How to succeed at a job fair

How to Succeed at a Job Fair

Questions and Answers with Human Resource Professionals
Illinois workNet Webinar
Join the conversation on Twitter with #ILworkNet or #jobfair

Meet our Presenters
Laurie Huspen – President
Valuable Resources, Co.
since 2003

A successful entrepreneur, author
of “Unveiled”, speaker, university
instructor, and board member for
Stroke Survivors Empowering Each Other (SSEEO).
Nancy Clausen – HR Director
Laurie holds a Masters degree in HR Management and trained SplashNet Xpress
in Six Sigma. Being personally affected by adverse HR policies,
she became an advocate of companies and employee rights
and established VRC in 2003 and published, “Unveiled” in A Human Resources Professional, Nancy demonstrates her abilities
2010. currently with a wholesale company in St. Charles Illinois that employs
a vast array of individuals from warehouse to designers.
She has over 15 years of experience in human resources, with
expertise in employee retention, strategic planning and Nancy has worked in service, retail, e-commerce, healthcare,
execution of the HR foundation for growing businesses. manufacturing and distribution with both non-union and union
cultures.
My specialty is working on-site with
clients. This allows me to fully
SplashNet Xpress is the home of Blue Wave pool and spa
understand my client(s)’ needs and
products.
vision of their business to influence
strategies to increase their return on
www.splashnetexpress.com
investment.
www.vrc-hr.com
Illinois workNet Job Fair Webinar
Twitter - #ILworkNet or #jobfair

Meet our Presenters
Sylvia Wetzel – Chief Learning Officer Mohamed Faheem -Director
Bison Gear & Engineering Corp. Business & Career Services, Inc.

Bison Gear is a manufacturer of electric
motors, gearmotors and reducers located in Mohammed Faheem is the Director of
St. Charles, Illinois. Ms. Wetzel joined Business Employer Solutions and Corporate
Bison in 1994, where her career has encompassed Relations for Business and
Marketing, Information Technology, International Strategy and Corporate Career Services operator of the Illinois workNet Center in Arlington
Training and Development. Heights.

Ms. Wetzel is also very devoted to pursuing social awareness issues Mohammed is a widely recognized motivational speaker and creator
and is President of BisonCares, a 501C3 nonprofit whose mission is to of the “Power Employment Workshops” presented every month
facilitate a set of responsive initiatives for the well being of local and across Northwest Chicago in 14 different locations. He is also
global communities. In 2007 BisonCares was awarded the St. Charles recognized for implementing cutting edge business process
chamber of Commerce civic Image Award in recognition of its reengineering and social media strategies for market penetration and
humanitarian efforts. societal change.

She serves as Public Policy Representative for Bison in Washington He has a Masters' degree in Communication and
DC and brings expertise to the NAM’s policy development in work Journalism and over 25 years experience in
force development and health care. She was a founding member of business consulting, radio, marketing, public
their Women in Manufacturing initiative. relations, and advertising.

www.bisongear.com www.worknetncc.com


Meet our Guides
Dee Reinhardt – Natasha Telger –
President Illinois workNet
Time2Mrkt
A social media strategist, Dee
helps solopreneurs and small
business optimize their digital
presence.
Dee began her marketing and social media journey with a local Integration and Training Coordinator with Southern
workforce agency. In 2011, she began her consulting business, Illinois University in Carbondale. Natasha provides
and has been teaching, coaching, implementing and Illinois workNet integration and training assistance
maintaining ever since. to workforce partners who help Illinois residents
reach their training and employment goals.
Always looking for new ways to advance an organizations
marketing efforts, when social media came into the arena, Dee www.illinoisworknet.com
jumped on the challenge of learning all of the aspects and
became certified in 2010.
Her business, Time2Mrkt, Inc.
helps guide businesses through
the sometimes treacherous waters
of social media to help them make
the best use of their time and
resources.
www.time2mrkt.com


What to expect at Job Fair?
• Two types – employer hosted vs. multi-employer
• Virtual vs. live
• Networking vs. interview situation
• Log into www.illinoisworknet.com
– Register as a user
– Receive updates about events happening in your area.


