Over 40 companies opened more than 5,000 job vacancies this week on the virtual Multilingual Job Fair in Costa Rica, announced the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency, CINDE.

The job fair is virtual and free this year and is available on the CINDE webpage until Oct. 16.

The fair page promotes where people can find job opportunities. Also, the site offers tutorials focusing on developing strategic skills, professional growth and ongoing learning. In addition, there is a section with articles on trending issues and information about each one of the hiring companies.

Additionally, the webpage offers free BELT language tests in English, French, and Portuguese. These tests certify the language level based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which is the most widely used standard in the world.

It's mandatory for those that register at the fair to take the English test while the French and Portuguese tests are optional. The test may be taken from any device. Experts recommend finding a quiet space with stable internet and using a computer with headphones.

Participants must be over 18 years old and have either a Costa Rican nationality or a Costa Rican residency card known as DIMEX.

Those interested should enter their data, upload their resume and take the BELT language test. Once this process has ended, users may visit the available positions by the company and find out more about them.

The main areas of hiring include customer service, business management, project, finance, accounting management, engineering, communication design, sales, software development, information technology and human resources among others.

Some of the companies hiring at the fair are 3M, Abbott, Amazon, Avionyx, Bill Gosling Outsourcing, Bimbo Global, Bosch, Boston Consulting, Bridgestone, Concentrix, Cornerstone, IBM, Moody's and Roche among many others.

One of many international companies that recently announced opening its operations in Costa Rica was the U.S. restaurant brand, California Pizza Kitchen.

Even though new businesses are creating jobs in Costa Rica, the unemployment rate remains at 11.8%, according to the National Employment Survey. The data recorded from May to July, show that there are more than 292,000 people without registered jobs. Of these, 154,000 are women, making up 52% of unemployed people in the country. 

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