Participating in Job Fairs

Local school or community events that connect employers with job-seekers provide a focused opportunity to talk with many potential employees in a short period of time and can be a valuable way to promote why your company is a great place to work.

General Best Practices:

  • Conduct research to ensure the job fairs you attend will offer the type of candidates you’re looking for based on your company’s needs and culture.
  • Take the time to call your contact at each school or job fair location and ask for suggestions, tips, and ideas for how to be successful at that particular event.
  • Create both a strategic and tactical plan to ensure attendees have a positive first impression of your company and potential hires are excited by the opportunities you have to offer.
  • Promote your attendance at job fairs with compelling messages through social media, community boards, and word of mouth.
  • Carefully consider who you send to the event to represent your company. In addition to the HR rep, a supervisor or other team member who has specific knowledge and/or personal experience to share will have a greater impression on potential hires. Another potential representative could be someone that started as an intern and advanced into a full-time position. This helps show the longevity and potential long-term opportunities that the candidates could have.
  • Communicate next steps clearly to candidates so they understand what to expect regarding when and how they will hear back from your company.
  • Have a plan to measure ROI. Will you interview and hire at the fair? How will you capture and compile candidate information?

Creating a Compelling Booth Display/Experience

Best Practices for Job Fair Booth Displays and Activities:

  • Highlight your company culture, the benefits you provide, and anything else that sets your company apart as a great place to work.
  • Include as many photos as possible of your employees working in your plant. Represent your company’s diversity to communicate clearly that the industry has opportunities for a wide variety of people.
  • Set up a computer in your booth to share more information about the structural components industry using SBCA’s video linked below and/or a company-specific video that highlights the opportunities available inside your organization.
  • Provide handouts that outline the opportunities and growth of your company and the industry as a whole. SBCA’s editable document linked below is a helpful resource.
  • Bring in a small sample truss to help explain what components are and how they are made.
  • Consider providing a small giveaway to send home with potential candidates that will help to keep your company name top of mind after they leave the recruiting event.

Tools:

Resources:

Case Studies:

“Don’t be fooled into thinking that job fairs are just about bringing a logoed table banner, rounding up some flyers, printing  a sign-up sheet, sending HR reps to the gym, and setting out a bowl of lollipops to attract students. As with any initiative, getting the most out of a job fair requires creative thinking and business-minded planning.”

–Eric Chester, author of Fully Staffed and Reviving Work Ethic