This is only the second edition of the UAlg Careers Fair, but there are those who have no doubts that it is «the best job fair in the Algarve». On the 14th and 15th of March, the University of Algarve's Penha Campus, in Faro, hosted in its pedagogical complex 40 entities, including 35 companies, who publicized their job offer to around a thousand visitors. Many of them took the opportunity to do recruitment actions, thinking of the peak tourist season that is approaching, but also of filling permanent staff.
Almost always in pairs or in larger groups, the visitors, mostly young people and students from the University of Algarve, took the opportunity to have direct contact with potential employers, but also to learn a little more about the labor market and even to receive tips on how to behave, when applying for a job and in the interview that usually follows.
In one of the auditoriums at the Pedagogical Complex, young Algarve businessman Ricardo Mariano, from Timing, one of the companies represented at the fair, explained to a group of students what most companies expect from a candidate. The way the résumé is prepared, how it is submitted, the behavior in the interview and even the “taboo” subjects when talking to a potential employer, were some of the topics that were discussed.
Ricardo Mariano chose to make this type of presentation, more practical, in detriment of something more institutional, where he would only address Timing, considering that it becomes “more productive”. “It is not only necessary to hire, recruit and interview, but also to prepare students for the future. Especially when we talk about the student community, which will have little experience in this area», he summed up.
After all, he has no lack of experience dealing with the workforce, since the temporary work company he founded has more than a thousand people at the same time. These workers will have to be joined by those from Timing's staff and those from other businesses that the multifaceted entrepreneur has.
And it is because he needs a lot of qualified labor that this Algarve businessman makes a point of attending the UAlg Careers Fair. «I have no doubt that this is the best job fair in the Algarve today. Yesterday [March 14th] we received close to a hundred applications, today it should be similar», revealed Ricardo Mariano.
“For us, this approach to university students is fundamental. We are opening a delegation here in Penha (Faro), which shows our interest. With over a thousand people working in the summer, we need this skilled workforce to be with us. And it's not just in the summer, since there are many who are final year students, who can continue at Timing, to do external work, with our clients, or in the company itself», he added.
As you wander around the fair grounds, there are many young faces that you see behind the tables of the companies present. In some cases, they are former students of the University of Algarve, who a year ago were on the other side, looking for a job, and return to Careers Fair as representatives of the organizations that ended up betting on them.
Érica Nascimento is a good example. About a year ago, the Brazilian student at UAlg was one of the students who gave her testimony to the Sul Informação, during the first edition of this fair. Today, he works at the Algarve company Inesting.
«I'm loving it, because I can contribute to the training I had in Brazil and, at the same time, I learn a lot from the company. When I came to Portugal, my goal was to study, work and learn. I have found all of this within Inesting, because they give a lot of training and are super flexible. It's a real exchange», considered Erica Nascimento.
Sitting beside him is Andreia Gonçalves, who despite not having studied at UAlg, also had her first opportunity at the Algarve company. «At this fair, we want, above all, to establish a bridge with the students, so that they see Inesting as an opportunity to develop their professional path. We are collecting emails, to establish a relationship, and when the opportunity arises, they will be the first to know», he explained.
This dynamic is repeated in different corporate boards, although there are some who are recruiting during the event itself. From SW, a temporary employment company in Quarteira, to the multinational Primark, many organizations promoted recruitment events during the fair itself.
Perhaps due to the professional success of some of their, until recently, colleagues, students from the Algarve university, as well as other young people from the region, attended the UAlg Careers Fair in force. At the second edition, the event saw «an exponential growth», in terms of represented companies and number of visitors.
«This year, in the second edition, we grew in companies and in enrolled and participating students. We have 35 companies and we are going to surpass the XNUMX students in the two days of the event, which is a huge leap compared to the first edition. This shows, on the one hand, the interest that companies are seeing in this meeting point between qualified people and job offers and professional internships. On the other hand, it shows the growing adhesion of our students», considered André Botelheiro, responsible for the communication department at the University of Algarve.
Among the organizations present, there were multinationals such as Jumbo (Auchan) and Primark, some of the main hotel groups operating in the Algarve, small and medium-sized companies in the Algarve and even some micro companies.
The startup Unitalent, by Joaquim Costa, who is still a student at the University of Algarve, is a good example that companies of all “sizes” fit in the UAlg Careers Fair. The young entrepreneur has even been the one with the most dividends from those present, as his business is to hunt for talent for companies. In other words, your customers are not only those who are looking for a job, but also those who want to hire them.
«We are a startup for the recruitment and selection of university talent. Through an online platform we do the match between recent graduates, or even people already graduated and with experience, with companies that come to us», summarized Joaquim Costa, founder of the company. At the fair, in addition to “hunting” some more talented university students for his portfolio, the young entrepreneur also increased the portfolio of corporate clients, who joined the companies that already work with Joaquim Costa, including Sonae.
Next year, there is not only a guarantee that the fair will be repeated, but also that it will be even bigger than this year's. “Next year we will have to grow, in terms of space. In this edition, we had to refuse companies, because the Pedagogical Complex no longer supported them. In 2018, the big bet will be this, we will have to remodel the space to give more useful area to the sector of organizations, since the companies expo is very important», according to André Botelheiro.
And, who knows, if some of these students who on the 14th and 15th of March were at the fair looking for a job, will not return for the year, in another condition. “It is interesting to see that in some stands there are ex-students working with human resources or marketing, who were recruited here. Quinta do Lago, for example, had a number of students who were interns and are now going to join the staff, and there are other companies that have alumni, some of whom were recruited at the first Careers Fair», concluded the UAlg spokesperson .
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