Making the job search easier

Opportunities for businesses, job seekers to meet in-person

Nova Scotia Works CANSA is hoping their annual job fair will help connect you, or someone you know, with a meaningful career.

The employment centre’s job fair is returning this year at the Amherst Stadium on Wednesday, June 1, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

It will provide a setting for job seekers and employers to meet and explore opportunities that exist in Cumberland County.

CANSA will have a full staff of certified career practitioners at the fair to help create and update resumes and cover letters, help with job search skills, interview techniques and etiquette, explore training opportunities and assist with any other questions job seekers may have.

Meanwhile, businesses will have booths set up with whatever information prospective employees may be seeking about employment opportunities they have available.

This will be the first fullfledged version of the fair since the pandemic hit. There wasn’t a fair in 2020 and last year they did a small, service-specific health services only fair.

Bill Dowe, of Bill Dowe Trucking and Excavating as well as Dowe Concrete Products Ltd., is one business owner looking forward to the event’s return. He is also the president of the Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce.

He says he is currently looking for truck drivers and hopes an event like the fair can help him fill those positions. Dowe feels many businesses are looking for employees right now.

“Any of the businesspeople that I speak with on a regular basis, we’re all pretty much in the same boat,” he tells Cumberland Wire. “Everybody seems to be looking for some help.”

In a situation such as this, the fair provides a valuable opportunity for small businesses and job seekers to find each other.

“Time is such a premium for everybody that we don’t have the time or the resources to be finding these creative ways to attract people to get their attention,” he explains.

“It’s our sincere hope that this job fair will do that — by participating that we will get to interface with some of these people and get them there so they can see what opportunities are out there for them.”

At the fair, employers and job seekers will have the opportunity to meet in-person, get to know each other and answer questions outside of the job interview setting.

It’s that face-to-face interaction that is essential.

“Looking at a resume on paper really doesn’t tell you much about the person applying for the job,” says Dowe. “And it really doesn’t tell the prospective employee much about the employer just looking at an ad on a job line.”

Brent Noiles, the employer engagement specialist at CANSA, says they’re aiming to have a 50-table fair. At each table, businesses can share whatever information and resources they want.

Dowe says he will have a laptop with a program running pictures of some of the work they do and some of the equipment they use.

“So people can see the nature of our business,” he adds.

He will also have some information available, as well as applications. Somebody will be at their table to answer questions and he hopes to take in some resumes.

There are other fun and innovative ways for businesses to promote employment.

The army, Noiles says, will attend with an interactive virtual simulator and the Nova Scotia Construction Sector Council will attend with its 53-foot experiential trades trailer which includes minibooths inside that immerse participants in a live, outdoor construction zone.

NS Works will also have their own display table.

Noiles feels it’s important CANSA has many excellent partners throughout the county, such as the chamber of the commerce and the municipalities. The networking allows them to maintain relationships and stay aware of the challenges businesses are facing.

DROP BY

According to Noiles, during the past two years CANSA has shifted towards digital support.

He says this is great for young people especially. But for those who still want to meet face-to-face, their doors are always open. In fact, Noiles encourages anybody to drop by.

“We really encourage people, if they can, to do that,” he says. “Come in, meet with a case manager and start that journey there. I always encourage faceto-face if I can because, like Bill said, it makes a connection for folks.”

CANSA has 40 offices across Nova Scotia, including two in Cumberland County, one in Amherst and Springhill. The Amherst office is located at 63 East Victoria St. and is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. The Springhill office is currently undergoing renovations.

CANSA also shares job postings on their website, novascotiaworks.ca, the Nova Scotia Works CANSA Facebook page, through staff at the office, with community partners and on the radio every day.