A one day job fair, hosted by the Far North East Training Board, Collège Boréal and Northern College took place at the McIntyre Community Centre on Wednesday. Forty booths including businesses, corporations and organizations were set up, providing information and advice to job seekers.
Phillipe Lajoie of Timmins brought his family to the job fair. He said he has been emailing out resumes to various mining companies and can't seem to figure out why he's not getting much of a response, especially when he knows they're looking to hire.
He said the advice he received from the Human Resources manager at Lakeshore Gold was helpful.
"It’s good to get their opinion, saying that they get so many emails so maybe a few key factors to add on to the resume that could kind of stand out to them," added Lajoie.
Angele Tremblay, human resource manger with Lakeshore Gold told CTV News if people who have no experience in mining, but want to get into the industry, they need to be specific.
"If they can put on their resume exactly what they’re looking to do whether it’s entry level mining or anything else, that at least helps us make sure that the resume is getting into the right hands," added Tremblay.
People who need help writing a resume or need other information on how to get a job suited to them, the Wabun Tribal Council is an organization that can provide guidance, even to those who might not have access to technology.
“We’d be happy to help them; walk them through the interview process. We offer a lot of documentation regarding what the interview is about (and) some tips and hints ... We might also help someone with a job search in general," said Julie Cyr who works in Wabun Tribal Council's employment and training program.
A wide variety of sectors were represented at the job fair including: the City of Timmins, policing agencies, Indigenous groups and even major retailers. Officials with Collège Boréal said employers do inform them of what kind of employees they need.
“For sure the trades, so there are a lot of folks that are looking for heavy duty mechanics, trades of all sorts for the mining sector as well as the health sector. So we’re looking at PSWs, nurses--that’s a critical component of today’s workforce," said Melanie Dufresne, director of Collège Boréal, Timmins Campus.
For those who missed the job fair, organizers say you can check the Jobs in Timmins website to see what's posted on a daily basis.
