Making Your Company More Visible at a Job Fair? 86
moszern asks: "The startup I work for is growing to the point where we are need to do some serious hiring. We are toying with the idea of setting up a booth at a upcoming local college job fair. For the most part it seems these events are all the same with nothing much distinguishing each company from the next. Have you ever been to a job fair where a company had a very unorthodox booth or way of attracting potential employees? What would you want to see at a job fair to grab your attention?"
That's easy... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:That's easy... (Score:5, Funny)
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2 words... (Score:2, Funny)
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Strangely enough you were modded redundant and the only other topic discussed so far was strippers and whores.... Oh wait.
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Some female babes in tight catsuits or something, to attract the males or homosexual females.
Some hunky male "babes" in thongs or something, to attract the females or homosexual males.
Boston-only (Score:5, Funny)
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A simple LED display of a cartoon character.
+1 Damn Funny
Up here, we're still laughing over you guys and your over-reaction. "OH NOES! Here's a small package that looks funny! ZOMG EVACUATE THE CITY!!!"
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http://www.thinkgeek.com/pennyarcade/shirts/8c75/ [thinkgeek.com]
Buya real booth (Score:3, Informative)
Booth says legitimate. A 6' table with cardboard sign says rinky dink.
And dress like a successful business, not a geek
Re:Buya real booth (Score:4, Insightful)
As a EU foreigner living in the UK... (Score:2)
I recently went to a Job fair here in the UK and I got really pissed of that almost every company had a sign stating "sorry we do not allow sponsorships". I went because my girlfriend, who studied a Master in manufacturing (she has a bahcellors in Inustrial Engineering) was trying to find a job. But it seems there is still a lot of racism^H^H^H
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Well fucking yes... that is what I was talking about. It is just a matter of giving them (us) the opportunity. To get an interview/test or whatever. Not just to stick the darn "you aliens get out of my booth suckas"
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I'm not sure what it is essential for the employer to do for foreign employees. We have a couple of Chinese people at my workplace and I was under the impression they had sort
Free stuff (Score:2)
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No, not somewhere, but where people are already going to be inclined to look. This may mean selecting the masseuses for sufficient surface area in those places.
KFG
Free Stuff (Score:1)
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SEX!!! (Score:2)
And if that fails, take some hostages. Bound to get you some coverage.
Obligatory.... (Score:2)
Calculon: "I saw that. You were good."
Have you tried.... (Score:4, Funny)
An American Flag (Score:3, Interesting)
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Like renaming a public building/stadium after your company?
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No, that's just advertising, and it doesn't fit in a job fair booth. No, I mean some symbol that you employees are a part of the local community, and that you have an interest in keeping local livability standards high.
Signs. (Score:1, Insightful)
We're hiring!
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Make me interested in the job! (Score:4, Insightful)
Don't let marketing/sales/HR people talk to engineers. Whenever I'm in a conversation where the person is obviously more interested in selling something rather than the work I'd be doing, I mentally check out and back away as soon as possible.
I also assume that they don't want someone whose number one priority is not selling a product. And I know I'll be critized for the last statement, but I'll pre-emptively defend myself by stating that my top priority is quality... Most of the time. (Reading
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This is a very good point. Get someone there who can talk shop with the potential applicants. If you are hiring engineers, send an engineer along with your HR wonk. If you are hiring developers, send a developer along with your HR wonk. You get the idea.
The reason for this is that there is nothing more irritating than saying something that demonstrates that you have a grip on something that a company alleges to be hiring for, only to have the HR wonk's eyes glaze over, and end up rejecting you not usi
Hot chicks (Score:2)
It's hard to attend a trade-show now where at least one company hasn't hired for the show directly from a modeling agency. And of course there are staffing-companies setup [nationalev...affing.com]
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You know the point here is sales ; you want *everybody* to come to your booth. Not the 'good ones'. You want to decide who the good ones are from *everyone*. If you were turned off of a company booth because attractive men and women were standing their giving out information I wouldn't want you
Nifty thing I saw at my last job fair. (Score:1)
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Jobs? (Score:5, Insightful)
Sadly, many of the companies that go to the job fairs I've been to don't really have a very specific goal of being there, it's more like a public relations thingie. It's almost like using a job fair as an opportunity of recruiting seems like a novel idea...
Worst example I have is Ericsson, who for several years went to the job fair at Chalmers [chalmers.se], claiming they had no job openings, no possibilities of thesis writing at the company, and no summer internships.
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spinfire: Hi, I'm a student looking for an internship.
Big Black Dude from Alcatel: Ah, well, you see, we don't actually have any internships.
spinfire:
BBDfA: We're only looking for people for full time positions available in Dallas, Texas right now.
