8 Essential Job Fair Tips For Recruiters

Whether you're looking for entry-level hires, tech talent or experienced executives, job fairs are an increasingly important strategy for recruiters seeking employees at all levels. The experts at diversity job board LatPro.com offer the following tips to improve your career fair recruiting results while promoting a positive public image for your company:

-Plan as a Team: Make sure there's no disconnect between those planning the exhibit and the recruiters actually attending the event. All members of an exhibiting company need to work together to ensure that everything runs smoothly and nothing falls through the cracks.

-Ask About Advertising Opportunities: Almost every job fair provides a variety of opportunities to publicize your company, often at no additional cost. You may be able to publish your open positions on the event Web site, include your company logo in printed materials, get listed as an exhibitor in radio or TV ads, or receive additional exposure as an event sponsor.

-Don't Put All your Marketing Materials in One Basket: If you ship your booth, display graphics and all your printed materials together, what will you do if they don't make it to the event on time? At the very least, make sure some marketing materials and brochures travel with you. Then if there's a shipping snag, you won't be empty-handed.

-Stay Until the End of the Event: Make sure your travel plans and other arrangements leave enough time for you to exhibit for the entire job fair. Breaking down your booth early is a distraction to other attendees, and it could cause you to miss top-notch candidates who arrive at the end of the event.

-Be on Time: Get directions to the job fair location in advance and give yourself plenty of extra time for missed turns, elusive parking, event registration, booth set-up and last-minute errands. You should have all your prep work completed before candidates are scheduled to arrive.

-Never Leave Your Booth Unattended: If one recruiter goes to lunch, the other should stay at your exhibit. The same goes for cigarette breaks and trips to the bathroom. You never know when outstanding candidates will visit your booth, and you can't guarantee they'll come back if you're missing in action.

-Greet Candidates When They Approach Your Exhibit: Sounds like common sense, but some recruiters seem to prefer chatting with their booth co-worker instead of welcoming candidates. Remember why you're there and be a good host. When someone visits your booth, introduce yourself, shake the candidate's hand and start a conversation!

-Always Accept Paper Resumes: The biggest complaint from career fair candidates involves recruiters who refuse to take paper resumes and instruct jobseekers to apply online at a company Web site. You should always accept resumes from job fair candidates; just explain that they must also apply online as part your company policy. This courtesy shows candidates that their effort to meet you in person is appreciated.

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