Lakehead University Career & Job Expo 2014 helps students connect with employers
Lakehead University had a successful Career & Job Expo in Thunder Bay on Tuesday with more than 500 students meeting employers at approximately 23 booths. New this year was a booth where students could have their photo taken for their online profile.
“In today’s world, employers will look at your resume along with your LinkedIn and Facebook pages,” said Robert Perrier, Director of the Student Success Centre.
“The Career & Job Expo helps students connect with employers to explore options and improve the chances of being hired,” said Christina Buzzi, Career and Employment Specialist with Lakehead University’s Student Success Centre.
Career & Job Expo 2014 hosted a variety of local, regional and national organizations recruiting students and upcoming graduates for summer, co-op and permanent job opportunities.
“Part of achieving success at the Career & Job Expo is being fully prepared to meet and engage with employers,” Perrier said.
“The Student Success Centre, in partnership with Lakehead’s Writing Centre, has been delivering seminars on career search and professional online profile development, as well as resume workshops and clinics to help students land the job they are seeking,” he said.
Attendees included hospitals, social service agencies, accounting firms, manufacturing companies, police services, communications companies, natural resources management organizations and more.
According to a recent Province of Ontario survey, Lakehead’s graduate employment rates are above the provincial average. Six months after graduation, 89.4 per cent of Lakehead students found employment compared to the provincial average of 87.4 per cent. Two years after graduation, 93.6 per cent of Lakehead students were employed compared to the Ontario average of 93 per cent.
Robert Perrier, Director of Student Success “ The Centre has been around for about 3 years and is really focused on helping students succeed at the university. This includes everywhere from students starting at the university with orientation and first year experience, providing academic support throughout their years here and also connecting them with employers and career opportunities so they can go on and enter into the workplace. It is the full student experience. It has been excellent with incredible engagement by the students and is a new model for Lakehead University. LU is above the provincial average in terms of students gaining employment.” “ Today is our Career & Job Expo, one of four career events we offer each year at Lakehead. This event is focused on local, regional and national employers that are actively looking to recruit new graduates to come and work for them. It is an opportunity for students to come and meet with the employers and for early year students to learn about what employers will expect in the future. We have 23 employers at this fair with a broad spectrum of fields and at least 500 to 600 students attending.”
Nancy Habib, Ontario Human Relations Generalist with Aditya Birla Group in Terrace Bay. “ The group bought the mill in 2012 and we are in the midst of doing a conversion from the older mechanical features it has to more automated. We are also changing from a paper grade mill to a higher level product fiber which will produce the threads for towels, shirts, suits and scarfs. We already produce these products in India.” “ Today our pulp goes to the US to produce newsprint but we hope to be the first softwood mill that produces fiber in Ontario. We will then ship the fiber grade pulp to India and from there it will be used in the manufacturing of the cloth.” The Aditya Birla Group is a huge multinational which also work with cement, aluminum, ming industry and IT. It is well know in in India. They also own a softwood mill in Sweden producing fiber pulp and in Toronto have an IT division. At Terrace Bay they employ 300 hourly and 90 salaried staff. Overall the company has 100,000 or more employees. Aditya Birla Group have an office in Thunder Bay as well as a base in Longlac with woodlands workers. “ We are hoping to attract a few fresh students in the field of engineering or environmental. In the next few years we will have many staff retiring so there will be jobs.”
