MAGOG: (NN) Organizers of the 4th edition of Speed-dating for Jobs were very pleased to see the sun come out on Saturday, April 20, considerably different than the heavy snowstorm which greeted them last year at this time. Josée Boily, Director of Carrefour jeunesse-emploi Memphrémagog, was very happy with the results at the end of the day. More than 200 interviews took place including the one-on-one interviews with employers who had set up stations in the lobby of l’école La Ruche in Magog. The Mur d’Emploi was also an area of great interest as were the booths that had been set up by local organizations and companies who were either looking for workers or were there to help people find the `perfect job`.

Different from other traditional Salons Emploi, the concept of Speed-Dating centered around creating a clear window of opportunity into the dozen or so businesses that were present for this year’s event. More than 300 people participated in the stages d’observations at businesses, simulated job interviews, conferences and other workshops that were being offered throughout this month-long of training events.

With a rise in unemployment levels in the region of 7.5% in 2012 (compared to 6.9% in 2011). Josée Boily, Director of the Carrefour jeunesse-emploi de Memphrémagog, noted that the region definitely needed this type of informative training program. More than 40 people took advantage of the mini-conference, presented by the Centre d’orientation et de recherche d’emploi de Magog.

This PowerPoint presentation made one realize just how much things have changed over the last few years. Many of us had been taught that when greeting the employer, your priority was to say as much about your personal and academic aptitudes as you can manage as a means of helping you climb to the top of the list of possible employees. Now it appears that it is advisable to let your CV speak for your aptitudes as the goal of an interview in 2013 is to connect with the employer through questions on how you can best fit into HIS company, where HE/SHE feels his company is going in the future and keep bringing the conversation back to how you could best help his company; the first step, of course, is knowing how to get past the secretary whose job it is to filter out the boss’ callers. All in all, a very interesting and helpful presentation.

Employers who were on site to greet potential candidates came from a wide variety of domains which included Wulftec, Hôtel et Spa Étoile-sur-le-lac, Boutique Newport, Le Havre de Cantons, Spa des chutes de Bolton, Centre de santé et de services sociaux de Memphrémagog, le Marché d’alimentation J.P. Fontaine et Axion. Other employers or recruitment agencies had set up booths displaying available positions and to make that all important first contact with a potential employee. 112 curriculum vitae were collected not counting the 40 or so people who had taken the opportunity to gain additional information from the mini-conference.