The 13th multilingual Cinde job fair began this Friday and will extend through this Sunday, February 19.

49 companies are looking to fill 2,700 positions that require candidates to dominate at least a second language, particularly English or Portuguese.

Microsoft, Amazon, Convergys, IBM, Western Union, Citi, Bayer, Dell, Siemens, Roche, Kimberly-Clark, 3M, and Sykes are just some of the companies that are hoping to find the needed talent to fill vacant positions in the areas of technology, web development, software development, project management, engineering, call center, custom support specialists, accounting, marketing as well as different administrative positions.

Just this first day close to 2,000 people attended the fair at the Antigua Aduana. The entry to the event is free of charge, however those interested in being considered for the positions must first fill up a form online at www.cindejobfair.com and take a language test, the page provides a QR code which must be presented at the fair; it is not enough to just register, the QR code must be activated any of the three days that the Job Fair is open.

Roche pharmaceuticals which just announced the opening of a new shared services center and is looking to hire 100 employees, while Convergys Corporation is expanding its operations in the country and therefore needs to fill 400 positions.

Andrea Centeno, director of Communications of Cinde, explained that the average age of employees working in service companies is of 29 years; however, 25% of the personnel is over 40 years-old, which is why she motivates people over 40 that fulfill the requisites, to apply for the different positions available. According to Centeno some of the companies have a payroll with a lot of young people, and therefore they need to hire employees with a different vision of life and stability and this way create a balanced work environment and culture.

The fair will be open Saturday, February 18th from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, February 19th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.