It may seem hard to believe considering the numbers, but there are still jobs out there for the taking and some companies are considered recession-proof.
One sector in particular is continuing to grow bigger as we grow older.
Students at the BCIT School of Diagnostics and Advanced Practice are still practicing on classmates, but the hard work will pay off.
"There's certainly a major demand for graduates from the medical radiography program," says the school's Bill Dow.
There's big demand for all health care workers. In fact, it's the single biggest growth sector in Canada.
Many of the employers in the health industry are talking to the students before graduation and arranging employment before graduation," says Dow.
The situation is the same in the nursing industry.
"We also have employers in coming and doing recruitment -- they bring pizzas and things for the student and give them information about working in Vancouver Coastal Health or Fraser Health," says Katherine Fukuyama from the Vancouver Community College School of Nursing.
While they're hiring in health care, other industries are laying off. B.C. lost 35,000 jobs in January alone, and analysts predict it's just going to get worse as the year goes on.
Still, one recruiter says there are still jobs to be had.
"We're seeing sales positions, and operations positions, manufacturing, technical positions -- both in government and the private sector," says Henry Goldbeck from Goldbeck Recruiting Inc.
It appears the key to landing those jobs is standing out from the crowd of job seekers.
"All things being equal, the technical skills are the same -- it's usually the person with more forthright personality," says Goldbeck. "Someone who convinces the employer they can do they job is going to be hired."
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson
