Job hunting at McMaster's annual Career Fair

By: William Alexander

On Sept. 22nd, over 114 employers gathered in the David Braley Athletic Center for McMaster’s Career Fair, an annual event that aims to bridge the gap between students and the workforce. The Student Success Center also provided several free services, including a professional LinkedIn photo shoot, a career advising booth, and a resumé critiquing service.

Finding a job can be a daunting task, especially when a university degree can only get you so far. The Career Fair provides a sense of what employers are out there in the Hamilton community, what they are like, and who they are looking for. It’s also a good way for students who have never been employed to start developing connections and references.

“A degree is very important, but experiences and skills are just as important. It’s also an opportunity for you to see if you fit with that organization's culture,” said Gisela Oliveira, manager of Career and Employment at the Student Success Center, and the organizer of the fair.

She explained that some employers present had hired hundreds of McMaster alumni in the time that they had been recruiting at the fair and through job offers posted on OscarPlus.

Employers from all fields attended the Career Fair, from startup companies founded by McMaster graduates to the City of Hamilton. Between them, they offered positions to students from all faculties and programs.

Shawn Ilse, CEO and co-founder of Flyte Studios, had a booth at the fair. He came looking for students with experience in HTML5 to help program games for an educational gaming platform that his company built.

“They don’t need to be able to know everything, we can help them, you know, learn those extra things that they need to know,” said Ilse.

If you missed the career fair and are interested in entrepreneurship, Ilse advised to visit McMaster’s startup incubator, The Forge and Innovation Factory in Hamilton, which both strive to help new businesses by providing training and resources.