Photo by Evan Thompson courtesy of Bloom Farms

One of the great challenges of being the fastest growing industry in the nation is having the workforce to keep pace, and to that note San Francisco will host two of the largest hiring events in the cannabis industry over the coming weeks.

April 10 will see Bloom Farms present the latest installment of the SF Bay Area Cannabis Career and Job Fair at City Nights. Previous editions have seen success for both prospective employees and employers. Last year 1,800 attendees had the opportunity to pitch themselves to 26 different cannabis businesses from around the Bay Area and 125 of them were able to attain a job in the industry.

Bloom Farms Director Michael Ray was thrilled with the results from last year.

“The last SF Bay Area Cannabis Career and Job Fair in July helped hundreds of job seekers take their first step toward a new career in the medical cannabis industry,” he said. “This will be our fourth industry specific career fair for cannabis job seekers.”

Ray also emphasized that the job fair is a major step for the hiring process in the industry. While every other legal industry has had the opportunity to go into conference centers full of possible new hires to recruit for quite some time, the cannabis industry has only recently found itself able to cast such a wide net.

“This career fair represents a shift in the way people view the medical cannabis industry,” Ray said. “We’re chipping away at the negative social stigma that exists around marijuana by helping great job candidates find great companies to work for.”

The California Cannabis Industry Association is working with Bloom Farms on the event to help push for an industry workforce as diverse as California.

“Both CCIA and Bloom Farms have primary goals to provide as many opportunities as possible to help professionalize this booming new industry. It is now one of the largest industries in the state with thousands of employment opportunities,” said Nate Bradley, executive director of the CCIA.

One of the reasons for the success of the event are its proven results, with many employers coming back year after year in an attempt to fill their ranks with qualified individuals or give some looking for a shot in the industry their chance.

“Bloom Farms’ Cannabis Career and Job Fair is one of the only recruiting events that truly caters to the cannabis industry,” said Harborside Health Center HR Recruiter Mistie Jung. “Since participating in the last two fairs, we’ve hired four qualified and quality applicants to our team.”

Bloom Farms has pulled together a great list of companies looking for fresh talent including Harvest, Harborside Health Center, Meadow, CW Analytical, The Hydroponic Connection, Madame Munchie and Auntie Dolores.

A few weeks later on April 30, San Francisco will host the inaugural Join The GreenRush Cannabis Job Fair at The Regency Ballroom. The event is hosted by the cannabis delivery service GreenRush.

“One of the really interesting things about our business is that GreenRush is positioned at the nexus point of hundreds of cannabis companies specializing in every field imaginable,” said GreenRush Founder and CEO Paul Warshaw. “And over the past year we’ve learned from the space we occupy that staffing has become an industry-wide challenge… Whether you’re an aspiring delivery driver, or an veteran graphic designer, your talents are needed in the cannabis industry.

Companies taking part in the event include Hello MD, Harvest, Cannabis Reports, Lake County Growers Association, Stokes, Oaksterdam University and Bhang Chocolate.

THC Staffing, an industry leader in the cannabis human resources space, has some pointers for folks heading into San Francisco with dreams of a gig in the Green Rush.

“I always want to tell people at career fairs is that if you’re handing out resumes, there’s a fair chance those hard copies are going to get lost,” said THC Staffing Partner Shaleen Title. “Be sure to get the person’s business card, look them up on LinkedIn, and send them a request with a short personalized note to remind them of who you are and the conversation you had.”

Do you want a job in the cannabis industry?