Campus hosts career fair
Less fun than actual fair
On Sept. 23 the University of Regina hosted the annual Careers Day, welcoming a gym full of vendors (115 to be exact) to pedal their employment opportunities to students. The event, sponsored by MNP, SaskTel, and SaskPower, is one of two events a year that elicit a deluge of resumes in Gym 3. Plus, tons of free pens.
One of the vendors there was the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). Quance and Prince of Wales branch manager Jeremy Book said that the bank’s involvement was a continuation of their time on campus during the first week of the semester.
“We took part in the Welcome Week activities in the Riddell Centre a couple of weeks ago, so we did a lot of student activation: we gave advice, opened come accounts, booked some appointments. So, today we’re looking for potential candidates to come on and be part of the team.”
Book said that communicating effectively is one skill required of new RBC employees
“Biggest thing is interpersonal skills, the ability to make a connection with a client in a short period of time. We don’t get a lot of opportunities to sit down with clients anymore, so what we get is a lot of short windows that are problem solving. So, it’s big to be able to communicate well with clients, make a connection, resolve an issue, and turn it into an opportunity.”
Those prospective team members included those within computer science as well as client representatives.
Sasha Macdonald from iQmetrix said the company was looking for students who are interested in working for the company during, or shortly after, school.
“We’re looking to find some co-op students. We know there’s a lot of value in trying to get somebody straight out of university, or who are still in university to come and experience iQmetrix and see if it’s a right fit for them culturally, but also to learn new things from there as well ”
Macdonald said that perks like an honour system for days off due to sickness and beer on tap are two reasons to work for the point of sale system provider.
Another financial company there was Freedom 55 Financial. Chris Hengen-Braun, Director of Practice Development, said that the company’s focus was on finding the best of the bunch.
“We’re trying to find full-time financial security advisors and we find that the University of Regina has great talent. We’ve hired a lot over the years. They’re some of our biggest star advisors across the province and the country, quite frankly.”
Hengen-Braun said Freedom 55 Financial’s hiring strategy focuses on three specific personality traits.
“Somebody that genuinely cares would be number one. Number two would be a solid work ethic because that’s a really tough thing to find from time to time, is people that have a good work ethic; and third, probably a really good, outgoing personality. Somebody that really likes to converse and be out in the community making Regina a better place. ”
Booths came at a cost of either $600 or $725 (depending on when payment was received), with a cost of $275 for charitable organizations wanting to participate. The event promised “Access to over 10,000 University of Regina students and graduates” on the University of Regina’s website.