Understanding The Different Types Of Job Fairs

Understanding what type of job fair you are attending is crucial to your planning, since each type has distinct differences in approach, setup, and general level of success for entry level candidates.

• Campus-Sponsored Job Fairs
  The campus-sponsored job fair is by far the most popular for college students. For many, this is the job fair. Larger campuses will often have several different job fairs, each one geared toward a specific discipline. They are usually sponsored by the Career Center on campus, although some may be sponsored by a particular academic department, club or group. The campus-sponsored job fair is ideal for most college students since it is convenient, the lines are generally shorter than commercial job fairs, and the employers are predisposed to and familiar with your college. Many employers attend the job fair in advance of their on-campus recruiting activities, while some use this as their only campus visit. Often the more astute employers will bring along a recent grad, possibly even from your school, to talk with prospective grads. Another trend in recent years has been for smaller colleges to combine together to create consortium job fairs.

• Campus-Sponsored Career Days
  As a sideline to the campus job fairs, many campuses now have an event that they call "Career Day" in the fall semester, and a "Job Fair" in the spring semester. The big difference is that most employers who come for Career Day are not actively recruiting. They come for the advance exposure to students ahead of on-campus interviews or the spring job fair. It serves as more of an information-sharing activity than a recruiting activity. In short, it's a good time to meet employers in advance and gather up all their slick glossies on what they think makes them the best employer in the world to work for. But remember, actively hiring or not, it is still an interview and you are being evaluated.

• Commercial Entry Level Job Fairs
  These job fairs are run by independent companies and hosted in centralized locations throughout the country. They are highly advertised events that draw large numbers of students from a geographical radius of 300 miles or more. These job fairs are a good deal for employers who are hiring at the entry level since they tend to attract large quantities of anxious students. Unfortunately, the lines tend to be long (sometimes as long as two to three hours to meet just a single employer) and the competition is intense. It is only a wise use of your time if there are specific employers in attendance that you have an interest in. Otherwise, you are just window shopping, which buys you little in end results. Your competition runs the gamut from grads without a clue as to what they want to do all the way to scores of overqualified and unemployed MBAs.

• Commercial Professional Job Fairs
  These general professional job fairs are geared to a wide range of professional occupations, from accounting to programming to engineering to sales. Be aware that you are running with a new herd at this one. You have to be prepared to compete directly with those who have practical work experience in the field. Get ready to hear a lot of no's, but the occasional employer who does have a need at the entry level could make it worthwhile. Your main objective should be to gather information for later direct follow-up with the employers. Do not expect anyone to call you back just based on dropping off a resume.

• Commercial Specialty Job Fairs
  These professional job fairs are geared toward a specific specialty group, such as "Computer Job Fair" or "Technical/Engineering Job Fair." If you are in one of the specialty groups, this is an excellent resource for finding hiring employers. Again, you are competing against literally hundreds of better qualified candidates, so your purpose should be to gather information about hiring employers for later direct contact.

• Community Job Fairs
  These are free-for-all job fairs offering everything from Swing Shift Manager at McDonald's to professional and management positions. There are often over 100 employers involved. If you choose to attend, make sure you are very targeted and very direct about the type of jobs and type of employers you are seeking. Identify the employers you want to work for and target their booth locations before entering the crowd of people.

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