The first-ever career fair for the Saskatchewan Energy Training Institute (SETI) held on campus April 3 showed some promise for those who made their way to the institute's main auditorium to speak to one or all of the dozen companies that were represented there.
The first career fair was offered on a modest basis on purpose, said Heather Dorcas, student services co-ordinator and counsellor for the Southeast Regional College, which shares the facility with the Energy Training Institute students.
"We started by calling clients to see if they would be interested in the fair, and the industry response was pretty positive, especially if if could be held during the spring road bans," said Harmony Resler, a consultant to the regional college who was staffing the information table for the college along with Dorcas for most of the day-long event.
"Those who have to take the mandatory safety courses to get their tickets to work in specific jobs or locations like this time of year because in the oilpatch, for instance, the rigs pretty well shut down due to the bans and the rest of the equipment doesn't move much either then," she added.
Most of the safety and certification classes are full, said Resler, with some of them being able to accommodate up to 25 or 30 students while others that require more space and equipment might be restricted to eight to 10 participants. Most of these entry type courses take two to six weeks to complete successfully.
"It becomes super busy around here. We even get some walk-in candidates trying to find room in a class," said Dorcas. "A few hundred will roll through here during the spring breakup season. Some are getting specialty training and some companies request specific courses, so we try to bring that to them."
Some classes focus on pre-mining skills requested by the potash companies and the college is always seeking new and innovative training techniques. The two biggest challenges faced by the SETI and regional college right now are finding qualified instructors and accommodations for students, especially those who want to enrol in short-term training courses of two weeks to six or eight months.
"We are getting students from Regina and Moose Jaw because SIAST has a two-year wait list for a lot of classes, so the students are trying to get in here," Dorcas said. "But with housing being the issue around here, unless they have a camper to live in, or friends or relatives to stay with, it's a problem."
The two women said there isn't a lot of support funding to go around for out-of-region students either, which puts another financing challenge in front of the candidates.
"The college and institute are using the funds efficiently, but there are ongoing challenges," Dorcas said. "But we're always looking at what more we can do here and what will work in this facility."
Most of the information kiosks and tables set up for visitors focused on the local mining, oil drilling and production companies as well as a few oil-related contractors.
"Drilling floor hands, we're always looking for good candidates there," said one drilling rig company representative as she handed out company brochures and provided some basic information to interested, potential rig hands.
"We went small this year to test the response, especially the local response, and if today's results are positive, we'll probably look at expanding the project next spring," Dorcas said.
