Jobs fair advice for exhibitors

Making job fairs work for your company

Job fairs are a great way to help employers to recruit. They bring together a wide range of jobseekers with varied experience and skills. But as an employer it can often be difficult to know how to get the most out of these events, especially if you’ve never done one before. That’s why we’ve put together this short guide to help your business get the most from a jobs fair.

Preparation

Set yourself goals for the event. Think about what you want to get out of the jobs fair and what you would consider would make it worthwhile for you. Some things to think about include:

Who do you want to recruit? Entry level? Graduates? Older workers?
Why are you targeting these groups? Could anyone else do the role?
What roles are you recruiting for?
When would be the best time of year to attend a jobs fair?
How can you raise the profile of your organisation locally?
Will you be offering interviews on the day?

Having clear recruitment goals will help you plan which staff are most suitable to attend and how you will approach the rest of the day.

Approach with an open mind

The best thing about job fairs is you never know who’s going to come through the door. They attract people from a range of backgrounds with a broad array of talents that could be a real asset to your company.

Don’t judge a book by its cover – take the time to speak to everyone, find out their skills and what they can offer your organisation.

Quality over quantity

You can’t always measure the success of a jobs fair by the numbers of people you speak to. Would you rather have 10 meaningless conversations in 10 minutes, or one really productive conversation with a potential candidate? Aim to have high quality interaction with jobseekers, rather than trying to speak to hundreds of people.

Be approachable and engaged

People will be much more likely to come and speak to you if you’re smiling and engaged. Stand up and interact with people passing by. If someone looks like they might walk past or is unsure about stopping, call them over so you can tell them more.

Collect CVs

Collect CVs from jobseekers so you have their contact details to follow up. This can also give you some more information and act as a conversation starter.

Stay until the end

Make sure you stay until the advertised closing time. Attendees may be coming specifically to see your organisation, and will be disappointed if you’ve left before they arrive – you could be missing out on the ideal candidate! Even if you think the event is getting quiet, it’s worth staying until the end as you never know who might still come.

Follow up

Make sure you follow up with any suitable candidates as soon as you can. Inform them of the next steps, which could include:

Completing an application form
Telephone interview
Coming in for a face-to-face interview

Give feedback

Feedback is really important for event organisers to continue improving job fairs for employers and jobseekers. If you have the opportunity to give feedback, whether it’s good or bad, it can be really useful for event organisers.

We hope this guide is useful for you, whether you’ve attended job fairs before or are about to attend your first. If you would like any further support or advice from the Employment Support Team, please don’t hesitate to contact employment.support.team@southampton.gov.uk.

Upcoming job fairs in Southampton.

More advice for local employers.