Ever see a job fair advertisement and think from the wording that several recruiters are looking for people in your field? But as soon as you arrive, you know the event is nothing like it was promoted. The “hundreds of exhibitors” turn out to be about a dozen in a room not large enough to fit many more. The claim that employers are looking to fill every job from mechanic to accountant is false too because the recruiters are only filling sales, customer service and clerical jobs.
It’s amazing how the same job fair promoters keep making the same claims and expect job seekers to keep showing up. It’s wrong to take advantage of peoples’ need for employment with promises that won’t be delivered.
These promoters are making money from ads placed on their websites and from recruiters renting booths at the job fair. So, the pattern appears to be more careers listed on a promoter’s website leads to more visitors to the site and because of the number of visitors to the site more ads are sold.
The promoter makes money from advertisers, the advertisers’ information is read by thousands of job seekers and recruiters fill their few openings at the job fair. Everybody benefits but the candidates who come looking for jobs in their field that were never available anyway.
Whatever the reason for the false advertisement it should stop! Making promises of hundreds of employers showing up with hundreds of job openings when the event won’t have anywhere near that is a lie. It doesn’t help the people it’s targeted to and eventually they’ll spread the word and stop coming out. Then the tiny hotel meeting room the job fair is held in will be emptier than it is now.
Here are six tips for job fair promoters and recruiters
1. Don’t promote a job fair as having hundreds of recruiters when only a dozen reserved space.
2. Don’t advertise that recruiters are coming to fill every job type imaginable when only positions in a few fields are available.
3. Don’t ask people to pre-register to see a list of exhibitors only to give them a list of job ads.
4. Don’t rent an exhibition booth if you don’t have jobs available in the foreseeable future. It doesn’t help job seekers to hear you have a hiring freeze. It seems you’re really only there to claim that you made recruitment efforts.
5. Don’t refuse to take job seekers’ resumes and tell them to upload them online. These people made the effort to come out and meet you. The least you can do is show some interest and take their resumes, without leaving it to chance that they’ll upload the same information you’re refusing to accept in person.
6. Don’t promise to call or email more applicants than you have time to reach.
Do you have more advice for job fair promoters and recruiters? Please share them with us.
"Image from dreastime.com"
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