The Kindersley Chamber of Commerce presented their own 'Career Day' event back on Wednesday, March 22nd, with more than 25 businesses taking part.

Provincial entities like SaskPower and SHA were on hand. Take a look at the full list of participants below:

Sask PolyTech - Fountain Tire - Best Western Plus/Montana’s - Great Plains College - Impact Energy - Town of Kindersley - Borea Construction - RBC - Co-op - SHA - RCMP - Vold’s Collision - Community Futures/Meridian - Apprenticeship Board - Carerer Services/Sask Jobs - Canalta Hotel - Mid-Plains Diesel - Pattison Ag - Longhorn Oil & Gas - Cargill - SaskPower - Dennis Welding - Somerville Farms - Bill Warrington (RM) - Peavey Mart - Sanjel - Magnum Cementing Services - Weese Electric - Tarnes Electric - West Central Abilities

Two of the booths at career day that showed off a future in the trades, with some excellent hands-on experience, came courtesy of two automobile-based businesses in Kindersley.

We chatted with both Randy Vold of Vold's Collison, and Mark Van Den Berg with the local Fountain Tire location in Kindersley as they were happy to show off their line of work, while also having as much fun as possible in the Kindersley Composite School gymnasium.

In talking with Vold, he shared the importance of what career day means to him.

"We think Career Day is really important, trying to get these young folks maybe into the trades."

Students likely learned a bit more about the specific jobs available when it comes to trades, and with Vold's specifically, they brought in some special equipment that surely piqued some interest.

"The equipment (see below) that they brought out was from one of the trade schools. They are actually using that to train people to paint cars," shared Vold, "They have to get proficient on that before they actually start spraying cars."

Watch one student in action above, as it must have been pretty cool for students to be able to experience exactly what being in the paint booth is like. Going home with a cool experience like that one might just be what it takes to embark on a career.

That's the hope for Vold, though he is mostly just happy with providing an enjoyable experience.

"I think the kids had a lot of fun with it. Something new. Something they have never tried. We were quite excited with the amount of people that actually came and tried it out. It was a good turnout."

Vold's setup may have been virtual, as for those looking for a real hands-on experience, Fountain Tire was the place to be.

 

"Had about 35-40 kids that wanted to actually take a tire on and off. Getting to teach them that, and I didn't realize that Danita from the school was videotaping me teaching! That was kind of a cool thing afterwards," said Fountain Tire store manager in Kindersley Mark Van Den Berg.

Not only did the tire man get to teach kids all about the industry, Van Den Berg also got to scout out some potential muscle for a summer job.

"Got some pretty decent potential tire guys and gals that are now interested in it, because of the event," said the one who likely wouldn't be surprised to see a high school resume come across his desk for a summer job.

When Van Den Berg was asked his opinion about what Career Day meant to him, he talked about it from a perspective of community.

"It was a great event. It was great to see local businesses all out there. Kind of showing our youth that there is more to think about in the future," he said as the trades were very well represented to the future workforce, "The level of involvement from the youth was awesome. Over 500 people through the event. Through my booth alone, I had 125 that came and asked questions."

Obviously, Van Den Berg would be partial to his display, but he was quick to comment on how much he benefitted from seeing other business owners in action. Being still relatively new to town, it was a great opportunity for him to watch first-hand.

"Being here only 7 and a half months, just getting to know what everyone else is doing, what they are looking for, and how they can have a different career path for perspective employees as well."

The Kindersley Chamber of Commerce are the happiest bunch about the positive response to their event. Success this year will set up the event for even more positivity in the years to come. Career Day might have featured a fixed list of businesses, but when it comes to a student's future, the true list of possibilities is endless.