Job fair a huge hit with visitors

marc.lalonde@transcontinental.ca

Hundreds of job seekers descended on the Holiday Inn Pointe Claire last Friday and Saturday for the first-ever West Island Chamber of Commerce Salon Affaires et Emploi, and those who came didn't go away disappointed.

"We had a lot of people here on Friday," said West Island Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Andree Belanger. "We had some long lines at certain booths and I know that a lot of people were very happy with the fair."

Among the expositors at the job fair were financial giants such as Desjardins and Investors Group, educational institutions such as John Abbott College, College Gerald-Godin and the Lester B. Pearson School Board, as well as a number of local technology companies such as MDA Space Missions, Tenaquip and Rogers Communications. The Canadian Armed Forces, Bombardier and the West Island Conseil Local de Developpement (CLD) were also on hand.

The Chronicle and Cites Nouvelles publisher Denis Therrien spent time Thursday and Friday at his newspapers' parent company Transcontinental Media's booth recruiting and collecting resumes.

Therrien said that a job fair is only as good as the people who organize it, and the Chamber of Commerce's recruiting had been nothing short of spectacular.

"The West Island Chamber of Commerce has done an excellent job of bringing in companies from a wide range of industries. They should be commended for such a great event."