THUNDER BAY - Growing up in Nigeria, Miles Orakwlu always looked up to his grandfather who served as a police officer. Now living in Thunder Bay, Orakwlu wants to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps.
“I heard a lot of stories about him,” he said. “There were a lot of kids whose lives he influenced with his personality. I believe I do have a little bit of him in me. I just want to give good examples to young kids on what life in general should be.”
Orakwlu attended the Public Safety, Security, and Health Recruitment Expo on Saturday, to learn more about the opportunities that exist in fields related to serving the public.
“Information is power,” Orakwlu said. “This is a place where you get a lot of that. I believe if you want to get into any career, this is where to come and find information and guide you to the goal.”
The recruitment expo is in its second year and Jennifer Roukkula, chair of the organizing committee for the expo, said in the past, many of the organizations participating were hitting the same career fairs and attracting the same candidates.
“It was an opportunity to bring all of us together in one place for the public for a specialized career fair for people looking for employment in our specific professions,” she said.
The two day expo included 24 organizations from various fields, including emergency services, policing, youth justice, EMS, fire, Ministry of Transportation, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.
According to Roukkula, recruitment is up in the region, however, many careers in these fields are often overlooked.
“Our process tends to be a little bit longer than other recruitment process because of the steps involved,” she said. “I think often times people don’t think about a lot of our professions necessarily. One of the goals of this is to enhance the public profile of some of the things that happen behind the scenes to keep our community safe.”
Gavin Barrett has been a paramedic for the past six years and he said he has seen an increase in the number of people signing up for the job, including more women.
“It’s a pretty diverse,” he said. “I’ve been there for six years and over that time you see an even split between men and women.”
Barrett said working as a paramedic has been very rewarding and he recommends anyone interested in making a difference to look at it as a possible career choice.
“You get to go home and know you made a little bit of a difference sometimes or a big difference other times,” he said. “You’re not stuck in a cubicle, you’re moving around all the time and we have a great crew of people.”
It does take a special kind of person to work in the fields of public safety, security, and health, Roukkula said, primarily people who have a strong sense of self and maturity.
“We have people with good communication skills, people who are adaptable to always changing situations, and in all of these professions, that Is the kind of people we need,” she said. “People who are able to respond rather than react in situations but also have that ability to rely on their training when they need to.”
Orakwlu believes he is that kind of person, and building on what he has learned from his grandfather, he wants give back to the community and help make a difference.
“Anytime a police officer comes to any situation, life changes, whether it is for good or bad,” he said. “So it’s better to have people who want to make things better and I think I can do that. There’s a lot of give. You have to be selfless. You have to be ready to go at any given time.”
