VALUABLE CONNECTIONS: Many job seekers took advantage of the opportunity to connect with potential employers at the career fair held at COTR on April 2. —photo by Jason Carriere

“You don’t have to be a burger to join our family,” states the food tray placemat at an A & W restaurant I was dining at recently. This is just another sign of how innovative employee recruitment programs have become for businesses in the food service sectors and beyond.

The newspaper Business In Vancouver recently reported that the vice-president of the Canadian Restaurant and Food Service Association, Mark von Schellwitz, predicts that British Columbia’s restaurateurs will need an additional 350,000 workers by 2015.

Kootenay Business magazine, in conjunction with College of the Rockies, Selkirk College, high schools and local chambers of commerce, took steps to address this challenge by organizing a series of career fairs over recent months; almost 1,000 students were able to attend these fairs and interact directly with potential employees.

Close to 100 employers—from Interior Health to Student Works Painting—took advantage of the four career fairs held this spring. Some employers were looking to fill immediate positions while other exhibitors like the CGAs were endeavouring to educate youth about the professional opportunities offered to young people in areas like accounting.

Arlene Keis is the CEO of GO2, an independent non-profit industry association with the mandate to help employers in B.C.’s tourism industry recruit, retain and train employees.

“Always be recruiting,” said Keis, “even if you don’t have an opening. Recruiting is marketing—it’s branding. It’s not something that you do only at one time.”

A & W Foods in Invermere, for example, definitely reinforced its invitation to students to “join their burger family” by offering free teenburgers at their booth: 150 students are now thinking about flipping burgers for a summer job.

One of the main objectives for Kootenay Business in organizing this series of career fairs was to help employers and organizations recruit new and future employees by having an opportunity to interact directly with students and job seekers throughout the Kootenays.

For more information about upcoming career fairs, contact Kootenay Business at 1-800-663-8555.

The winners:

Thanks to the generosity of a number of sponsors, several draw prizes were given out at the recent fairs.

SELKIRK COLLEGE CAREER FAIR
• IPod Nano: Zoe Dupois
• Gift certificate: Scott Drew
• Round-trip airline ticket (courtesy of Pacific Coastal Airlines): Michelle Donaldson
CRANBROOK CAREER FAIR
• $500 COTR tuition: Shelby Bay
• IPod Nano: Tim Johnson
• Round-trip airline ticket (courtesy of Pacific Coastal Airlines): Christine Hoeschmann
INVERMERE CAREER FAIR
• $250 COTR tuition: Braydi Rice
• IPod Nano: Jimmy Pierre
• Tim Hortons gift certificates:
Selena Dubois, Katelin Ott and Mackenzie Brush
• Golfwear prize from Eagle Ranch: Kai Rasmussen and Shynai Borho
ELK VALLEY CAREER FAIR
• $250 COTR tuition: Jordan Hill
• IPod Nano: Colin Fauder