Waterford career fair ‘opens doors’ for students

Meghan Ewing, 16, from Waterford donned firefighter gear with Norfolk County Fire Department’s Jade Mercier at the second annual Waterford District High School career fair.

Chris Abbott

Editor

Mckayla Mungal was not browsing for jobs at Waterford District High School’s annual career fair on May 7th.

Mungal, 19, already works for the Open Doors Day Program in Simcoe.

“The perfect job,” smiled Kendra Pilon, co-owner and director of Open Doors at the career fair.

Mungal said students at the career fair were “probably looking for a summer job that could lead them into a career.”

“It’s been not too bad tonight,” said Pilon, describing the flow of interested people – students and adults - on May 7. “We’ve had some people stop by, intrigued, asking what kind of training you would need to work here… those kind of questions.”

Pilon said there was a need to hire - Open Doors doubles its employment during the summer months.

“We’ve been looking to hire about 10 people, just to cover our summer enrollment. We get more high school and (elementary) age students that attend in the summer. The good thing about us is that we can hire people without all the training because we do on-site training. Being certified helps, but they don’t have to be, so I think that’s a great thing for people still in high school and don’t have a job, or haven’t decided yet where they want to go.

“And working for us can lead to so many jobs – this is about relationships. You have to have relationships wherever you go, so this can lead in to so many different positions.”

Open Doors (519-900-6817) is hosting a Resource Fair on June 3, 3-8 p.m., featuring 21 businesses at their 4152 Hwy 3 site.

“Our goal is to be inclusive, open to any to attend this summer,” said Pilon, noting their summer camps are open to 6-and-older.

Lauren Neilson, guidance counsellor at Waterford District High School and organizer of the second annual two-hour career fair, was pleased with the May 7 turnout, which included secondary students from across the county.

“The vendors are fabulous, they responded very well. I was very pleased with the amount of locals, the colleges and universities, the employers we had.,” said Neilson. “Quite a range, too. I wanted a wide reach and interests. I wanted people to ask questions and do some research. I wanted it to inform people, provide the opportunity, push them.

“A lot of adults here tonight without their children. A lot from the community, which is good.”

chris@granthaven.com