Teamworks fair connects employers with job seekers

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on June 24, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

To celebrate their 30th anniversary and their new space at Lethbridge’s Job Search Hub, Teamworks Career Centre hosted their first job fair at their new location Thursday.
Teamworks director Ryan Miller said they were excited to host an open public job fair, to be able to help people that are currently looking for work in the community to connect with hiring employers.
“It’s a great time to get an idea of what type of work is available in our community and be able to talk to employers,” said Miller.
Over 20 local employers from multiple industries attended the event to meet members of the community seeking employment opportunities face to face.
Miller said it is important to offer this type of interaction to those seeking jobs as nowadays employees have been pushed to do it electronically and they miss the opportunity to create a connection.
“The real thing that creates opportunities is when you connect with these employers, have a conversation and be able to highlight what you really can bring to them and in chance just ask them about their work environment which you don’t get to do while doing a job posting,” said Miller.
Curt Robinson, a job seeker in attendance, said it is very helpful to have many employers under one roof to make as many connections as possible.
“It’s really been helpful, so much more connection to meet the person, you get to make eye contact, you are not just a piece of paper, you’re in front of them and they can start to get a real feel for who you are,” said Robinson.
That goes both ways according to Kasko Cattle HR manager Shelly Pfeffel who believes face to face contact is the best way to figure out if a person will be the right fit.
“I think it’s super important, I think sometimes people tend to hide away a little bit, employers and job seekers, but it’s really important to get together face to face. Maybe I’m a little old school when it comes to that but I love meeting people and I think it gives a little bit more insight into the individual to see if they are a match for the company,” said Pfeffel.
She said they are always looking to meet new people. She said sometimes people think that within the agriculture sector they need to have a lot of experience but that is not always the case.
“We are working really hard on our training programs to allow these individuals that might be ‘green’ to join us and maybe learn something new and find a career,” said Pfeffel.
Miller said Teamworks Career Centre also offers a variety of programs that help those seeking employment gain some of the skills they need without going into debt.
“There’s a ton of free services provided by the federal government. Not a lot of Albertans know about the ability to get help on writing a resume, connecting with employers and getting very specialized free training to train for a new career that you don’t have to take a student loan for,” said Miller.

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