By Katie Coleman [1]
BELLEVILLE – Loyalist students lined up in the dining hall Wednesday for the annual summer job fair hosted by the Career Centre.
A lot of students were in attendance, hoping to network with potential employers and fill out applications.
Mackenzie Richardson, a business administration student, said she was there to continue her job hunt. She’s been searching for a full-time summer position for around two months and had some success.
“I have a lot of options right now. I don’t want to close doors on some jobs and I want to keep my options open,” she said, adding that she was confident she would get a position for the summer.
Local employers were on campus looking to fill full-time, part-time and casual positions during the summer months.
Tanya Delaney, a representative from Quinte Waste Solutions [2], was there hoping to find employees for casual work.
“It’s mostly Saturday work so it’s a little extra money on the side for somebody if they need it,” said Delaney, who added that the fair was a good way to learn about the company. “We’ve had a lot of students that have worked for us during the summers and obtained permanent employment afterwards.”
Community Employment Services was also on hand to offer information about their Summer Jobs Service [3]. This is a program funded by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities that encourages employers to hire high school, college and university students for full-time summer positions by paying a portion of their wages.
According to a 2014 year-end review [4] by Statistics Canada, last year saw a significant rise in employment rates among people aged 15 – 24 all over Canada and especially in the western provinces.
This could prove helpful for post-secondary students looking to fill those summer months.