The Learning Resource Commons at was filled with students and prospective employers earlier this month when the Longo Faculty of Business Work Integrated Learning Centre hosted its annual Fall Career Fair.

The two-day fair, which ran November 9 and November 10, had nearly 800 students take part along with more than 50 different employers who sent more than 120 representatives to Humber College to speak with students.

Antoniette Di Marco, manager, Work Integrated Learning Centre with the Longo Faculty of Business, said the career fair was mostly designed for those looking for work in the hospitality industry but that students from a variety of programs attended. Di Marco noted the hospitality industry is rebounding after a rough few years during the COVID-19 pandemic and there is a need for workers.

“What we hear from industry when we're talking to them is that they're really desperate for staff,” said Di Marco.  

Di Marco said they felt a career fair targeting that sector would be beneficial for both the students – who are looking for full or part-time jobs or work-integrated learning placements – and companies in the industry.

Tourism – Travel Services Management student Heayoung Byun attended the career fair to make connections and learn about different work placement opportunities and possible jobs following graduation.

“The career fair was very beneficial for me because I was able to make connections with different companies that I did not know of (before attending),” said Byun. “I was able to ask questions to the individuals that came out to represent their companies and market myself. I was able to go to almost all the booths in the career fair and learn about what each company does and what they are looking for.”

Byun left with some job leads and was appreciative of Humber for organizing the career fair.

Di Marco said the fair helped students in a variety of ways. It allowed them to network with dozens of potential employers and tap into the hidden job market as she noted 80 per cent of jobs are not posted.  

The students had the opportunity to speak one-on-one with multiple companies while there and ask any questions they may have – including about a particular job they’re interested in, the hiring process or company culture. The students also practiced their interpersonal skills while talking about their programs and skill sets with prospective employers.

“It was so beneficial for me as it saved time and provided me fantastic opportunities to communicate with the companies’ representatives,” said Hospitality - Hotel and Restaurant Operations Management student Mykyta Bobovskyi.

For the companies that attended, they had access to qualified candidates who have the current skills the industry needs, boosted their brand awareness and were able to connect with multiple candidates in a day. Di Marco said, during lunch on one of the days, a recruiter told her how expensive it can be to advertise jobs so getting a chance to meet potential hires in-person at the career fair at no cost was helpful to them.

It was the first in-person career fair the faculty hosted since 2019. The faculty hosted two virtual career fairs in 2020 and 2021.  

"Being back on campus definitely gave the event a boost," said Di Marco. "I think the employers were so blown away by our campus.”  

Visit the Longo Faculty of Business’ Work-Integrated Learning website for more information.