Rocky View and Wheatland Employment Services have partnered with the Boys and Girls Club of Airdrie for the fifth year in a row to once again host their annual youth job fair. 

This is the first of two job fairs Rocky View and Wheatland Employment Services look to put on this year, with the second job fair being held in the fall exclusively for adult job opportunities. This one, held at the end of the month, is for youth job opportunities only.  

Abigail Gonzalez, Program Manager for Rocky View and Wheatland Employment Services, says this year's youth job fair will take the same route almost every other recent event has; in the virtual world. 

 Since the event has been moved to a virtual setting, Gonzalez says the whole thing will be run through Zoom; something the youth should be relatively familiar with since online schooling is often run through Zoom. 

“You’re going to click a link to get into the Zoom call. We will put each employer into a Break Out Room which is a separate room just like going to their specific booth. When you get into the Zoom call you’ll be greeted by us as well as the Boys and Girls Club, and you would tell us which employer's break out room you’d like to go to and we’ll send you there along with all the others who are interested in that same employer to chat with their hiring staff.” 

In a non-pandemic world, the youth job fair is hosted at the East Lake Boys and Girls Club location with hundreds of youths bringing their resumes to apply to a couple of dozen vendors who are actively hiring. Last year, the job fair was lucky enough to be held just before the lockdown. This year marks the first time they’ve had to switch this youth job fair into an online-only event. 

“We had over 600 youth stop by last year and over 20 employers set up booths. It was a huge event, it always is.” says Gonzalez, “We build relationships with the employers who come back year after year because getting to meet a potential employee instead of just seeing a resume makes a big difference to them.” 

Gonzalez says a big part of what makes this youth job fair so successful is they only recruit employers who are ready to hire a youth right away.  

“These youth take time out of their evening to come to this job fair. They build a resume and are ready to look for work. It’s not fair to them or their time to have a building full of businesses who aren’t even hiring.” 

As is tradition, the youth job fair is free to attend and will take place on a Wednesday. 

The youth job fair is on March 31st from 4:30 to 7:00 and is open to anyone aged 15-24. To register to attend, CLICK HERE.