Okanagan College job fair connects employers, students
63 employers on hand at Business Exposition & Employment Fair at Kelowna campus of Okanagan College
With two huge signs behind him declaring “We Are Hiring,” Kyle Jones entertained a steady stream of job seekers Wednesday.
“Yes, they work,” said Jones with a laugh while nodding toward the placards.
“We’re telling people looking for work exactly what we’re here for today.”
Jones is a project manager with Kelowna-based Emil Anderson Construction, which builds roads and bridges provincewide and is also the parent company of Dilworth Homes.
He was manning the Emil Anderson booth at the Business Exposition & Employment Fair at the Kelowna campus of Okanagan College, where 62 other employers were also represented.
“There is a shortage of qualified workers,” said Jones.
“We’re looking for project co-ordinators, co-op (students on a work placement) project co-ordinators and all tradespeople.”
While aimed at college students seeking summer jobs, co-op positions and permanent work upon graduation, the fair was also open to the public.
That’s how Luis Ayala, who is already a civil engineer, found himself at the expo, exploring opportunities.
“I’m not even from B.C., but I am looking for work and willing to move for it,” he said.
The fair is an annual event that has been yielding results for 14 years.
“This is an ideal way for employers to reach qualified students,” said college dean of business Bill Gillett. “All the employers here are hiring, so it really is a hiring fair.”
First-year collision repair trades student Abz Chashmpanam was interested in Kal Tire for a summer job.
Friend Andres Saucedo, a second-year business student, was also eyeing Kal Tire for a possible sales and marketing summer job.
He was also checking out what the banks had for seasonal employment.
First-year business student Roberto Gonzalez, who is here from Mexico to earn his degree, was also looking at the banks for summer jobs as well as Marriott Hotels, which has the Delta Grand and Fairfield Inn & Suites in Kelowna.
Banks that had booths at the fair were Royal, Interior Savings, TD Canada Trust, CIBC and Business Development Bank of Canada.
Others in the financial services field at the fair included Refresh Financial, Sunlife Insurance, Investors Group and Chartered Financial Analyst Society Okanagan.
Two of Kelowna’s biggest employers were at the fair.
KF Aerospace (formerly Kelowna Flightcraft) is the city’s largest private-sector employer, with about 1,000 working at its hangars at Kelowna’s airport.
KF is looking for qualified workers in a number of fields, from project engineer, flight dispatcher, parts and tools administration and aircraft maintenance engineer to aircraft structures technician, logistics support, software analysts and apprentices.
The City of Kelowna, one of the biggest public-sector employers, along with Interior Health and the Central Okanagan regional district, is also looking for summer, co-op and permanent workers.
It has co-op positions for a traffic technician, accounting assistant, water conservation technician and transportation researcher.
The city is hiring summer students to work at the dump, in the greenhouse and on groundskeeping crews.
It’s also looking to hire permanently a plumbing inspector, senior buyer, communications co-ordinator, and water distribution and sewer collection operator.
Th is is an ideal way for employers to reach qualified students. All the employers here are hiring, so it really is a hiring fair.
Bill Gillett