Crowd Of 10,000 Overwhelms N.H. Job Fair

[Spartacus]

Re: Crowd Of 10,000 Overwhelms N.H. Job Fair

budgets to be spent otherwise they're forfeited.

previously spent money to be justified (HR brochures, videos, SWAG, etc ...) or not renewed next time.

"brand building" and "maintaining relationships"

(all the big software houses used to go to anyyhing put on by Waterloo University to maintain good relations and maybe get preferential treatment. Don't know if it's still the case ... )

Well Sapiens, I have run a company. I have hired employees. And I am asking.

[flintlock]

Re: Crowd Of 10,000 Overwhelms N.H. Job Fair

I've also always wondered about these job fairs. Seems like a pretty inefficient way to screen employees. Can just anyone line up to talk to any employer? I guess maybe they are looking for that diamond in the rough perhaps??

Seems to me you aren't going to find the best candidates from a bunch of people who were the first to be let go. I always found the best employees were still employed and working for my competitors!

It wouldn't surprise me to find out the job fair is more interested in selling something to the applicants than actually hiring anyone. But I'm a pessimist.

[Sapiens]

Re: Crowd Of 10,000 Overwhelms N.H. Job Fair

Well Sapiens, I have run a company. I have hired employees. And I am asking.

What's the game here? Selling "hope"?

If the employers with vacancies are funding the cost, why? It takes a lot of time to wade through stacks of resumes, most of which probably don't meet any of the qualifications of a specific job for a specific company.

Frankly, if I was looking for qualified staff, the last thing I would want is to hear that there's 10,000 people lined up outside ready to bury me with a stack of useless carbon-copy resumes, and that somewhere in there might be one that fits...and I have to find it.

So what is the driver here?

Certain type of labor is fungible, other is not. If you are looking for sales people, a job fair is an excellent way to find them, if you are looking for technical expertise, you are better off poaching your competitors’ talent.

[Slimprofits]

Re: Crowd Of 10,000 Overwhelms N.H. Job Fair

Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly goes on at these "Career Fairs"?

Are there actually real employers with real job vacancies looking to fill them? Or is this some sort of "growth industry" for conference organizers to sell "hope"?

Are these employers paying the costs of holding these things? Do they really feel this is the most efficient way to screen for talent? If the employers are not paying the costs, then who is? Certainly they can't be charging a fee for out-of-work [and sometime desperate?] people to line up and drop off a resume, are they?

Just wonderin'

It could be a little of both.

http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/42699787.html

Organizers of the Omaha Works! Job Fair expected as many as 3,000 people to show up Wednesday. Instead, nearly 4,000 job seekers came out to the Holiday Inn Convention Center at 72nd and Grover.

Jim O’Connor, general manager of EmploymentGuide.com, sponsor of the event, said some 75 employers were on-hand with 500-700 jobs to fill. "It's starting to look real good,” he said, adding the unemployment rate seems to be flattening out. “We're starting to see a little resurgence going."

The state of Kansas had reps there looking to recruit for 22,000 positions. The jobs are both in government and the private sector, ranging from hourly positions to upper management. More information can be found by registering as a job seeker at: Kansas Works.


There are different events that fall under this umbrella. Colleges and universities hold them for the students, invite employers that fit the profile. There are true job fairs - one company with a lot of jobs to fill immediately that is accepting applications and resumes - for example a large retail operation or factory.

It was reported elsewhere that the companies at the job fair held in NH are looking to fill 1000 positions.

[GRG55]

Re: Crowd Of 10,000 Overwhelms N.H. Job Fair

It could be a little of both.

http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/42699787.html

Organizers of the Omaha Works! Job Fair expected as many as 3,000 people to show up Wednesday. Instead, nearly 4,000 job seekers came out to the Holiday Inn Convention Center at 72nd and Grover.

Jim O’Connor, general manager of EmploymentGuide.com, sponsor of the event, said some 75 employers were on-hand with 500-700 jobs to fill. "It's starting to look real good,” he said, adding the unemployment rate seems to be flattening out. “We're starting to see a little resurgence going."

The state of Kansas had reps there looking to recruit for 22,000 positions. The jobs are both in government and the private sector, ranging from hourly positions to upper management. More information can be found by registering as a job seeker at: Kansas Works.


There are different events that fall under this umbrella. Colleges and universities hold them for the students, invite employers that fit the profile. There are true job fairs - one company with a lot of jobs to fill immediately that is accepting applications and resumes - for example a large retail operation or factory.

