With baby number two on the way, Craig Jamieson described being laid-off as “a little scary.”
The unwelcome news came about a month ago when the company he did sales management for downsized. Jamieson’s past four weeks have consisted of perusing job boards, updating his resume, making phone calls, and scouring LinkedIn for recruiter connections.
“It’s almost like a full-time job, to look for a job really.”
Like most people at the London and Area Works Job Fair on Tuesday, Jamieson came equipped with a folder of resumes and a confident smile.
But with more than 25 years experience to his name in business, sales, and account management, he feels frustrated when employers prod at his high school level education.
“I left home very young,” he explained. “I barely graduated from high school. I was paying rent, working, doing high school at the same time, so I don’t have a post-secondary education and that hurts me as well because a lot of companies will not look at you unless you have a post-secondary education.”
Syed Ali has a Bachelor’s Degree in electrical engineer technology in Pakistan, and a college Diploma from the Electrical Engineering Technician program at Conestoga College.
But he’s been out of work too, for between three to four months.
“I was shocked,” he said. Career counselling conversations back at the college had led him to believe there would be plenty of jobs available once he graduated.
“I’m looking for work here in London and the surrounding area because I have a family so I want to stay here,” he said.
He worked his last job in Collingwood, put up in accommodations by the company for three months before he was let go because of a work shortage.
Ali managed a small chuckle, talking about how he’d come to Canada from Pakistan in 2008 for what he called “a better life.”
“I couldn’t find it yet,” he said. “But it’s good.. there’s peace of mind here.”
Tuesday’s job fair drew a sizeable crowd with its promise of 2,300 available positions, including those recently laid off, to some coming out of retirement, and others in the throes of post-secondary education.
“I’m in the special events planning program at Fanshawe, so there are some around here that were looking for event planning and for people to help,” said 18-year-old Emma Gullons.
It’s only the start of her search, but after dropping off a number of resumes, she felt confident about connections she’d made and her odds of finding part-time employment during the school year.
“Generally, I’m getting the sense that people are pleased they found more opps than they expected,” said Robert Collins, the Director of Work Force Development for the London Economic Development Corporation.
“But they have to come in with the right mindset,” he explained.
That’s why, surrounding the core 56 employers at the job fair, were a number of booths from different employment services.
“We’re trying to encourage the unaffiliated job seeker to go and get some of the help that’s available for free.”
Organizers say 2,350 people attended the job fair this year; a significant bit higher than the 1,900 visitors it’s peaked at, in years passed.
The latest from Statistics Canada says the London-St. Thomas unemployment rate fell from 5.6 per cent in July to 5.4 per cent in August.
Meanwhile, only 75.9 per cent of the London-area population between 25 to 54 years old is working, putting the area dead last among 33 major Canadian cities.
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