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Job Fair

TRU job fair connects best and brightest to red-hot employment market

Jan 30, 2025 | 5:35 PM

KAMLOOPS — This year marks 25 years for the TRU job fair. It’s an event where businesses from all over Canada come to recruit and connect with TRU’s best and brightest.

The goals of this year’s event are to have 100 students hired and thousands of connections made.

“We’re specifically recruiting for veterinary technologists. They have a program here at TRU and that’s why we’re here,” said Melanie Peters, hospital manager of Small Animal Hospital.

Resumes, cover letters and job applications are today’s hot topics at TRU. The annual job fair was held Thursday (Jan. 30), where employers from all over B.C. and even as far away as Quebec came to recruit and make connections with students, recent graduates and alumni.

“We’re a small operation in Kamloops. We’re headquartered in Burnaby and we’ve been in Kamloops for 10 years, but we’ve found it a little bit difficult to break into the job market and get new talent for our location,” said Carey Jones, project manager at Binnie, an engineering firm.

The TRU job fair started with the goal of connecting students and employers. Twenty-five years later, it continues to build those relationships.

“Most people go looking for jobs and we have people here who come up to you at the door. They speak to you, they are comfortable and offer you jobs,” said one TRU student.

“Those connections are important because it puts my face out there and lets them know who I am and what I’m interested in,” said Mckenna Grace Tamaki, another student at TRU.

This year, more students than ever had the option to connect — with around 3,300 students and 110 different businesses. There’s an opportunity for all.

“Once we’re done with our studies, everybody is going to look for a fulltime opportunity and this is a nice starting point. We know the opportunities are right here in our university,” said another TRU student.

“We have placement programs in our clinics for first-, second- and third-year students so that way we can have a relationship with them, we know them and they can come to learn some skills in the clinic as well,” said Peters.

This event is as important to the school as it is to the students. Proceeds from the vendors go to the TRU Co-op Student of the Year Award and several other jobs around campus.

“We’re glad to support that any time. Money can be involved in those types of community events. Part of the reason for being here is branding and just getting our name out there,” said Jones.

Event organizers hope to expand next year to reach more students and continue connecting those students to future employers.