Next week on March 9th, there will be a chance for Strathmore and area job seekers to show off their skills at an in-person job fair. Prospect Human Services and The Town of Strathmore will be hosting a job fair at the Strathmore Tevlodge from 3 to 6 p.m. 

Jennifer Dost, WorkForce Advisor Prospect Human Services speaks about the impact of an in-person event. 

"We've been doing online job fairs and they have a place. They're really good for the more transactional type of jobs, but we found that for positions such as agriculture which Strathmore has a lot of ag positions, for their labour positions as an employer, it's hard to really get a gauge of somebody when you're just looking at a screen.” 

Dost also spoke of the fact that online events are not an option for some candidates. 

"Candidates with poor cell reception or that don't have access to a desktop or a laptop, which was especially a problem during COVID when they really needed that, but when libraries were closed, this in-person event I feel really gives people an equal footing with each other,” she said. 

There’s also an opportunity to get that first foot in the door with some employers, and later to advance from within a company’s hiring process. 

“For individuals who maybe have a background in say customer service, and management skills. Well, there's an opportunity right now to get in and maybe if you're watching a company and it's a good company, that they hire from within they support their employees, they have good benefits, you get in with them maybe as customer service, but keeping your eye on those management positions,” she said. 

"A lot of companies are hiring for those higher-level positions from within,” she said. 

“We do encourage candidates to reach out to us if they're a little nervous about online or in-person interviews. Our services are at no cost. We have an office, right in Strathmore and the two people who work in Strathmore are fantastic and they will take the time to kind of do a prep interview,” said Dost. 

She encouraged people to attend the job fair with a resume, speak to an employer and take their card, get some contact information, then later refine their resume and resubmit an updated resume for consideration. 

“I love the hope that these events bring, we're coming out of two years that were pretty tough for people, I'd say it's been hard on everyone, but I think really hard on some of us more than others,” said Dost. 

“And employment has taken a hit for a lot of people. I'm really excited about this as a community event for local applicants to have somewhere to look for work.” 

For now, there are about 23 employers that have registered for the job fair. 

Dost explained that at the venue there will be hand sanitizer and masks for those who wish to use them. As COVID-19 restrictions have just eased it is understandable that some people may not want to attend the in-person event. She explained that potential employees can contact Prospect, who will try their best to relay their contact information to employers. 

"We can't do that for 100 people. But we for sure can do that for I'm sure the number of people who are interested, so we don't want anyone to be excluded,” she said. 

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