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Using a Job Fair Right

Definition, Explanation	Tips, Checklist
Articles

Definition, Explanation

One way of companies to recruit new juniors, experts and executives are job fairs, or job conventions. Originally, career-networking fairs were organized by students in local universities' bonding student initiatives. Today there are also commercial organizers and staffing services running mass fairs or fairs concentrating on single branches or on smaller-sized businesses, for instance. Besides, especially in consulting, single companies and staffing agencies run recruiting events on which they appeal to college/university graduates and high potentials.

The attendance of job fairs increases in times of expert shortages and “war of talents”. The purpose of the events can be various: Mass events, foremost, serve companies' image building. Their main goal is presenting themselves as the top-employer. Job-seekers, here, find first orientation in jobs and the opportunity to meet potential employers. However, intensive talk is unlikely, here.

For that, rather, conventions are suited for which both exhibitors and attendants are filtered according to certain criteria, like it is done for branch-specific job fairs or career-networking fairs meant to appeal to graduates from certain disciplines.

In workshops on recruiting events, special stress is laid on quality of contacts: Selected and invited candidates meet few companies in one-on-one interviews and for working on case studies. To get invited, candidates have succeeded in prior qualification checks.

There are also mass events on which such appointed interviews are done with candidates applying for them in advance.

Tips, Checklist

• Use job fairs already during your education or studies, to get to know potential future employers. This might even sharpen your idea of your career goal and you might be able to gain respective additional qualification while you are study.
• Prepare well for different sorts of fairs
  • Inform yourself on websites of organizers and companies
  • Attend preparation courses, if offered. Especially colleges/universities offer 'warm-ups' with tips for clothing, behaviour, application documents and job interviews
  • Think what you want to gain from the fair: Get to know companies, making contacts or real talks
  • Make a list of what companies you would like to contact and in what way, and inform yourself about these
  • For direct contact, you can also just apply for a job
  • Prepare required documents like CV and cards. A folder is usually not necessary
  • Ask if you should appoint a time, or just “saying hello” suffices
  • Prepare what you want to ask the company, e.g. about job descriptions, special contact data. Do not ask questions that their website would have easily answered you
• To-dos on the fair
  • Collect cards of interesting employers and write on the back who you talked to at what time including some notes
  • Consider that fairs are mainly about making contacts providently, not just getting instant job offers
  • Tell them much about yourself, rather than asking lots of things about products, business and the company
  • Be dressed decent neat, be open and kind towards people you talk to. Be patient if you're having to wait for some minutes at a stand to have a talk
• To-dos for making contacts
  • Think of a point of connection of you and the company to start a talk
  • Be brief and point out the most important of your profile. What might be unique features of yours that they might remember later? Think 10 to 15 minutes a talk
  • Be prepared for questions that they take from standardized interview guidelines. This includes questions on education, experiences, enthusiasm, on the company itself and why the candidate might be useful for them
  • At the end of a talk, ask what to do to get further contacts, and note specific contact persons' data
• To-dos after a fair:
  • Sort contacts and papers
  • If you have appointed to be contacted by a company and they do not, phone them after 3 to 4 weeks
  • Keep to what has been appointed
  • Apply 4 to 6 weeks after you have made the contact on a fair, referencing the fair-interview

Articles

• Seven observations from my day at the job fair; Dawn's Blog, June 30, 2009
• Do job fairs really help you land a job? NBC, April 27, 2009

Last update: 01/09/2010