It was reported elsewhere that the companies at the job fair held in NH are looking to fill 1000 positions.

Thanks for the info babbittd. Much appreciate your insight!

[Wild Style]

Re: Crowd Of 10,000 Overwhelms N.H. Job Fair

Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly goes on at these "Career Fairs"?

Are there actually real employers with real job vacancies looking to fill them? Or is this some sort of "growth industry" for conference organizers to sell "hope"?

Are these employers paying the costs of holding these things? Do they really feel this is the most efficient way to screen for talent? If the employers are not paying the costs, then who is? Certainly they can't be charging a fee for out-of-work [and sometime desperate?] people to line up and drop off a resume, are they?

Just wonderin'

I have been to two of these during my college years. They had real employers, like the local school board, walgreens, walmart and the FBI among many others. It is rows of booths with companies setup there. You go, read what jobs they have to offer, pass them your resume and hope to hear back from them, blah blah blah. The last time I went to one, I walked up to the FBI booth. Friend of mine says "you speak Arabic, you should try for this job". So I tell this lady how I know arabic, have three degrees, etc. etc. In response the FBI agent tells me "you know, speaking arabic is one thing but being a native speaker is another." then this "genius" went on to tell me how she is latino but not raised in a latin country so her command of the language is different from a person born and raised in the culture. Never did she ask me my background, where I was raised or my fluence. Really weird to say the least.

Eitherway, these events are sort of like flea markets for job seekers. The jobs are generally not high paying or well sought after jobs. But I guess in these times, people will take anything.

As to someone asking about the veracity of these reports. Here in Broward county we had a job fair right around the corner from where I work. The line of cars just to get into the parking lot was over whelming. It looked like a scene from the movie War of the Worlds. Cars were everywhere, and in the front of the facility there were cars just sitting there in the middle of the road. People paniced and ran out of their cars (leaving the cars in the road) to run up to the door of the place so they could get in before they stopped admitting people in. This is not to mention the line of cars that snaked down the interstate highway trying to just get to the exit to come to the job fair. In another instance they had 35 jobs for fire fighters in Miami. It was a one day event where you show up, wait on a que, get your application etc. They only had so many applications to hand out so you have to be one of the lucky few. Well over a thousand folks showed up. People camped out for days and bought their tents and ruck sacks so they could have a shot at getting on line for the application. We have also seen scenes like this for public housing recently too.

[c1ue]

Re: Crowd Of 10,000 Overwhelms N.H. Job Fair

2 months ago the San Francisco fire department apparently was interviewing candidates to fill some unspecified number of fireman slots.

The lines to apply were around 2 corners of the block, 9 am to 5 pm, for 3 days.

[Spartacus]

Re: Crowd Of 10,000 Overwhelms N.H. Job Fair

I have not been to one in a while, like 10 years.

This was the setup BUT the ones I went to rarely had specific jobs.

Probably this was because the ones I went to were university connected and the technical and general were separate fairs. I suppose for the technicals, the thinking is your degree determines what you want. Maybe a "Mech. Eng." on a new grad's resume pretty much sums it up for a lot of employers.

The non-tech may have had descriptions.

real employers, like the local school board, walgreens, walmart and the FBI among many others. It is rows of booths with companies setup there. You go, read what jobs they have to offer,

[metalman]

Re: Crowd Of 10,000 Overwhelms N.H. Job Fair

I have been to two of these during my college years. They had real employers, like the local school board, walgreens, walmart and the FBI among many others. It is rows of booths with companies setup there. You go, read what jobs they have to offer, pass them your resume and hope to hear back from them, blah blah blah. The last time I went to one, I walked up to the FBI booth. Friend of mine says "you speak Arabic, you should try for this job". So I tell this lady how I know arabic, have three degrees, etc. etc. In response the FBI agent tells me "you know, speaking arabic is one thing but being a native speaker is another." then this "genius" went on to tell me how she is latino but not raised in a latin country so her command of the language is different from a person born and raised in the culture. Never did she ask me my background, where I was raised or my fluence. Really weird to say the least.

Eitherway, these events are sort of like flea markets for job seekers. The jobs are generally not high paying or well sought after jobs. But I guess in these times, people will take anything.

