ACTIVELY RECRUITING: The career fair in 2007 helped Kootenay employers of all kinds—from the RCMP to Selkirk College—attract suitable employees. —photos courtesy Selkirk College

Last year’s Career & Job Expo—the first-ever held in the West Kootenay—was such a hit that Selkirk College and Kootenay Business magazine are teaming up again to put on the event. The 2008 Business Expo & Career Fair—to be held February 5 at Selkirk’s Castlegar campus—is promising to be even better.

“It’s going to grow,” said Carrie Voysey, the educational liaison at Selkirk College. “Given that it was a huge success last year, I believe we will be able to build on that with more businesses participating and more students and people attending.”

At the 2007 Career & Job Expo, 400 attendees came to learn about the careers offered by businesses and organizations representing a diverse assortment of industries, from electronics to health care.

“The main thing is that it’s going to bring together employers and employment,” said Voysey. “It gives people the opportunity to examine different career paths and, from a business perspective, it’s an excellent opportunity for businesses and employees to network with one another, and hopefully build some relationships that way.”

Some of the organizations setting up displays at this year’s expo are softwood producer Zellstoff Celgar Ltd. and Interior Health Kootenay Boundary.

Selkirk College showed last year that it is an ideal location to hold the expo, as it gives companies the opportunity to draw from the skilled labour pool coming out of the school. Additionally, with the diversity of courses offered by the college, Voysey said that it’s hard to think of a company that wouldn’t find employees suited for their particular field.

“We have a pretty wide selection,” she said. “Selkirk College offers quite an array of programs: everything from tourism and hospitality, renewable resources, business and aviation to industry trades and training, and fine arts through (Kootenay School of the Arts) KSA.”

An additional benefit to the expo is that it brings companies into the Kootenay job market, as opposed to trying to attract workers from other areas of the province or Canada.

“They are targeting students that know the Kootenay area and who want to live here,” said Voysey. “That will benefit employers in terms of retention because they won’t have to bring in someone from outside just to find that they are not going to want to live here.”

Regardless of a student’s training and education, Voysey said that, overall, the students who make the decision to attend Selkirk College are ambitious people looking to make the most of a potential career.

“Employers can generally expect a highly skilled, well-trained, intelligent and eager individual to fill the positions that they may have,” she said.

On the other side of things, Selkirk students who attended last year saw the event as a chance to realize their own career goals.

“The students were very positive and enthusiastic,” said Voysey. “They all saw it as a great opportunity to assist with their career planning and facilitate that.”

Business Expo 2008
• When: Tuesday, February 5, 2008 from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Where: Selkirk College in Castlegar
• Contact: Carrie Voysey, educational liaison at Selkirk College, 250-505-1398
• For more info: 1-800-663-8555 or 250-426-7253 • fax: 250-426-4125