How to Host a Job Fair

The concept of networking (that is, meeting and greeting) is a growing event marketing trend that transcends personal and professional interests, including the task of job hunting. As a result, persons seeking new employment participate in job fairs with the anticipation of having an opportunity to "sell" themselves, leave a resume' and/or establish in-person contact with a representative from a perspective company. Similarly, big and small companies participate in such events to help "sell" or promote their products, services, values and benefits, with a primary objective to attract ideal job candidates-for present and future job openings.

Essentially, a job fair provides a "one-stop shopping" information sharing type of venue that is of interest to both the job seeker and employer. Here are a few tips on how to start a job fair.

Instructions

1. Identify your target audience. In order to effectively streamline the purpose and objective of your job fair, it is critical to understand which market segment you are targeting. Thereby, many job fairs tend to be industry specific and are designed to attract employers (participants) and attendees (job seekers) with the skills, education and expertise in a given field. For example, an Information Technology focused job fair will most likely be of interest to persons with disciplines in engineering and computer science.

2. Establish quantitative and/or qualitative metrics. Job fairs are intended to provide a service to all participants: both employers and attendees.

   Employers consider providing personnel, creating a display table with materials and/or company paraphernalia freebies (for example, pens, pencils, pads, etc.), spending time away from the office and paying a job fair entry fee as a business investment, i.e. expense. Therefore, it is important for companies to evaluate the return on their investment as part of their decision making process to help determine whether or not the event meets or exceeds their strategic objectives.

   While there are some exceptions, most job fairs are free and open to the public. Therefore, attendee metrics can be best evaluated by tracking: A) the number of job seekers who actually attend the event, B) the average number of employer/company booths they visit, and C) if the companies meet their expectations. For example, a system engineer job seeker who visits a technology company booth/display which only has clerical positions available, with no new job openings planned in the near future, may find that attending the job fair was not a valuable use of their time.

3. Select a location. Location, location, location. The facility where the job fair is held should be easily accessible to public transportation, accommodate physically challenged persons, and have nearby parking lots. In addition, it is important to host a job fair at a venue that is centrally located geographically, and will attract persons from local and suburban areas. In many instances, the goal of a job fair is to effectively attract as many attendees in and out of the conference center in an orderly and timely manner.

4. Establish a realistic budget. When planning a job fair, it is imperative to establish an itemized budget for all associated expenses. Expenses such as, but not limited to, developing a business plan, recruiting employer/company participants, booking a convention center, providing security, supplying freebies, and promoting public multimedia advertising of the job fair event on the: radio, Internet, television/cable, and/or print, if applicable.

   Terms for billing and special requirements need to be negotiated and included in contractual agreements a minimum of 30 days prior to a job fair event. The rates that employers pay can vary based on the square footage required at the event. Fundamentally, employers agree to provide certain materials and representatives, while job fair hosts/sponsors agree to secure the facilities and provide end-to-end support during the event. In addition to advertising efforts, support may include pre-screening job candidates' resume's, managing the entry flow process/crowd control, and ensuring that any agreed upon special requests are met.

   Similar to how many industry trade shows operate, there is cost savings in numbers. Typically, as more employers participate in a job fair, the fee to participate in a job fair modifies accordingly. Job fairs are a great marketing event for companies to promote their business, without incurring extensive overhead costs associated with hosting the event as an individual sponsor. However, employers must also measure the success of job fairs based on the quality and quantity of prospective employees they encounter.

5. Provide survey for companies and job seeking participants. Feedback from employers/companies, as well as job seekers/attendees is critical to assess what aspects of the job fair went well, and areas for improvement. Each job fair will be different, and no two are ever the same. This is true because the participants will be different, but the fundamental objective will be the same: Employers seeking qualified and energetic employees, and job seekers looking for employment that is a great match with their personal and professional goals.