Road Trippin’ to Edmonton

This week was my very first on the road with the SAIT Recruitment Team. Michelle and I headed to Edmonton early Monday morning for a busy and exciting week. I was grateful to have the terrific company for the journey. I was even more grateful for Michelle’s keen sense of direction and ability to manoeuvre Edmonton’s terrifying traffic circles.

Our Edmonton tour included a total of ten high schools. We enjoyed speaking to many students interested in our programs. However, we spent most of our time informing students that we were, in fact, different than NAIT.

As recruiters, we also double as tourists in the cities we visit. Michelle introduced me to some of her favourite restaurants and shops. We even had the opportunity to visit the West Edmonton Mall. There were a couple birthdays on the road. A fellow recruiter and I had birthdays that fell on Thursday and Friday. One evening we celebrated the dual birthdays with several new friends we’d made on the road.

As Michelle and I headed home on Friday I received my first birthday gift. Unaware of the speed limit, I was handed a shiny new speeding ticket. It was a good lesson to learn as I begin my recruitment career.

But I must get going. I’m off to North Battleford, Saskatchewan in a few hours.

Have a great week,

Jason

Extreme Recruitment

This week brought me to the first ELAA (Educational Liaison Association of Alberta) week in Calgary. That meant 11 events in 4 days!

We visited James Fowler, John Diefenbaker, St. Francis, St. Gabriels and Chestermere High School, Notre Dame, Bishop McNally, Lester Pearson, Bert Church, Crescent Heights and Master’s Academy.

The biggest questions we fielded were on the much anticipated OccuPassion event on SAIT’s main campus, November 18 from 4:30 to 8:30 pm.

I was happy to have a couple people join me from our School of Business and the School of Manufacturing and Automation as we saw over 1000 students in the 4 days and the extra help was needed. I was also happy to have Jason with me on Thursday and Friday. Jason is the newest member of the Recruitment team at SAIT and you will be hearing more from him in the days to come.

Jason and I head off to Edmonton on Monday and look forward to the opportunity to visit the students at 11 of the high schools in the area.

The glamorous life

This has been one of the craziest weeks of recruitment I have ever experienced. In the past five days we had:

- A car catch fire
- Speeding ticket(s)
- Parking tickets
- Flat tires
- Performance anxiety
- Car thefts

The strangest event of the week happened when a fast food outlet called the police because they thought our recruitment displays were actually weapons. After explaining to the police they were just our displays, everybody had a big laugh.

This was my first time in the Grande Prairie area. I visited high schools in Whitecourt, Slave Lake, Valleyview, High Prairie, Donnelly and Fairview. The students in this area were great and really interested in the kind of programs SAIT offers.

While in Fairview, I visited one of the cutest restaurants. Grassroots Bistro was absolutely amazing and by far the best food I ate this whole week. If you are ever in the area check it out, it was so worth it.

While in Grande Prairie I had a chance to try a Grapple. It looks like an apple, but tastes like a grape. To be honest it tasted like an apple that had soaked in grape juice for a few months and was kind of gross.


(enjoying the Grapple)

I will be visiting some schools in the Lethbridge area next week. Keep your eyes open for me.

I drove all night!

I left for Prince Albert, SK on early Sunday morning as I knew I had a long drive ahead of me. Nine hours in a car, left with your thoughts is not always for the best, but I survived and the drive was a very pretty one. Thankfully my rental had Sirius Satellite and I found a great station called Big 80’s and had fun reconnecting with some old favorites.

Mon Oct 6 – I drove to Tisdale this morning to attend their career fair. I spoke with 12 interested students and had a very deep conversation about hockey with some of the locals.

Tues Oct 7 – Woke up this morning to some mean wind! It sounds like people screaming! Very creepy. Nipawin is a cute little town that is into fishing and hunting. I spent the lunch hour at the high school and was lucky to meet with students about SAIT and all the great stuff in Calgary.

