Alberta boom no guarantee of jobs

Phaeton

EDMONTON -- The streets of Alberta are not quite paved with gold, as people attending a recruitment open house at Finning Canada found out on Saturday.
: K* z# s/ _4 a! x
$ A6 z1 V* q. S5 l1 J! g: g' U" WBruno Sicotte, 29, came here from Montreal to make money, and he has succeeded, finding entry-level jobs on the oil rigs.

5 H( s: ~# [4 m. L* zBut moving up in the world is not that easy, he found out.

Sicotte had obtained a truck driver's licence, and had been hoping for a job from Finning, but the Caterpillar dealership wanted mechanics and sales agents, not drivers.

Sicotte, who worked in the Quebec film industry as an audio-visual technician, has found that Edmonton is no place to be fussy. Jobs only happen "if you want to work, and are willing to do lots of different things, and take training."
3 K( _9 H( g7 L: @  V0 g1 N# G2 H
: n; t( V. B: ^' fSicotte and friend Jacques Baril -- a heavy equipment operator from Quebec's declared world capital of maple syrup, Plessisville -- left with only some leads the event gave them towards other potential employers.

Steven La Forge, a 20-year-old from Westlock, left his screening interview for the Finning sales team full of hope but also convinced he has to cast a wide net for his first job after he finishes a three-year business management course at Lethbridge Community College this spring.
7 j7 h9 ~6 q7 ^2 t" j# Q" j7 z
"When I went into business studies I thought I'd definitely get a job right away," La Forge recalled.
1 l, e& v& V* N7 p% [# ~
# I- B. m' P9 p( X, B' J"Now that I almost have that diploma it's not doing very much for me -- because I don't also have the experience I need. I might have been better off to jump straight into the job market after high school. Going into one of the trades would probably have helped a lot more."
% r. N  E; V& @* ~- J% ~: G
9 O+ I. R& Q, @5 m& x1 a/ TDoug Tate, a 49-year-old veteran of three decades as an automotive mechanic, learned he will have to serve as an apprentice again to step up to higher-paid work on heavy-duty Cat equipment.
7 S9 K2 s' P$ P1 c% G$ b
Steven Hale discovered he too would start as a trainee despite his 42 months as a military mechanic on army bases in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Alberta. "It would be a more technical job" but no promises about pay were made in the preliminary interview with the Cat dealer, he said.
# X; D& a' X  Q2 n
7 G9 ^1 s+ l) Q+ A2 M" a4 XThe recruitment drive, launched with fanfare in January as the Finning Wanted Tour, seeks 400 new hires this year and up to 1,600 by 2010 -- but they cannot be just anybody, company communications manager Joanne Miller said.

6 ~- f' w2 Q6 N4 @5 D"The equipment we're working with is very sophisticated. We have to hire the best," Miller said. "There are standards we need to meet."
4 ?. R; }; U# ?% Z6 d" y) F4 Y
. G+ n) L* l' d1 ^* O1 @7 X6 d% XAlthough the firm promises competitive wages, training and opportunities for advancement, it also warns potential recruits that the benefits have to be earned.
9 W4 {. i: V8 E8 v
9 j! ~5 }$ C5 R3 l4 h. k6 c" g2 |"You need to have the skills," Miller said. "We have to hand-pick. Clearly not everyone's going to fit our needs."

; W& B/ j' l4 Q: V0 mThe recruitment campaign has also satisfied the firm that despite widespread talk of labour shortages there are still many wage-earners looking for better work, she indicated.
$ u& a* W9 O9 }3 M, v. \% Z
In two months of canvassing for prospects primarily in Alberta, Finning has received 500 resumes and hired 150 of the job candidates, Miller reported.

gjaremko@thejournal.canwest.com
, u/ _+ L( E4 Y* {" X
© The Edmonton Journal 2006