A Gaze at the Job Fair 2022

I recently attended the famous Job Fair held by the FCCU Career Service and Internship office on the 29th of March. There were about more than 100 companies at the event, all of which were internationally recognized and well-established. I find this event to be one of the most helpful and informative for us students who are not aware of the job market in our country. This event aimed to give us insights into the job market and opportunities to interact with different employers. It gave us an idea about what kind of skill set the employers are looking for? What are their hiring procedures, and what type of additional skills do they stress about the most? It also helps us understand how a student, about two years away from graduation, can prepare themselves for the future job market. Before the event, I had received the list of companies attending the job fair, and I was surprised to see that Pakistan’s top leading companies were going to be there.

Upon my entry, I was able to see different companies settled on their stalls, fully ready and active for students to come there and interact with them. I interacted with as many companies as I could; however, I had a very detailed discussion with around six companies: Cure MD, McDonald’s, Vaival, Bank of Punjab, FINCA, and Educative. Every Company representative. I interacted with was beneficial and kind to us, making it significantly easier for us to interact with them.?

I was amazed to see what these companies were expecting from a fresh marketing graduate throughout the conversations with all the companies. It was not the technical skills or High GPA they expected from us. The skills they are looking for are; Willingness to work, Flexibility, Commitment, Managing Skills, Attitude, Aptitude, Work Ethics, Outspokenness, and Fluency in English Speaking. These are the skills almost all recruiting teams are looking for. I was relieved that this is something we need to work on the most. The recruiters said that all the technical skills would be taught to a freshie when they are under probation, but the set of skills listed above is something they expect from us right on first hand. I also came to know the importance of communication skills and fluency in the English language. These requirements and qualifications are something the market expects from us initially.?

They test the fresh graduates to see if they inherit these skills through assessments and games such as Personality tests, Virtual Aptitude tests, Analytical Games, Questionnaires, and psychometric tests. They did encourage us to try out these tests online to see if we inherit these skills or not. I found this very helpful as this will surely help us in the market in these coming two years.?

Almost all of the recruiters agreed that the job market is constantly changing. They shared how Covid changed the dynamics forever and how different the companies are now than they were two years ago. The companies started relying on the online/ WFH methods, which led to changes in hiring and performance. They encourage us to stay updated with the latest certification and have thorough research on what the market wants as change is unexpected; we have seen that as a nation.?

The thing that every company stressed the most was the importance of having the skills to use Microsoft Excel. All entry-level jobs require us to have a thorough knowledge and experience of working on excel as it is just as important as any other technical skill. The representative from the Bank of Punjab recommended that we have a clear understanding of AI software, such as Autosaf, Oracle, and In-Built apps. At the same time, other companies suggested that we should have in-depth knowledge of Microsoft Office, SEO tools, and Big Data.

Moreover, all of them told us to have our LinkedIn Profiles polished and updated as LinkedIn is the main gateway for every recruiter is reaching out to job seekers. A healthy, active LinkedIn profile has a significant role in getting a job from a recruiter. Recruiters do advertise their job postings on other platforms, such as Indeed, Rozee, and their Websites; however, the platform they prefer the most is LinkedIn. Furthermore, that is self-explanatory as I have found LinkedIn the most helpful for making newer and professional contacts. In case of getting in touch with a recruiter for assistance in any regard, they encourage us to get to them via LinkedIn or their email addresses listed on their websites, and quite frankly, I did that as an experiment and got an instant response from a recruiter.?

As a recruiter and Operations Manager at SHJ International, I agree with all the recruiting companies I interviewed. Even if I see an applicant who is not capable of Technical Skills but has the willingness and determination to learn and work for us, I will hire him.?

I want to say that my experience at the Job Fair was priceless and helpful. I realized that there are tons of jobs in the market for us, and there is no scarcity. In a word, I would say all of the recruiters want us to be “Willing” to work. If we are willing, we are capable of learning and doing anything. I also understood the relevance of soft skills, how they are more relevant than technical skills and how to work on them. This job fair was a checkpoint for me to see where I am right now and what I have to become in the coming two years. This job fair gave me a roadmap on what I need to work on starting today and prepare myself to be the best in the field.?

I thank my instructor Faiza Tasneem who encouraged me to attend this job fair at all costs and instructed us with all sets of guidelines. Because of her,?this experience was helpful in every regard, both as a recruiter and as a job seeker. Special thanks to FCCU Career Services and Internship Office for such an event every year.

Bank Of Punjab

Educative.io

Cure MD

McDonald's

Miscellaneous Snaps