Seriously? Then wtf do you have "Internships" as one of the things you
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Hot chick walks up to Alcatel
HC: Hi, I'm looking for a internship or whatever.
BBDfA: Right this way...
Seriously though, sounds like you got caught up in a bait and switch situation. I've known people looking for work approaching a counter about help wanted only to be told by the clerk couldn't find the application or other excuse to discourage them from pursuing further. Especially if they weren't particularly good looking --or young.
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Glad things worked out for you at any rate.
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Having just been to a university job fair today. (Score:2, Informative)
Demos (Score:2, Interesting)
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Here's what to do (Score:4, Informative)
I work at a university career center, so here's my US$0.02:
That's not an all-inclusive list, and it's certainly not universal (all depends on the school's approach to running the fair). Some of it is probably obvious, but I hope it helps.
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The bit about having other events on campus is key. If you can stand talking (as in actual conversation) to a small group of students for even 10 minutes, it makes a huge difference. I send undergrads coming through my lab to contacts I've made that way looking at potential industry postdoc positions.
Don't go out to lunch with your buddies in your booth. Arrange to go out to lunch with some students or a professor working in an area you're recruiting in,
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With respect to the display, I would suggest making it very clear which majors and position types you are looking for. Since you are small, you will not have a lot of name recognition. A lot of students will miss you when they are planning which companies to talk to at the fair. And in reality, a lot of students don't plan much of anything before the fair. In addition, if you are small, you are probably
From Experience... (Score:5, Informative)
1) Free stuff. I know its stupid, but free stuff really will get you some attention. But DON'T go overboard. Example: Abbott Labs at Purdue University's Industrial Roundtable (the largest job fair on campus all year) had a massive booth, probably about 20 feet wide. And every person in line for an interview got this little back of free shit that I didn't really want. I just wanted a job. The only thing I still have from that bag is a magnetic chip clip that I use for my tortilla chips. For the record, I'm not working for Abbott this summer. Oh, they did give me some bandaids though.
An example of doing it right: Los Alamos National Labs. Los Alamos gave away two things at the Industrial Roundtable. They gave away little folders with contact information of the right people, business cards, and brochures. They also had a list of deadlines. As a nice little freebee, I got a bobblehead pen with an alien on it. I don't know where it is anymore, but I remember it. I'm not working for Los Alamos this summer because they weren't looking for anyone in my field, but I was really excited to work for them.
2) A professional looking booth. You could probably get away with a couple of mounted posters made down at the copy shop, but you want to attract good people. It'll be pricey, I'll bet, but find professional booth designers. About half the companies I talked to at the Industrial Roundtable were just random companies I saw and said "Hey, that booth looks interesting." Dow Chemical was one of those (Not working for them, their representative was rude as hell. It seems like a small thing to judge a whole company on, but he was so rude he wouldn't even take my resume or tell me how to apply).
3) Make sure whoever is representing your company behaves professionally. This means a couple things. Don't be a jerk. It'll be tough depending on the venue (the IR this year was inside the Purdue Armory, which was insanely hot. The event was rained indoors), but this person is the face of your company. You don't want to risk turning away that one random engineer that might come up with the idea that turns your company into a multi-national. It seems like long odds, but like I said, if you're really looking to hire the best...
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5) Make sure your people know to take resumes. It doesn't matter if they just build a pile in the back of the booth and look at 3 of them. Just take the damn things, you never know what you might see and like. Also make sure they are prepared to give on-the-spot interviews. Thats half the reason to go to a jobfair. It lets people know you're taking their interest in you seriously, and that you like what they have to offer you. If you say you'll get in touch with someone, actually do it. And please, please, don't after an instant-interview say "Allright, now that you've just regurgitated all your qualifications to me, please apply on our website at www.IJustLostInterestInThisCompany.com." Go to the website is recruiter for, "Leave me alone, you're not interesting." If the laws require you to make sure they submit an official application, ask them to do so after they have interviewed or something.
6) No booth babes. Don't be stupid. Unless you're working for Hooters, having 'booth babes' just means no one will take you seriously.
7) One of the best ways to attract attention is to have a massive line infront of your booth. Rolls Royce had a line that was probably over 300 people long. Granted, thats hard to do without name recognition. But on the same note, don't make an artificially long line. That just results in frustration.
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1) Free stuff that I can't use doesn't attract me anymore. I like pens, playing cards, notebooks...
2) I usually try to look at a list before I go into the arena. So put pithy info in any abstracts you can.
3) I like to get the information I need to know about your company efficiently. For example, the information that should be easy to obtain would include 1) what your company does 2) what positions are available 3) who you're looking for 4) contact info.
4) Most handouts available at many booths are j
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If there is an attractive woman doing the interviews, more guys will visit. I'm not being sexist, just realistic.