Wed Oct 8 - Today brought me to Carrot River. The students attended sessions from the universities and technical schools from Saskatchewan, then strolled into the hallway to chat with me at my booth. They were excited to hear about our “Chat with a Recruiter Live” opportunity. Visit furtheryourpassion.ca for more information!


Thurs Oct 9 – Anyone who knows me knows that I am not spontaneous. Last night, I thought I might make it all the way home without staying the night anywhere. By the time I drove into Kindersley, SK I was exhausted. I hadn't booked a hotel because I was being "spontaneous" and of course, every hotel, motel and bed and breakfast was booked. I decided to keep going, but I was so tired. Singing loudly really helps! I came across the Super 8 in Hanna and was greeted with a large vacancy sign.

This weeks observations:
- 1989 kms is a long time to be in a vehicle by yourself;
- The speed limit in Saskatchewan is 100, not 110;
- I saw 11 skunks in 4 days, but have yet to see a live one;
- Sirius 8 is the best station ever!

New website, same great blog

SAITales has moved! For those of you fascinated with the ongoing adventures of Allison and Michelle visit furtheryourpassion.ca.

This new site is fun and interactive for students, making it the perfect home for SAITales.

We are also starting the search for SAIT bloggers, so if you are a current SAIT student and you have a lot to say, let me know. Just e-mail me at jay.decore@sait.ca and I will give you all the details.

Thanks everyone!

The Tundra of Northern Alberta

Sunday started off beautifully. I left Calgary around 9 am as I had to be in Fort McMurray early Monday morning. The drive was fantastic, as all the trees were changing colour.

We stopped in St. Paul to visit one of our favorite pizza places, UFO Pizza. In St Paul, everything is about UFO’s. After filling up our bellies, we were back on the road.
While driving to Fort McMurray, I saw my first black bear and it was huge!

Mon September 29 – Today was a whirlwind of activity. We had events at all three Fort McMurray high schools. They were busy events for SAIT and I had spoke with over 400 students about SAIT programs. Thank you to the event host at Fort McMurray Composite High School, we loved the treat bags!

Tuesday September 30 – Our first event was in Boyle, AB so we had a 3 hour drive out of Fort McMurray. From Boyle we drove to Lac La Biche where we would be spending the night. My travelling friends have developed an ear for show tunes! I had to listen to them all week.

Wednesday October 1 – I am visiting my favorite place in Albera, Cold Lake/Grande Centre! This has to be one of the prettiest places in the province. It is located right on the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. I answered questions about Radio, Television and Broadcast News and a lot of apprenticeship programs.

Thursday Oct 2 – So sad to leave Cold Lake, however we are heading to Bonnyville and then back to St. Paul. The highway south to these towns is absolutely stunning.

Friday Oct 3 – Arrived back in Calgary around 5 pm. Now, I get to unpack, do laundry and repack for my trip to Tisdale, SK on Sunday. In total, I drove 2103 km in five days!

1 week down

I can’t believe the first week of our recruitment cycle is already over! It started off with the annual Professional Development Conference, hosted at Panorama, in beautiful British Columbia. From there, we headed into the Kootenay region traveling over 1500 kms and visiting eight schools.

It is always so rewarding to see the interest and excitement high school students express about SAIT. With the hospitality industry being popular in this region, I had a lot of interest in Professional Cooking, Baking and Pastry Arts and Hospitality Management.

During the trip, I was lucky enough to stay in some great places, such The Kicking Horse in Golden. I also had some delicious food at Fusion, located in scenic Nelson.

Traveling through the Kootenays during the fall is absolutely beautiful. However, we always had to watch for wildlife. I was fortunate to see deer, coyote, moose and bighorn sheep. On our way into Castlegar we were lucky enough to see two brown cubs hanging in a tree. You would never think to look for wildlife in a tree top!



I am back on the road next week traveling to northwestern Alberta. Check out what schools I am visiting in the “Meet Allison and Michelle” column.