By Sarah Stone

Out of province recruiters tapping into P.A. grads

Feb 12, 2015 | 4:20 PM

Saskatchewan Polytechnic in Prince Albert was buzzing with students browsing for employers.

On Thursday the school held its annual career fair with 38 employer booths set up.

Most employers were from Saskatchewan companies trying to fill jobs as the province’s population booms, but one booth was geared towards taking graduates out of province.

Melanie Behm, human resources manager at Denham Hospitality – which is for Best Western Plus Denham Inns and Suites and Days Inn Edmonton Airport – is trying something new for the Alberta-based company.

 “We’re trying to expand our recruitment practices, so the market in Edmonton is quite saturated.  We do have a lot of hospitality and culinary arts programs, but we also have a lot of hotels and restaurants and so on and so forth,” Behm said.

Raiders AGM

Raiders impact on Prince Albert local economy continues to go up: AGM report

5h ago

Court proceedings

'The impact of this trauma will echo for generations': court case surrounding La Ronge woman's death reaches conclusion

Dec 11, 2024

Going Global

P.A.'s Zablocki named to Team Canada for U18 Women's World Championships

Dec 11, 2024

On Wednesday she was in Saskatoon doing the same thing and said she’s met students who are passionate about cooking, which is what they want.

As for whether some new hires come out of the career fair, Behm said it’s too soon to know.

 “We’re just working on expanding our practices,” she said.  “In Edmonton we’ve been targeting things like the Mennonite Centre and newcomers associations, disability programs and things like that and we have actually hired a few people from there.”

Behm said she has exchanged information with some interested students, but added it’s also a good time to connect with instructors.

“They’re always looking for places for students to do placements and it’s nice to have an alternative option,” she said.

Debbi Gola, student employment services co-ordinator at the Prince Albert Saskatchewan Polytechnic said many employers return every year.

“A lot of them are very interested in hiring our grads because we offer industry-based training and that’s what employers are looking for, so they’re always very keen to come here and recruit our students,” Gola said.

The school – which has about 2,000 students – usually sees 600 attend the career fair.

She said it also gives students the opportunity to meet employers and find out what jobs are available to them.

“A lot of students are very leery of starting their job search and this gives them the first step and they get to meet the employers and it takes away the fear,” Gola said.

This year, the number of employers is down to 38.  Usually 44 attend the event, she said.

“We’re down a bit from last year, but there’s a lot of government cut backs right now and government spending restrictions, so some of our employers had to cancel.”

sstone@panow.com

On Twitter: @sarahstone84