When you as an employer go to a job fair, what
are some of your goals?
• Branding of our organization and sourcing of suitable candidates for open
and future positions.
• Getting the message out about manufacturing
• Attracting young people to well paying careers in manufacturing
• Communicating the importance to them about Math, Problem Solving,
Reading and the NCRC
• Find new Talent for our Organization
• Find the right person – determine in advance what the right person is.
Typically looking for more than one person for an open position
• Herding vs. hiring
• To get a feel for the types and quality of the candidates at that fair to
determine future attendance
• To find qualified candidates for open positions and leads for future openings


What should a job seeker do prior to the job fair
to be properly prepared?
• The job seeker should visit the employer’s website and come prepared with a targeted
resume for specific job positions that match his skills, experience and background.
• Proper resume and plenty of copies of it.
• Appropriate appearance, engage in conversation, know about the companies that are at the
job fair, their mission statement, and culture to know if you would want to work for them
• Think about what they plan to wear, business formal is always the best way to go, unless
circumstances don’t allow it. Make sure that whatever it is, it is clean and wrinkle free.
Nothing is worse than when the person shows up in wrinkled attire.
• Think about not only the questions you might be asked but, what is your ideal job, what do
you hope to accomplish at this job fair.
• Unless you are applying for an art or designer position, never wear a lot of bling, shorts, or
flip flops, if you are in business dress ensure that socks & shoes match the attire.


What do you look for when the person is face-
to-face with you at the job fair?
• Attitude, appearance and personality
• Good Communication skills, Dressed neatly, eye contact, and desire & motivation.
• Hygiene, appearance, how they hold themselves – confidence, professionalism,
drive to get the position.
• Appearance – are they put together, well groomed, how organized are they with
their materials – this shows they take care of themselves and some of their
organizational characteristics and how they might handle projects and the work
load
• Personality and Energy - are they comfortable, do they look at you when they talk
about their skills and abilities, are their answers intelligent and given in quick and
easy flow, or do they take a lot of time to think about it, or seemed to be using
“stock” answers.
• Are they pushy – Don’t keep trying to sell yourself Career Fairs are a meet in greet,
not time for a formal interview.
• Don’t be over Chatty, present yourself, clearly concisely and honestly.


What do you do during the brief encounter at a
job fair to assess a person’s soft skills?
• A job fair only allows a brief opportunity to assess verbal and non-
verbal communication skills.
• Good Communication skills, Dressed neatly, eye contact, and desire
and motivation.
• How they answer questions, yea vs. yes.
• If they respond when asked how they are doing, if they ask the
question back in return.
• Eye contact, Good handshake, Smile
• Ask the candidate a specific question that will tell me about the skills
for which I am looking.


Should participants be prepared to fill out an
application?
• Yes
• Always
• No
• No applications take a long time, and you may miss meeting with
potential companies if you were to stop and fill out an application for
each potential employer, Candidates should have a resume with their
name, address, phone number and e-mail address.


What questions should an attendee be prepared
to discuss "on the spot"?
• What do you know about our company/product/service
• Why should we hire you
• What is your availability to come in for an interview
• Experience, credentials and desire.
• What type of position are you looking for?
• Do you have a resume with you?
• What are you currently doing/are you currently working?
• Are you looking for full-time/part-time/ internship?
• When are you expected to graduate?
• What specifically are you looking for?
• Their skills and be prepared to back up the level of those skills with examples.
• Why should I hire you over everyone else here?
• What are you bringing to the table?


What if a job seeker presents a resume for a
position that you do not have open?
• It would be better if they apply on-line. Paper resumes are not something
that we would hold on to.
• Certainly
• Be up front and honest that there is not an opening, see if they are
interested and QUALIFIED to apply for the position available.
• An employer may always keep/or ask for a resume, and a candidate may
always leave their resume. But you don’t want to have a candidate complete
an application if there is not an open position.
• The career fair is like a networking event. For example think of it like this: A
resume is as if you were accepting their business card. An application is
more of the proposal that a client is hiring specifically for a project they
need.
• Yes, absolutely, if a great candidate crosses your path, keep it you never
know when you might have the right opening. And to both the employer and
the employee I would recommend keeping in touch.


