Communitech virtual job fair connects people with 350 tech jobs across Canada
Communitech moved it's Tech Jam annual job fair online and says the response has been strong
More than 1,000 people looking for work in the tech industry are signed up for a virtual job fair on Thursday afternoon.
The event — "Tech Jam at Home" — is a being run by Communitech, an initiative based in Kitchener focused on helping tech businesses grow. Usually Communitech holds an annual job fair, but organizers decided to move the event online for a national audience after hearing from employers across Canada who were eager to hire.
"We started thinking maybe there's an opportunity here to create that bridge between the displaced talent and companies that were hiring," said Simon Chan, vice president of future of work at Communitech.
Job seekers will be able to virtually click on different booths and speak directly to employers. There are about 350 jobs available, according to Chan.
The 25 companies taking part are located right across Canada, including St. John's, Toronto, Waterloo, Calgary, Guelph and London. Chan says the jobs run the gamut from social and digital marketing positions to developer roles and operations.
"I think the tech sector, like many other sectors, is impacted in what happening with COVID-19, but you have organizations that are growing. Being the newer economy sector, you have companies that are well positioned ... to grow," said Chan.
'We are still here'
ApplyBoard is the perfect example of a company ready to expand. It's looking to fill more than 100 jobs and is hoping to meet potential employees at the job fair.
"We might all be working from home, but we are still here and we are still hiring," said Hannah Cameron, the marketing and communications manager for ApplyBoard. "We've been on-boarding throughout the pandemic. We have new people every week."
The Kitchener company, which helps schools around the world recruit students and those students apply through an online platform, needs to fill roles particularly in product development. As for now, all the positions are work from home.
The company won't be able to interact with job seekers in person of course, but they will be able to chat online through Zoom video.
The demand is so high, Chan said they're already organizing the next Tech Jam at Home.
"This is a way to get our communities and our economy back up and running," said Chan.