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Recruiting: How can I make the most of career fairs?
What tactics do you recommend for getting the most out of my career fair recruiting efforts?
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2 Answers
Hi Jane - That is a broad topic and could use a bit more clarification. Is the career fair a general public one? a private (your company only) event? a trade show 'attached' event?, or did I completely miss and the question was more related to your participation as a career seeker?
Jane that is a very good question.
In my many years in Recruiting/Human Resources I have attended more career fairs than I care to count. Some are good and some are a waste of time but necessary for PR sake.
I participate in these job fairs in an effort to gain public awareness, visibility and exposure. You must ask yourself if you want to be viewed as an employer who hires a diverse population of candidates? Do you want to be seen as an expert in the technical field? Do you have any jobs to offer?
Depending on your company you then target the unique job fairs that meet these criteria, such as diversity, technical and summer internship job fairs.
More often than not, I attend job fairs with a very specific goal in mind: making hires! I filter out the specific jobs we may need to hire for and go on the prowl for these type of folks. I always try to get resume booklets in advance of those attending the fair if they are available. Throughout the event I am certain to keep track of specific statistics. How many candidates did I speak to? How many resumes did I capture? Were there any "hot" candidates, ones with whom I needed to follow up immediately? Be diligient with your resume commentary!
I make sure that I let the candidates do most of the talking by asking them open ended questions and judge them by the questions they ask and the knowledge they have of my company. They are them graded accordingly.
Those candidates who didn't necessarily make the top of the list are taken back and entered into our HR resume database. This simplifies the future process of searching for candidates I liked, but had nothing for at the time of the job fair. In truth, however, the vast majority of these candidates do not receive any further contact, and ultimately, do not get hired. Prior to closing the book on a specific job fair I am sure to send all candidates a job fair specific, but otherwise generic, "thank you" letter.
Lastly,I strongly recommend career fairs as a supplement to any strong job search. DO some homework in advance, ask the tough questions and take diligent notes. Just PLEASE do not be the representative who automatically repeats to all who will listen "just visit our website and apply online for openings". make it personal!
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