Thousands expected at today’s job fair

By John Boldrick

The Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre will welcome over a thousand people through its doors tomorrow all with one goal: to find a job.

Thursday November 1 marks the second career fair of the year to be held. The first took place in the spring. The fair is being put on as a joint venture but is also being sponsored by social services.

“The Career fair is organized by the cities of Belleville and Quinte West, as well as the event is sponsored in partnership with Employment Ontario,” said Linda Lisle, manager of economic development for Quinte West.

The partnership between the cities is not new. The career fairs have been taking place for years.

“We’ve been partnering with the city of Belleville on this initiative for about five years now,” said Lisle.

The number of job seekers has been steady since the start. Organizers are looking forward to another big crowd this year.

“We typically have around 1500-2000 job seekers that have attended previous career fairs, so we’re looking at around that number again this year,” said Lisle.

The fair will also be attended by many local businesses. There were 35 employers at the spring fair. All employers range greatly in their area of business.

“We have some from social services, call centres, Batawa Ski hill will be there, industry’s such as P + G, Vantage Foods, we have some trucking companies, so it’s a pretty good mix this year,” said Angela Allen, development research sssistant for economic and strategic initiatives in Belleville.

Employers aren’t the only people who will be there.

“We also have employment resource centres there, so it gives a job seeker a good chance to meet employers face to face as well as talk to employment resource centres and they are available basically to help you find a job and give you job searching tools and information and help build your resume,” said Allen.

Local employment resource centres include Meta Employment Services and Kelly’s Services.

People who may be unhappy at their current job or are unsure of their future are also encouraged to attend. Second career services are being offered to those people looking for a career change.

For Lisle, the career fairs are an essential service in the community.

“It’s very important that we’re really trying to help our businesses with their employment needs but we are also trying to assist job seekers in finding employment and helping our community,” she said.

Admission to the fair is free and open to the public.