Large crowd shows up at job fair for new Corner Brook hospital

With envelopes filled with resumes in their hands, a couple of hundred people filed through the Corner Brook civic centre studio Tuesday afternoon with the same intention.
They all wanted to find work building the new regional hospital to be built in the city.
Skilled and unskilled labours lined up for a chance to speak with the companies involved in the build at the job fair hosted by the Corner Brook Health Partnership. The partnership consists of a team of companies that will design, build, finance and maintain the new acute care hospital.
Sheldon Hatcher, a heavy equipment operator from Port au Port, was one of the job seekers.  
“My intention is hopefully getting some information on what the hiring process is going to be, what the requirements for the workers are going to be, whether they’re skilled or not," he said. "And just kind of meeting the faces of the companies that potentially I could work for in the future.”
Representatives from PCL Constructors Canada Inc., Marco Services Limited, B+H Architects, Parkin Architects, Cahill Group, Plan Group, Johnson Construction, Cherubini Bridges and Structures and Johnson Controls Inc. were all present.
As Hatcher made his way around the room, he said the feedback he’d been getting was positive.
“You know they definitely want to keep the work in Newfoundland," he said. "They’re looking for skilled labourers. They recognize that they have lots of opportunity here.
“So, hopefully myself and everyone else here gets a fair chance at getting some gainful employment and being able to stay home.”
Being able to stay home was a common theme among many at the job fair, including Duane Michelin.
The west coast man said he wanted to see what his chances were of gaining employment here, rather than having to go away somewhere.
His most recent job took him to Baffin Island. That meant a lot of flying and being away from home for 14 days, and sometimes more, at a time.
Semi-retired, he’s looking for a labourer position.
He spoke to just about everybody there, taking the opportunity to let them know who he was, what he’s interested in and what he’s capable of.
He said, in talking with the rebar company, he learned they will be looking for rebar technicians, but they also need unskilled labourers.
“So, you can almost learn the trade as you do the trade,” he said.
Many of those he spoke with gave him brochures or pamphlets and let him know where to apply. Some took his resume right there. 
As for the number of people looking for work, Michelin said he was expecting the number of people that were there, if not more.