After the floods forced the local career expo to be postponed in November last year, the Deniliquin Job Connect expo was finally able to go ahead last Wednesday.
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And it was buzzing with energy, people, career opportunities and prospective employees.
Under a clear blue sky, hundreds of local high school students swarmed the Deniliquin TAFE campus to network with employers and trainers from across a range of sectors for the local career expo, Job Connect.
TAFE NSW border region services manager Mark Guiney said there were “people everywhere”, and it was “really exciting” to see such a huge turnout to an event like this in a small country town like Deni.
“It was fantastic, there was a real buzz around the place and the kids turned up in droves,” he said.
“We had great feedback and I'm really pleased for the Deniliquin community about how much energy that came with it.”
The event drew about 300 local high school students from Deniliquin, Barham, Tooleybuc, Finley and Moama.
Deniliquin High School careers advisor Pam Sinha said almost 200 of those came from Deni High School, ranging from Year 9 to 12.
“We had been working with TAFE over the years on the idea to showcase the many industries crying out for apprentices, trainees and other employees.
“This is the range of employment opportunities within our region.
“We love to give our students as many opportunities as possible to engage with our local employers because they are the next generation of service providers and if our students can source wonderful opportunities locally, then it is a win-win for all.
“Country towns have a difficult time retaining our youth and if we can show them opportunities in line with their interests on their own doorstep then we are onto a winning formula.”
Dozens of local businesses attended the event, including Murrumbidgee Local Health, Essential Energy, Rural Fire Service, Defence Force, Murray Irrigation, Caresouth, Hutcheon & Pearce, Murray Dairy, SunRice, and Elders.
Mr Guiney said through prior arrangement with teachers, students were provided with a question worksheet so they could feel more confident to speak to prospective employers on the day.
Vendors were given raffle tickets to write down the names of students who asked them questions, with the winner to receive a $100 supermarket voucher.
“From our perspective, it certainly got kids actually asking good questions rather than just running around and trying to get stuff off the tables, which was very good from an engagement perspective,” he said.
“And from that perspective, I think it probably helped the fact that a lot of those companies told me they had some really good discussions with students.”
Mrs Sinha said employers are increasingly starting to see the benefits of employing local people to undertake apprenticeships, traineeships, cadetships and internships.
“They are well adjusted to their community; they have the local knowledge and we are growing our town’s skill set,” she said.
“More and more of us are undertaking study and employment concurrently and living in a small town with so many opportunities.
“It is becoming quite the trend.”
Mr Guiney said he’s received fantastic feedback from the industry representatives and local businesses, who told him that these types of events are exactly what they want because everyone is looking for workers.
“I think it’s going to be a lot bigger next time as well,” he said.
Fleur Connick is a rural and regional reporter with The Guardian Australia, embedded with the Deniliquin Pastoral Times.