A job fair was held on Thursday, Aug. 24 at Country Club Centre in Nanaimo, with 47 exhibitors on display to attract potential job seekers. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Jordan Davidson

career change

Nanaimo job seekers finding new careers, or new ideas during large career fair

Aug 24, 2023 | 4:39 PM

NANAIMO — A new start or a better career were some of the draws at a large job fair.

Job seekers flocked to Country Club Centre in Nanaimo on Thursday, Aug. 24, with almost 50 vendors set up in the main hallway. Career options ranged from the military and police to construction, cosmetics and everything in between.

Attendees who were freshly out of high school to those nearing retirement age looked for their first job, a second job, or something to keep them occupied during their golden years.

Nanaimo residents James and Riley, both in their early 20’s, were in attendance “looking for new opportunities.”

Riley, currently in school to become a nurse, said she wanted to see where her degree could take her beyond the usual healthcare fields.

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“I really came for the Canadian Armed Forces. They have lots of different contracts and different opportunities.”

James was in the market for a new career path and said he preferred talking about a potential new job in person, as opposed to online where a large percentage of job applications are usually filed.

“I think having a conversation with somebody, it really brings out new topics that I wouldn’t think of. It’s hard to get a bigger image at home behind a computer.”

Other attendees told NanaimoNewsNOW while submitting a resume online is now the standard for most businesses, they worry about getting lost in the mix of emails, and the pressure of trying to stand out from the pack.

Booths with a variety of professions were handing out goody bags and information pamphlets to anyone interested. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Other attendees, like Sheri, also from Nanaimo, was recently let go when the company she worked for shut down the week prior.

Resume in hand, she’s back on the job hunt for the first time in seven years, saying she also enjoys the personal feeling of job fairs.

“I think they’re great. I always look for stuff… that I know I would fit well with and meet the requirements, same with when I’m doing it online.”

She said she feels like she has a better chance of accurately representing herself and her talents when she’s able to look a potential employer in the eye.

“Because you never know. You wonder how many people are doing it online, and they can just pick through and look at your resume, doesn’t give you a chance to tell them who you are.”

While online job searching can be less time-consuming, it can also be difficult to find a job in a field you’ve never even heard about or realized you’d be interested in without some hands-on experience.

It’s what brought Hub City resident Steven to Country Club Centre on Thursday.

“I’m just looking for ideas, cause where I am right now I don’t want to do that for the rest of my life, so I’m just trying to find ideas of where I can go for possible career options.”

And he wasn’t there for very long before he found a booth which captured his interest.

“There was one thing that caught my attention. It was the council of carpenters, they were offering a job for a position called a scaffolder. I never heard of it before, but it sounded really interesting to me.”

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow