Career Fair Guide For Employers

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However, there is a great deal of preparation and planning that should go into making career fairs successful for employers. Without this, career fairs can end up in disappointment for employers, so it’s important to understand what to do from the start. In this article, we’ll discuss how employers can make the most out of career fairs.

Key Takeaways:

• The success of a job fair depends on the planning you do ahead of time. Be sure you make goals, choose the right team, and coordinate marketing materials with your broader team before attending a job fair.

• At the job fair, be sure to be mindful of how much time you give each candidate so your booth doesn’t form a long line, which can turn candidates off.

• The faster you follow up with potential candidates after a job fair is over, the better chance there is of them remembering you and still being available for your job opportunity.

Before the Career Fair

Every good planning process takes place before the event begins. Be sure you have understood and decided on the following criteria before attending a job fair.

• Recruitment goal

  Depending on your individual company, hiring needs, and industry, you’ll want to be sure to choose a career fair that fits your goals and need. This means you need to decide on your recruitment goals, such as how many positions need to be filled, how many candidates you’d like in your pool, and other necessary details.

  For example, if you’re looking to boost your employer brand among candidates, consider attending an industry-specific job fair. If your hiring needs include entry-level roles, consider job fairs that take place at local colleges or trade schools. If you’re looking for military candidates, consider attending a veteran job fair.

• Choose your representatives

  At job fairs, the faces you put in front of candidates matter. You’ll want to choose a team that best represents your company during the events. HR and recruiters are a natural choice as they are best positioned to begin conversations with candidates and can help present the business in the most optimal way.

  Hiring managers for existing positions may also be a good choice as they can screen and interview potential candidates on-site. Additionally, they’ll be able to answer team-specific questions as well as describe the details of the job opportunity at hand. They can directly answer questions from job seekers, which is a great benefit.

  Additionally, if there are individuals on your team who are excellent brand ambassadors or who can provide an authentic account of the work culture at your company, consider inviting them to attend the event. If you’re attending a job fair event at a local college, consider bringing employees who are alumni.

Prepare for the Event

Remember that job fairs are a great opportunity for branding, so most companies will bring their A-game. Be sure you coordinate with your marketing team to order enough marketing materials to bring to the job fair. This includes giveaways, swag, banners, photographs, name tags, brochures, business cards, and more.

It’s always suggested that you don’t just blend in with the crowd and give away a branded pen. Try to think of something out of the box that makes your company stand out against the rest. An added bonus is developing a giveaway that represents your company’s culture or industry in some way.

Next, prepare your team with questions. Job fairs can sometimes be chaotic, and there is a limited amount of time you can spend with each person, so preparing your questions in advance is recommended. You’ll want to develop role-related questions, questions about a candidate’s interests and career goals, and questions about your company.

Finally, be sure to advertise your attendance at this event. This will give you an added boost before the event actually begins. Candidates will know to seek you out if they are interested in your company or roles at your company, which is an added benefit for your traffic and a benefit for them to come prepared.

At the Job Fair

On the day of the job fair, be sure to arrive early to set up your booth. Remember, first impressions go both ways, and you want to make sure potential candidates know you are ready to speak with them when they stop at your booth. Be sure your attendees are planning to stay until the end of the career fair to achieve maximum exposure.

At the job fair, make an effort to speak to as many candidates as possible. The best way to do this is to use your time efficiently by having questions prepared ahead of time. Rather than having long interviews, which will create a long line, consider setting a timer for each candidate to give everyone a fair shot.

One of the most important things to do and the way you get the most out of a job fair is to take extensive notes during interviews. Because you’ll be interviewing so many people, it can be difficult to keep candidates straight. By writing down notes, you can reference them later to remember who you spoke with.

Equally, if not more important than note-taking, is gathering resumes and contact details so that you can reach out to candidates after the event is over. Additionally, you will want to let potential candidates know how long it will take for you to get back to them. Give them a reasonable time frame, but one you can meet realistically, too.

After the Job Fair

Once the job fair is over, you’ll want to have a plan of action. The sooner you can reach out to candidates after the job fair, the better success you’ll have at them remembering you and still being available for the open position. Once you have sifted through all of the resumes and candidates, you’ll want to hand the recruiting over to the human resources department.

Once candidates have been interviewed and hopefully hired for the open positions, sit down with your event team to discuss overall impressions of the event and how they felt the job fair went. This will help you decide if the job fair was beneficial to recruitment and give you the opportunity to adjust your strategy for next time.

Career Fairs for Employers FAQ

1. Why are career fairs important for employers?

   Career fairs are one of the best opportunities an employer has for distributing information about their company to candidates looking for new job opportunities. This helps with branding and to widen their candidate pool for any current job openings at the business.

   In a tight labor market, employers may be in direct competition with their competitors for excellent talent. It can sometimes be difficult to get noticed, especially if your competitors are larger or have more hiring resources. Attending a career fair is a great way to get noticed.

2. How can I make sure my company stands out at a career fair?

   The first and most common way to get noticed at a career fair is to bring your best branding game. This means promotional products and signage are very important. Be sure the people at your table or booth are the best representatives for your cultural brand, and try to have something different that gets you noticed.

   It’s equally as important to be sure you are approachable. Ensure your employees staffing your booth are knowledgeable in crucial areas and can give positive feedback about your company and culture. Consider even promoting your presence beforehand to get some excitement going about your opportunities.

3. Is attending a career fair worth it for a company?

   Absolutely. Attending a career fair is worth it because it attracts local candidates who are gathering for the specific purpose of looking for job opportunities. This is an ideal scenario where you are able to speak in person to potential candidates that may be interested in employment at your company.

   Even if there is a cost associated with attending a career fair, it is typically low. It’s a great investment to be able to speak to potential candidates and offers the opportunity for your branding to shine. Even if you don’t hire someone directly at the event, you’ll likely gather a variety of resumes and stay top-of-mind for many after it’s over.

Author

Caitlin Mazur

Caitlin Mazur is a freelance writer at Zippia where she has written 140+ articles that have reached over 1 mil viewers as of June 2023. Caitlin is passionate about helping Zippia’s readers land the jobs of their dreams by offering content that discusses job-seeking advice based on experience and extensive research.