The Faculty of Education receives countless calls from school boards looking to hire their graduates. As a result, they found a great way to deal with all the requests – Job Fair.

Now set to celebrate its 10th anniversary, the Faculty of Education Job Fair goes Jan. 20, 2010 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Atrium. A total of 35 to 40 school boards are expected, making the fair a valuable resource for both educational employers and students ready to hit the job market.

"The bottom line is that our program is so well thought of and respected, and so well known in western Canada, the school boards think of us first. The word is out there that our grads are very competent," says Judy Lavorato, program specialist with the Faculty of Education's Student Program Services (SPS) department.

Patricia Foster, also with SPS, says the U of L grad is a known commodity for employers. That is represented by statistics that say 97 per cent of Faculty of Education graduates find work in the field of education within one year of graduating.

"They know the quality of students they are receiving," says Foster. "We give them twice as much in-class training as is required by Alberta Education and that's a huge advantage when they head out into the workforce."

Prior to Job Fair, the phones would constantly be ringing as school boards enquired about the availability of grads. The idea to bring these boards on campus for a one-time recruiting and information session was born. A total of 18 boards made the trip in for the inaugural Job Fair and the U of L has accommodated up to 50 school boards in past sessions.

"Some of the boards come not to necessarily recruit but to just let students know they are out there," says Lavorato.

"Some boards would like our students to complete their final internship (PS III) in their jurisdiction and may offer incentives to stay after they have graduated. It's not uncommon for students to have a teaching position already lined up before they finish their program."

The lineup of school boards attending this year's fair is as varied and diverse as the potential teachers they will be recruiting. Truly an international fair, representatives from boards as far away as Australia will be in attendance. Of course the majority of attending school boards reside in the Prairie provinces but there are a multitude of opportunities available to adventurous grads.
Job Fair 2010 is open to the public and Student Program Services is currently looking for volunteers to help with the event.

For more information, call the Faculty of Education at 403-329-2254, visit the website at www.uleth.ca/edu/jobfair/ or e-mail edu.jobfair@uleth.ca