The Careers Fair Conundrum

It was a Thursday, much like any other Thursday really, you know...that not quite Friday type of Thursday. That it's raining outside, winter is never-ending type of Thursday that everyone just wishes was Friday. So, looking for a bit of inspiration as one tends to do on a rainy not Friday type of Thursdays I decided to listen to an attraction strategy webinar. Whilst listening the following sentence stuck out to me while I was listening to an attraction strategy webinar recently:

“....fairly high cost, potentially low impact, boots on the ground type thing; a careers fair would be a good example of something where you’re seeing a lot of people but you’re not necessarily having a deep engagement...”

It stuck out to me as I could not disagree more.

Having attended over four careers fairs this academic year, I can personally say that their value to fulfilling our graduate recruitment requirements has been substantial.

Yes, we saw a lot of people. No, they were not all right for us. But we found the ones that were. 

We did this by having a deep and personal engagement with every student that we spoke to; we did not just sit there and wait for students to come to us, nor did we just answer their questions, we asked them.

What do you do? What do enjoy? Why do you enjoy it? What do you think you want to do? Do you know what we do? Do you know what the company on the other side of the hall does, who might have the perfect role for you?

A careers fair is what you make of it. The preparation and people that you chose to take to a careers fair are as important as the event itself.

I am lucky to work with a team of amazing managers and technical colleagues who are happy to support at these events. They are genuinely interested in the students that they speak to and want to talk to as many of them, in as much detail, as possible. Obviously there are time constraints at the events, and it’s not always possible to speak to everyone as much as you’d like, but those first few minutes of real, face to face conversation are the building blocks to establishing a connection with students. When we walk away from careers events we walk away with new LinkedIn connections, contact details and calls booked in with the students we spoke to.

I have met students at careers fairs who I later welcomed at interview stage and called to give an offer to. The careers fair led to them securing placement and graduate opportunities with us. It was an invaluable interaction that paved the way for their career beyond education.

So how did we do this?

As I mentioned, these were not chance happenings. These relationships were established because of the people who attended the careers fairs and the preparation we carried out.

To get the most out of the careers fairs you attend think of the following;

• What is your aim in attending? This may seem like an obvious question however depending upon your company’s brand awareness and market presence, different businesses will have different strategies. Take for example the ‘Apples’ of the world; at the last STEM career fair I attended Apple was there with a barren stand occupied by two to three representatives sporting Apple t-shirts. No flyers, no informative banners, no gadgets or giveaways. Just an Apple icon with a small bite out of its right hand side. People know Apple, the product, the concept, the idea, the tech. Hence, they do not need any extras. They just need a logo and a few friendly faces and the crowds flood in. On the other hand, you have the businesses where their product and graduate opportunities do not necessarily correlate in the way one might think. One does not automatically connect banks, financial institutions, holiday operators or betting and gaming companies with technology. So for the less obvious correlations between business and opportunity these connections need to be marketed. We attended the fair with informative banners that highlight just how big our technology department is. We had flyers to give to students with key facts about our size, scale and online performance. We had branded giveaways and most importantly, we had well prepped representatives. Our aim was to inform the students of who we are and what we do. In order to do this everyone who attended had to have an understanding of who we are as a brand and the different opportunities open to students.
• What opportunities are available? As a Recruiter this is the fundamental basis of our role - to sell our brand and know our vacancies. A Software Developer, who has spent the past 4 months working on the Euros, would understandably not necessarily know the opportunities available to a Network Engineering students interested in our Platform Delivery department; nor would they know the different subjects the Development Database Administrator Manager is happy for their graduates to have studied. So, if you are taking representatives from the business outside of the recruitment team then ensure that they are educated and aware of the vacancies and application process.
• Are the people attending happy to be going? Attend a careers fair because you genuinely want to and take people who want to be there. It’s a long day and you speak to a lot of students so unless you have a team of people that are outgoing and passionate about what they do then you will not be giving the right impression of your company. Whether it’s the 1st student or 70th student that you are speaking to on the day you want your team to actively listen to and engage with the students.
• Most importantly, and probably most cliche of all, have fun! It’s a great day out if you approach it right. Talking to the students about their time at university and their aspirations does not always have to be process driven or a regimented conversation. Sometimes it’s good to just kick off your recruitment shoes and have a chat, get to know the individual in front of you and if your roles aren’t quite right for them, point them in the direction of the companies who might be.

I can’t wait for our students that we met at the fairs to join us later in the year and will always remember those first conversations we had and where they have led us today.