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What's the point of career fairs?

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I went to a career fair once and I got several keychains, a notepad, and a free t-shirt!
I also found out the names of some local companies that I should not waste my time pursuing.
 
i went to one once, and it was almost entirely contract recruiters yessing me to death and overstating the pay by at least 50%. what a bullshit-fest.
 
Broheim said:
isn't career fairs just a relic from the time before the internet?
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Dude. Career fairs are for a few things.

#1. Companies need to comply with federal employment laws

#2. People on probation need to show their prob. officer they are "Trying" to get a job.

#3. Kids are forced to go by their parents


It's a self fulfilling clusterfuck
 
I got my last internship at a Career Fair.....

I networked with someone from the company
Interview was scheduled 3 days later
Got the phone call 2 weeks later.
 
mizzou said:
Dude. Career fairs are for a few things.

#1. Companies need to comply with federal employment laws

#2. People on probation need to show their prob. officer they are "Trying" to get a job.

#3. Kids are forced to go by their parents


It's a self fulfilling clusterfuck
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#4. For employers it's easier to thin the heard by personality and uproot the bullshit on the resume. We strictly hire engineers via the career fairs and we have interviews on campus the next day.
 
MrColin said:
I went to a career fair once and I got several keychains, a notepad, and a free t-shirt!
I also found out the names of some local companies that I should not waste my time pursuing.
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This right here, its the only reason. PERIOD. Free cheap stuff with logos.

Beer koozies, stress relief thingys, and lots and lots of pens.

Coolest thing I have gotten at a career fair is a CD binder from the US Border Patrol. Still keep that in my truck.

Quick search found one on ebay! I might need a matching case for my work vehicle.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/REDUCED-NEW...Player_Cases_Covers_Skins&hash=item27d8a19805
 
Man I dunno what kind of career fairs you guys been to, but I was referring to a suit and tie affair with screened applicants who at least have an M.S./PhD/MD or 2-3 years of industry experience. There were hundreds of applicants (laid off/contractors/just graduating) and only a handful of companies.
 
I gave up on school career fairs, especially when hardly any interesting companies visited (for chip design / EDA type jobs for a school in Nowhere, IA).

Got my internships and job by spamming company HR job systems.
 
Yeah I only go to career fairs for the free stuff and to see if there are any companies that I already don't know anything about. The people manning the booths are 95% of the time HR peeps who know nothing and will just refer you to their corporate website.

But it's odd one time I saw an old employer who had a booth setup and 3 higher-level IT managers were sitting there manning it. If there was someone who was qualified and wanted a position with the company, it would've been a perfect opportunity to actually talk to the hiring manager and leading director of the group. This is a rarity I'm guessing though since I've never had that type of luck.

I've only gotten interviews by spamming the HR websites or if your University's career services center had some cool program where companies would go there to find and interview students as in there were slots to fill. I got interviewed by lots of consulting firms and a few random companies that I've never heard of via that avenue.
 
Career fairs are for company branding. That's why we pay and you don't. That's why we give out free shit with our name slapped on the side.

We don't accept resumes at them. We utilize LinkedIn Connect through our on-site iPad to mine profiles from a large amount of people and hand them our generic business card which directs them to our careers page.

The one I just got back from had a turnout of around 2000. We're really reaching out to the IT crowd, but aren't really known as an technology driven company (even though we are shifting that way), so it was a great opportunity to sell ourselves and promote name recognition.
 
i work for the govt. and I know hr people. Most of them go out to fair just to get out of the office. Unless they are desperate which is not the case in this economy they are out there just to socialize.
 
PenguinPower said:
Two things...

1.) What federal employment laws are your referring to; and,

2.) How does going to a career fair accomplish compliance with the above?
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Might be the military career fair when you try to help military transition to civilian. I am just guessing here but thats the first thing that pop in my head.
 
7window said:
Might be the military career fair when you try to help military transition to civilian. I am just guessing here but thats the first thing that pop in my head.
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What law requires me to actively source military personnel transitioning to the civilian world?
 
PenguinPower said:
What law requires me to actively source military personnel transitioning to the civilian world?
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I believe some company that do contract with the govt. has to hire certain amount of vets to get the contract. Its not a law but getting government contract. I guess money rules.
 
They're great when on college campuses. That's how I got my interview that eventually led to my now job.

Don't suck, and good things will come from it.
 
I'll be honest - when you go to the big companies at a career fair (IE: Think big oil companies, etc...) Yes, you will get the ol' "Apply online" speach.

HOWEVER (And this is a big however) - there are usually tons of little people... and the problem is that you jackasses are avoiding the little people and going directly to the big corporations. Those little guys are the one's that will actually look at your resume and skills on the spot - and possibly offer you a job on the spot.
 
7window said:
I believe some company that do contract with the govt. has to hire certain amount of vets to get the contract. Its not a law but getting government contract. I guess money rules.
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We're required to file open positions with the state and do VETS-100 reporting on an annual basis, but I don't have to actively source military veterans. Sure, there's an incentive (G-FIVE) to going above and beyond what's required...but it's really not that great of an incentive.
 
s0me0nesmind1 said:
I'll be honest - when you go to the big companies at a career fair (IE: Think big oil companies, etc...) Yes, you will get the ol' "Apply online" speach.

HOWEVER (And this is a big however) - there are usually tons of little people... and the problem is that you jackasses are avoiding the little people and going directly to the big corporations. Those little guys are the one's that will actually look at your resume and skills on the spot - and possibly offer you a job on the spot.
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I talk to EVERYONE. Same bullshit at each of them.
 
shortylickens said:
I talk to EVERYONE. Same bullshit at each of them.
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My biggest success at career fair was with a random guy that didn't have any logo anywhere. He had a sheet of paper on a bare table. You asked what he is looking for, he told you what he was looking for.

He was looking for a web developer position and I ended up interviewing with them. Definitely was one of the only worthy tables there.
 
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