Also, yah, give something away. Not a stupid little pen, or other random bit of junk left over from a trade-show, but something people are actually going to want. Bring a couple cases of bottled water, or soda to give to people you are interviewing. It'll put them at ease, as well as attract more people.
If you are a smaller company, make sure
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1) Free stuff. I know its stupid, but free stuff really will get you some attention. But DON'T go overboard.
It's not stupid, it is absolutely essential. Who wants to be stuck with a reputation for having crappy freebies? I happen to have a bit of experience in this area:
1997 Free Stuff Awards [mttlg.net]
1998 Free Stuff Awards [mttlg.net]
1999 Free Stuff Awards [mttlg.net]
2000 Free Stuff Awards [mttlg.net]
Many college students at these fairs aren't looking for jobs, they are just getting a feel for the job opportunities when they gradu
display/swag/smart staff (Score:1)
*SWAG, specifically tailored to your target hiring audience. One tech company who interviewed me was giving away company-logo-branded iPod socks and USB hubs.
*Knowledgeable staff. HR people are fine if you want to hire communication/business majors for HR work. If you're hiring for IT you need IT people who can discuss the finer points of network administration with the CS/EE majors you're trying to court.
I start my internship in May.
happy workers (Score:2)
When I went to career fairs... (Score:2)
Send some technical people, not just marketing/HR (Score:2)
My second piece of advice is to send some of your technical people. This is especially true in smaller startups where it is more practical. The people looking for technical jobs are going to be much more drawn in if they can see what you actually do, instead of marketing speak. And HR department people often have no clue what they are actually hiring for, apart from some buzzwords (and usually nobody knows what those mean).
I found my current employer at a U
Someone smart at the booth (Score:2)
A gewgaw or crappy pen with your company's logo on it won't help. A poster with a clear statement of the kind of people you're looking for AND someone intelligent at the booth that I can talk technical to is all that I really need. A competent poster says volumes about how your company is organized, a technical lead who asks good questions (and has good answers) is
Not just for "fresh-outs" (Score:1)
your tech (Score:1)
Make a splash the job fair with: (Score:1, Funny)
Wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man!
They even pass the savings onto you!
http://www.wackywavinginflatablearmflailingtubeman .com/ [wackywavin...ubeman.com]
Better Option (Score:2)
Forget the career fair. You will be just one of dozens of companies that are there. If you want to get the best students, talk to the academic advisors and professors for the department that you are looking to hire from. This has a lot of advantages:
Ten things you need to do (Score:2, Informative)
2. Don't bring any literature describing the company or its products.
3. Don't bring applications.
4. Tell everyone that they have to go to your website to see the openings and apply and submit resumes.
5. Make sure the people who are manning your booth don't have any influence on the hiring process.
6. Send stand ins (or new hires) and tell everyone the hiring managers are at another location where the applicants are more qualif
Get permission to use... (Score:1)
Jobs (Score:2)
Trust me. Right now I'm almost two years out of college with degrees in biology and microbiology and two years of undergraduate research and I'm still looking for a job. The only thing I want from a company is a paying position there.
Logo, Freebies and Chat!! (Score:1)
Banner with Company Name & Logo.
Pens, Business Cards, & CDs are great for everybody that stops and drops a resume.
People talking about the company and not with each other can give the freebies and collect the resumes.
A conference room can be reserved for on-site casual interviews. Interviewers can give a 5-10 minute casual interview. Put a name plaque on the door NOT a taped sign.
Atari 2600 console. (Score:2)
Gaming Attraction (Score:1)
A good candidate will ask quesitons and be interested in you and what your company has to offer, the rest will just play games. You can also rest assured that no one else will have a wii and a 47" plasma to play on.
Jus
How to get my attention (Score:2)
State how many hours you expect people to work, and make it reasonable.
Those would be the two biggest reasons I'd avoid considering a startup.
Beyond that, have some examples of what you do. Have people there with technical skills so I can talk to them about how the work is done.
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Be honest with the people you are interviewing about what work is like and what you expect out of people. That should be the best way to find the right fit.
Talk to people (Score:2)
When I was in college, I didn't care about free goodies. All that mattered was that someone would talk to me. The most successful companies would engage me in conversation if I spent any time looking at their display.
Look at resumes when people hand them to you. You don't have to read them, but be prepared to offer interviews "on the spot." It's always nice when the guy who you hand your resume to you ends up being a lifelong mentor after two internships.
Your company should also be "established." Thi
Basics, gimmicks aside (Score:2)
2. As someone else said, take the resumes. Worst case, just shred them when you get back, but take them and thank the student.
3. "Go to our website and apply" is synonymous with "Go away now, you've taken up enough of our time." (Even when that's not what was intended.) Give people a "personal" email address/business card instead. (Even if it's a temporary one you create just for this purpose.) This
Interns (Score:1)