September/October 2011
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INSIDE Career opps in supplychain management 3 Law job success stories 5 Train to improve your customer service skills 9
expert advice Waii C. asks: “Any jobhunting advice for new IT grads?” 6
Female entrepreneurs aid economic growth 10
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Calculating the cost of pro development 13
Job fair aware How to prepare for and succeed at a career fair
J
ob fairs (a.k.a. career or hiring expos) are a great way for you to explore various employment options and meet with multiple employers in one day at a single location. “A job fair is an event for employers, recruiters and schools to meet with prospective job seekers,” explains Kathleen Alexis, case manager and marketing and events co-ordinator at Douglas College’s Cave Employment Resource Centre, which hosts its next Retail Hiring Fair on September 17 at Metrotown Centre in Burnaby. “These events let companies and organizations showcase their business and collect resumés for current and future job openings.” While “most employers will take a few minutes with a job seeker to ask and answer questions,” there are often hundreds – if not thousands – of candidates at any given job fair. That’s why it’s important to do what you can to ensure you don’t get lost in the crowd. The first thing you need to know: what kind of event you’re attending. Universities, colleges and sometimes even high schools host job fairs for their students; some of these, but not all, are open to
the public. Public events include professional and community fairs geared to a variety of professions, from accounting to engineering to sales. Specialty fairs focus on jobs in one industry, like tourism, hospitality or dentistry. Community job fairs include a range of positions at different levels, from entry to management to professional, at a variety of companies.
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“You should come to a job
fair dressed for the position you are applying for” – Joan Murray, human resources lead, Sears on Robson
“You can learn about upcoming job fairs in a career centre, newspaper classifieds, company websites or social media sites like Facebook and Twitter,” says Mitzi Penno, office administrator at the YWCA One Stop Career Shop in North Vancouver. Adds Alexis: “You can also search online by typing “job fairs in B.C.” into any search engine.” Yet another type of job fair is a see Hire, 2
Progressive Intercultural Community Services (PICS) Society, Vancouver
BY NOA GLOUBERMAN
Fair game: a job fair is an event for employers, recruiters and schools to meet with prospective job seekers. You can learn about upcoming job fairs by visiting a career centre, reading newspaper classified ads or doing an Internet search
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