How should a newly graduated incumbent
worker position their job search?
• They should show some volunteer experience, preferably in the new
career field to prove they have been productively engaged during
their transition period. Classroom skills alone will not help in the
hiring decision.
• Have a resume reflecting the experience and be prepared to discuss
the desire to put that experience to use in a new career path.
• Intern positions


What type of questions would you expect a job
seeker to ask you at a job fair?
• Is this a new position for which you are hiring?
• When does this position start?
• What is my next step?
• How can I contact you after today to follow up?
• What openings are available.
• What sort of credentials do you recognize or do I need
• Do you train for positions.
• GENERAL questions about compensation ranges & benefits


What should job seekers not ask?
• How much does this job pay?
• Is there an opportunity to work part-time?
• How many day’s vacation can I get? How soon do they start?
• Compensation
• Ask what the hours and workdays are and then ask if they can alter
them to fit their schedule.
• How much longer their boss will be in the position, so they can move
up.


What type of “next steps” do you provide to the
job seeker at your booth?
• Give the contact information for the recruiter or hiring
manager and tell the job seeker to expect a call for a formal
interview.
• Have them go on-line and fill in a job application and take any
required screening tests.
• Go to our website and familiarize yourself with our company.
• If you have the NCRC or the MSSC bring them with you when
you come to our company to fill out a job application.
• We let them know what the follow-up will be, depending on
the type of career fair. Whether we will schedule interviews
on campus in the next following days, or be contacting them
during the next week to set up interviews.

Who should follow-up first? And how?
• The job seeker should always follow-up by email or a phone call.
• We should follow up with possible candidates. However, if they didn’t bring
a resume it would be okay to have them follow-up by providing one first.
• It is appropriate for the candidate to follow up first. Personally, I like a thank
you through snail mail rather than email. Just a personal thing, but it is
appropriate to send an email thanking them for their time and expressing
their interest.
• Depending upon the size of the organization, in general the employer
should follow-up first. If it is a larger company with a big recruiting
department, then feel free to contact them.
• Please remember that often a recruiter may have been out of the office for a
period of time at career fairs, and will be inundated with e-mails, voice mails
and issues. Please be patient giving them at minimum a week before you
start calling.


Thank You for Attending
• Watch for the post of this webinar on
– www.illinoisworknet.com

• Watch for information on our upcoming webinars on
our social media links:


What is your typical routine at a job fair?
• Booth set up and walk through to scope out the other employers.
• HR & Marketing Staff may attend
• Talk to the person to find out what they want to do, honesty to
determine whether it is actually the right position,
• Arrive at least one hour before, set-up, review the list of other
exhibitors to determine who may be competing for the same talent,
then walk around to check them out.
• Stand out in front of the table rather then behind whenever possible.


Should a job seeker expect to be hired on the
spot?
• No, Career fairs are short meet and great type situations. Both the
employer and the employee should want to take the time for a more
formal interview and discussion of the position, the skills and the
company. Before a decision is made. In rare circumstances do I ever
extend an immediate job offer.


What happens on the employer end after the job
fair?
• A list of qualified candidates is generated and passed on to the hiring managers/hr
staff to initiate contact with the candidates.
• The employer would follow-up on possible strong candidates.
• Within a few days, the HR dept will go through the resumes received and follow up
with a phone call or email to further the hiring process. The HR department may
send a letter to a candidate who is not qualified to wish them good luck in their
endeavors.
• Review resumes the evening of the career fair while the memories are still fresh,
sort and organize them. Those with the best fit and would choose to interview more
in-depth, I contact within two-three days after the career fair. Those that are
currently not a fit, receive a thank you for their interest within a week of the career
fair.


How to succeed at a job fair

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