Linking students and residents with prospective employers at the Career & Education Expo

 

The 2018 Career and Education Expo took place on Friday, September 28 at the Allan & Jean Millar Centre. The full day event featured a huge array of companies, organizations, and post-secondary schools for students and the public to peruse over.

From 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., the fieldhouse was jam-packed with attendees especially at lunch time when Pembina Pipeline offered a free barbecue for everyone. With over 3,000 burgers and hot dogs, a crew of over 20 Pembina staff manned the barbecues and fed hundreds of hungry guests just outside the main doors of the centre. “We wanted to thank Whitecourt and surrounding areas for the support we receive. We’ve been working in their backyards and this is a way for us to give back and thank them for allowing us to do that,” said Marcy Klein, Field Administrator.

A total of 18 post-secondary school representatives attended the expo including MacEwan University, the Canadian Forces, Lethbridge College, NorQuest College, University of Alberta, and the Alberta College of Art & Design. Local students and those bused in from distant schools personally chatted with members of each of the schools to learn more about the process of applying, what it’s like to live on site, and the opportunities that each school can provide them.

Booths were set up throughout the entire space with just under 60 in total. Businesses and organizations on hand included Entrec, Blue Ridge Lumber, Holiday Inn Express and Suites, Alberta Justice and Solicitor General, Rotary Club of Whitecourt, Walmart, Millar Western Forest Products, Skills Canada Alberta, Kal Tire, and the Junior Forest Rangers.

The soon-to-be-opened Starbucks was also set up to recruit employees for their new franchise in Whitecourt. Store Manager Jessie Gallant and Assistant Manager Tara Bartsch were all smiles as they greeted everyone who walked by their booth. Though there were a lot of schools on hand to talk to students there were also many reasons for adults to take in the show especially if they were interested in switching careers or finding something new to get into.

One of the booths even gave event goers the chance to try something first hand. Darien Busch, Operations Foreman in Whitecourt, was one of several Pembina Pipelines employees at their booth with a new toy created just for the show. “This is basically a mini pipeline system. They can start and stop the pumps and run water through the system from the producer’s tank, through the metre, through the pipes, and then into the final tank.” The system allowed everyone to switch multiple valves and watch as things moved through the process. “They love the interaction where they can swing valves and watch the pig go through the pipe. It’s been a big hit so far. Both the kids and adults love it.”

Busch said the show enables them to talk to students prior to entering the workforce and that it can help them see what a career in power engineering or petroleum engineering could look like. “This setup shows them a little bit about what we do. We even had a kid come by today who wants to be a summer student for us this year. We encouraged him to apply.” On top of the huge amount of information available, goers were able to fill out a quick survey for a chance at door prizes, grab a photo in the photo booth, and snag swag from all the different booths in the show.