Hundreds attend tourism job fair in Charlottetown as industry ramps up for summer
CBC
The hiring spree ahead of the peak tourism season is well underway in P.E.I. as optimism in the sector mounts.
According to organizers, about 600 people came to a tourism job fair hosted by the Tourism Industry Association of P.E.I. on Saturday in Charlottetown.
"We had over 1,000 positions available," said Debbie Mol, the association's job fair co-ordinator. "So anyone that is employable will possibly get a job, for sure.
"There's a lot of students coming through. But there's also mature workers, people that want to change their careers, or they've retired and they just want to work seasonal."
This year's event is especially significant with P.E.I. poised to ease pandemic-era restrictions that have stiffed the industry for the last two years.
Mol said 2022 may look a bit more normal in the sector.
"I think that we have to live life," Mol said. "Certainly other areas are doing that, and they're surviving. So eventually, that's what we have to do to."
Colby and Ciara Smith were some of the people looking for a job at the fair. The siblings said they hoped to get a call next week, but got hired on the spot by the same restaurant.
Ciara Smith said she brought 20 resumés. But both got hired at the first stop.
"I think [employers] are looking for exactly what we are, just teenagers and available and with a good attitude, and they're just excited to see us," she said.
Forty-seven exhibitors attended the job fair.
Rob Shaw, who runs Shaw's Hotel in Brackley Beach, said he'll be moving quickly to hire some of the people he met at the fair in anticipation of a tight job market this summer.
"You don't want to be behind," he said. "[Meeting candidates] helps screen resumés. We're in the people business. And when a person comes up and talks to you, you can see whether they're the right person to be in that business."
Mathew Jelley, president of the Maritime Fun Group, said the fair is an important part of his company's hiring process ahead of the summer months.
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