Job seeker Raj Khatwani is seen speaking to a representative at one of 60 exhibitor booths at the 21st annual Medicine Hat College Job Fair on Wednesday. This year was the second time the college has experienced a maximum turnout of exhibitors at the event.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
For the second time in 21 years, the annual Medicine Hat College Job attracted a full house of a maximum 60 exhibitor booths operated by recruiters and representatives of several industries looking to fill a variety of full-time, part-time and internship opportunities in the region.
From the Hat to Brooks to Lethbridge and regions of Saskatchewan, representatives were accepting resumes, cover letters, networking and answering questions about current opportunities available on the job market. This year the fair welcomed eight brand new exhibitors.
“I think it speaks volumes about how much all these employers value Medicine Hat and our region,” says Shelly Drefs, career service assistant. “We’ve had a lot of employers who said that they’ve taken tons of resumes and they found a lot of good qualified candidates.”
Each year the fair attracts hundreds of job seekers, many of whom attending with a stack of resumes, to Centennial Hall and parts of the B Wing Hallway who are unemployed, underemployed, looking for new opportunities or soon to be graduating from one of the college’s programs.
Job seekers were able to browse and speak with professionals working in a wide range of careers from health care, civic services, trades, finances, as well as discovering how they can volunteer with different local social organizations.
“This is a great venue for them to go out and talk to the different employers and find out what exactly it is that you do. How does this progress? And what kind of professional development would I get afterwards when I go looking for jobs?” says Drefs. “It gives them that face-to-face time, which sometimes it’s hard when you’re applying for jobs.”
Drefs says interaction also allows job seekers to customize their resumes for a better opportunity at landing a job.
“That kind of help sets you apart from all the other applicants when you customize that resume.”
Raj Khatwani told the News he is looking for a career related to medical or health-care management, and found two interesting job positions at the fair he plans to follow up with.
“(The first) is a casual job which starts in April, and there is another position as a manager over there, so I will give it a shot and submit my resume,” says Khatwani.
MHC student Rylan Gawel attended with a stack of printed paper resumes and was prepared with several questions he was able to ask face to face – he says one of the biggest benefits was the human interaction with potential future employers.
“It’s a great event, the only issue is a lot of these businesses are now doing all these applications via the internet, you have to send in your resume via email or on Indeed,” explains Gawel. “I like the networking, the face to face, it’s a lot easier to do that for myself.”
Gawel says the opportunity to ask questions about job roles and the experience needed allows him to determine if it’s a good fit for both himself and the employer.
“So if I don’t have the skills applicable to that job, then I can move on faster.”
However, despite hosting 60 exhibitor booths, Gawel says he felt the job fair lacked a diversity in opportunities, particularly for those without specific real-life experience.
“I think it’s a little bit more catered to people that have some experiences in some fields,” Gawel said, citing the health-care industry as an example. “So it’s really good in that sense, but in terms of general kinds of skills or trades, you know, it doesn’t have too much.”
