduates can interview for summer jobs with local employers.

Teens are responsible for completing and submitting their application to SYI on their own. Parents or other adults may assist the teen, but please do not complete the form for the applicant as this is an important part of the overall process for getting a job now and in the future.

Completed applications are to be submitted online only. No paper applications will be accepted.

In order to receive updates and information regarding Summer Youth Initiative (SYI) Job Fairs and employment opportunities, we must have your current address, phone number and email. Please click the button below if your information has changed.

Registration for 2022 is closed

After SYI

After completing the TeenQuest pre-employment program, Marcell Simmons snagged a summer job with Kayak Flint through Summer Youth Initiative in 2019. Although he graduated out of SYI soon after, the local nonprofit hired Marcell back on the following summer to serve as a rental supervisor. The Mott Community College student did so well in that position that he was promoted to lead supervisor in 2021. Here, he talks about the important work experience he’s gotten through SYI and Kayak Flint and how that’s prepared him for his future.

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