You might soon be able to attend Canadian job fairs, be interviewed for a job in Canada and even tour your new office through the use of virtual reality – making find a job in Canada so much easier!
In what is said to be one of the most exciting new developments in recruiting human capital over 50 employers, including major banks, the Government of Canada, and international technology companies will be participating in the fifth virtual job fair.
The fair continues to gain traction and attracts serious big wigs like IBM, Syntronic, Fortinet and Canadian brand names such as Shopify, Alithya and Pythian, is the brain child of a non-profit organization called the International Talent Acquisition Centre (In-TAC).
This year’s Virtual Career Expo will take place on the 18th and 19th of October.
“Our goal in providing this virtual venue is to bring skilled individuals from around the globe into the Canadian workforce to combat the challenges of skills shortage the country is facing,” said Ying Xie, Senior Manager at In-TAC. “We have seen positive results from our last three virtual career expos and we are expecting more good news to come.”
Why virtual recruiting is needed
In a survey by the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC), more than 53 per cent of organizations said that attracting and retaining skilled employees is one of their top challenges. In its latest Labour Market Outlook, ICTC estimates that by 2021, 216,000 technology jobs in Canada will need to be filled. Given Canada’s declining population, the report suggests that immigrants will play a bigger role in filling the skills gap.
“What Canada needs is efficient access to the best and brightest internationally educated professionals to help technology industries transform and grow here in Canada,” Jayson Hilchie, President and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association of Canada said in the ICTC report.
“The Virtual Career Expo is one way to provide “efficient access” to international talent. The virtual job fair allows employers to review candidates on a global basis, without the costs of transportation and displays at on-site events,” said Xie. For international job seekers, it provides direct access from their own living rooms to employers who plan to hire. Too often, skilled immigrants face barriers to finding positions within their skill sets in Canada.
“It is now more important than ever for immigrant services to find ways to provide immigrants coming to Canada opportunities to connect to Canadian employers, even before their arrival to Canada, so that both employers and immigrants will experience a win-win,” Xie added.
The Virtual Career Expo produces results
According to the online publication IT Business employers received 13,000 applications for 2,000 jobs at the last Virtual Career Expo. The company report that more than 400 applicants were selected by employers for further consideration, including online and in-person interviews.
“In-TAC’s 4th virtual career fair was a phenomenal boost to our diversity recruitment efforts. Our team was impressed by the scope of this fair and we were able to speak with very strong candidates for positions we had open across all of Canada, ” said IBM’s recruitment team to IT Business. “We are looking forward to participating next year.”
More than 95 per cent of the exhibitors said they would like to attend a similar event in the future
The IT sector is badly in need of top-notch talent that is not available here in Canada,” said Xie.“We’re finding that this new way of recruiting people is very effective.”
Source: IT Business Canada