With the jobless rate in Peterborough hovering around six per cent and a job fair Wednesday in nearby Lakefield, it was no surprise the turnout at the Village Legion was a healthy one.
Even high school students took advantage of the four-hour event.
Austin Doelman lives in Lindsay, about 40 minutes west of Lakefield.
He came here looking for a new job, preferably in labour.
“I’ve been looking for about four months now and I couldn’t find anything,” Doelman said while waiting to get inside the building. “I’ve been applying everywhere but nobody’s calling me back.”
Full-time student Kaycee Bruce, meanwhile, is looking for full-time work after school is finished in April.
“There’s a lot of jobs already taken. It’s hard to find something that’s good for a student,” said the resident of Norwood, 35 minutes southeast of the city.
Lisa Coughlin is an employment counsellor with the City of Peterborough and one of the fair’s three major sponsors. She says she’s pleased with the turnout.
“We had about 35 people lined up at the doors so it’s been good,” Coughlin said. “I don’t remember having this many people waiting last year when we opened up.”
WATCH: The cost of precarious employment in Peterborough is put under the microscope (November 2018)
An hour into the event, a busload of high school students from Adam Scott Collegiate in Peterborough dropped in.
Christine Slavin is their teacher.
“Spring is coming and a lot of students are out looking for work,” Slavin said. “They’re creating their resumes and starting to find out what kind of jobs they might be interested in, part time or summer work.”
Before they left, Doelman and Bruce were asked to offer up their thoughts on the fair.
“Overall I thought it was good, but it does need a little bit of work, especially for those who are students,” said Bruce.
“There was a couple of places I liked,” Doelman said, “so I had to put my resume in and I’ll get a couple of calls.”
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