You don’t have to be 20 years old and just starting out in the work world in order to attend the Black Press Extreme Education and Career Fair.
You can actually be in your 30s, 40s and 50s and be looking for a career makeover. People of all age ranges drop into Black Press career fairs, the first of which in Metro Vancouver this year takes place at the Cloverdale Agriplex.
The event is set for this April 26, between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., and is the third such career fair in the Metro Vancouver area, following two previous fairs last spring and fall.
People who show up will have a virtual buffet of potential employers willing to talk and listen and see if job seekers’ skills and experience match what they’re looking for. If they don’t, there will be several colleges also at the fair willing to show how people can upgrade and get the skills in order to get the job they want.
If you’ve attended previous Career Fairs, this one would be worth showing up at again because new exhibitors will be on hand.
For example, CN Rail will be there for the first time, said Brittney Prentice, events marketing coordinator with Black Press News Media Group.
“This is the first time for Vancouver Police Department participating in one of our events. This the first time McDonalds is participating in this Lower Mainland event,” she added.
While some public employers will have rigid application processes, career fairs provide a speedy shortcut to interviews for many job hunters who show up with freshly minted resumes. Of those who attend, there’s almost an even distribution of all ages, with both the 20- to 35-year-old age group, to those in their 40s and 50s looking for a career change.
“Some companies will do interviews on the spot,” said Prentice.
That’s a quick way for potential employees to get their faces shown and their feet in the door and skip what can be laborious online application procedures.
Others, will schedule interviews for later dates, or later that same day.
One of the goals of the fair is to include educational institutes which can provide job-ready skills and training. Specific programs that are geared for the job market will be profiled at the fair. Prentice said that about 78 per cent of future jobs will require some type of post-secondary education.
For job hunters, it’s going to be a buyer’s market for several years. Prentice said that the BC Labour Market Outlook for 2018 says that between 2017 and 2027, there will be 917,000 job vacancies in B.C.
Almost half of those positions will be filled by people just entering the work force. Warehouse work and retail management will be have the highest demand for staff.
Public agencies such as BC Corrections, ICBC and the Canadian Armed Forces also will be among the exhibitors.
The several schools that will be in attendance include Sprott Shaw Community College, CDI Career College, Vancouver Career College, Focus College, Vancouver College of Massage Therapy, BCIT, Discovery Community College and Vancouver Island University.
