THUNDER BAY - The job market for college graduates has shifted in the last five years, with more and more vacancies appearing in health care fields as opposed to natural resources.
On Wednesday, Confederation College hosted its annual career and job fair at the Thunder Bay campus. More than 60 exhibitors were on display from various sectors, including health care, mining, non-profit, and the public sector.
Jeff Sampson, director of employment programs at Confederation College, said more than 1,000 students are expected to pass through the career fair.
While all employers are looking to hire at the fair, there are more vacancies in some fields compared to others.
“We have a very wide range, but one of the bigger sectors you’ll notice is how health care is in high demand,” Sampson said. “There are a number of health care providers here, personal support workers, dental hygienists, there are a lot of employers in need for the health care industry.”
There have been labour market shifts over the last several years, according to Sampson, creating ebbs and flows in markets such as mining. While there were still many mining and natural resources jobs looking for new graduates, Sampson said health care is one of the fastest growing job markets.
“One of the things that is always in demand is the health care needs and the need to take care of the community,” he said. “We’re always going to see that one as a high one and we will see the other industries ebb and flow as their businesses demands require.”
One sector in the health care field that is looking to fill more and more vacancies is dentistry. Frank Mauro, a dentist and occasional teacher in the department of dental hygiene and assistants at Confederation College, said the reason there are so many vacancies for dental assistant positions is because more students are leaving town.
“That is part of the problem in that we don’t have as many graduates coming in and applying for the jobs,” he said. “There are a lot of positions open for dental assistants and our dilemma is basically that there aren’t enough students right now.”
“What’s happened in the past five years or so is the college has been taking in more students from outside of the country and hence those students definitely don’t stay here,” Mauro added. “There are less local people applying for the jobs, less local people coming out, less local people staying here because they are just not graduating.”
Mauro hopes to see more students apply to the dental assistant program at Confederation College to fill the growing number of vacancies in the city.
Prabhjot Kaur is in her final year of human resource management at Confederation College and before that she completed the dental assistant program. Having studied dentistry in India, she said her studies were not recognized in Canada and she needed to take the program at the college to work in the field.
Kaur said the career fair provided her with a one stop shop for dentistry opportunities in city and she said one dentist she talked to was very encouraging.
“He was quite positive that that they are having vacancies for dental assistances, so fingers crossed,” she said. “Maybe I will have a chance. If you have good skills and qualities and confidence, then nothing is impossible. You may struggle initially but in time you are fine.”
Kaur added that she took human resource management because she is hoping to open her own dental clinic, and the additional training will make that possibility much more likely.
Mauro said he will be looking at attracting more students at the high school level to the dental assistant program at the college and he is believes more students will enroll in the program and stay in Thunder Bay.
“That is what the hope is,” he said. “It can be very rewarding, not just as a starting job, but as a career.”