As to someone asking about the veracity of these reports. Here in Broward county we had a job fair right around the corner from where I work. The line of cars just to get into the parking lot was over whelming. It looked like a scene from the movie War of the Worlds. Cars were everywhere, and in the front of the facility there were cars just sitting there in the middle of the road. People paniced and ran out of their cars (leaving the cars in the road) to run up to the door of the place so they could get in before they stopped admitting people in. This is not to mention the line of cars that snaked down the interstate highway trying to just get to the exit to come to the job fair. In another instance they had 35 jobs for fire fighters in Miami. It was a one day event where you show up, wait on a que, get your application etc. They only had so many applications to hand out so you have to be one of the lucky few. Well over a thousand folks showed up. People camped out for days and bought their tents and ruck sacks so they could have a shot at getting on line for the application. We have also seen scenes like this for public housing recently too.

wait in lines and grub for shitty jobs is all the peeps know how to do in 'merica. no dignity. the french are laughing their asses off. the guy who was supposed to help them is hawking refis on jay leno. it all gets more grotesque by the day.

[Wild Style]

Re: Crowd Of 10,000 Overwhelms N.H. Job Fair

wait in lines and grub for shitty jobs is all the peeps know how to do in 'merica. no dignity. the french are laughing their asses off. the guy who was supposed to help them is hawking refis on jay leno. it all gets more grotesque by the day.

What would you have them do? Not everyone is cut out for running their own business. Not everyone has the head for it. The whole chief versus indians thing.

[metalman]

Re: Crowd Of 10,000 Overwhelms N.H. Job Fair

What would you have them do? Not everyone is cut out for running their own business. Not everyone has the head for it. The whole chief versus indians thing.

no, i mean organizing them... the culture of taking it on the chin. oh, right. now i remember...

[Sharky]

Re: Crowd Of 10,000 Overwhelms N.H. Job Fair

Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly goes on at these "Career Fairs"?

Are there actually real employers with real job vacancies looking to fill them? Or is this some sort of "growth industry" for conference organizers to sell "hope"?

There are real employers with real vacancies.

Employers hand out information about their companies and their job openings. They answer questions from people who are interested. Some companies will do on-the-spot screening interviews. When you hand them a resume, they will ask questions about the kind of job you're looking for, take notes, and file it for possible later call-back.

Are these employers paying the costs of holding these things?

Yes. The employers have to pay for space at the faire. Job seekers normally get in free.

Do they really feel this is the most efficient way to screen for talent?

Being able to see people in person and ask a few questions can be much more efficient than responding to mailed-in resumes.

Something to keep in mind about job faires is that it's not just the unemployed who show up. People who are feeling insecure in their current jobs do too.

Recessions can actually be a great time for companies that are doing well to find, attract and hire new talent. Often, the best people are solidly attached to their current employers, and can only be enticed to leave when the economy gets soft.

[Wild Style]

Re: Crowd Of 10,000 Overwhelms N.H. Job Fair

no, i mean organizing them... the culture of taking it on the chin. oh, right. now i remember...

You mean protest whats going on? Or rally and demand change and hold the savages in power accountbale like our friends in Europe are famous for? If so, do you know how clueless people are in America? You have these morons in Washington putting out reports that the recession is almost over and folks are swallowing it hook, line and sinker. Just look on this forum, you have people here talking about the worst is over. Its like some of them have been ignoring everything EJ, Fred, Roubini, Schiff and MANY others have been saying. There will be bounces along the way and it is going to take a LONG time. But one glimmer of hope from the Master of Cermonies (El Presidente) and out come the party hats and parting gifts. People are clueless man, and until things get worse and all the hope and rays of sunshine in peoples hearts have been snuffed out, nothing is going to change. But once reality does set in, I think we are going to see a $4!7 storm the likes of which we have never seen.

Or

The depression 2.0 could really be over and there will be jobs for all digging ditches by years end

[/sarcasm]

[metalman]

Re: Crowd Of 10,000 Overwhelms N.H. Job Fair

You mean protest whats going on? Or rally and demand change and hold the savages in power accountbale like our friends in Europe are famous for? If so, do you know how clueless people are in America? You have these morons in Washington putting out reports that the recession is almost over and folks are swallowing it hook, line and sinker. Just look on this forum, you have people here talking about the worst is over. Its like some of them have been ignoring everything EJ, Fred, Roubini, Schiff and MANY others have been saying. There will be bounces along the way and it is going to take a LONG time. But one glimmer of hope from the Master of Cermonies (El Presidente) and out come the party hats and parting gifts. People are clueless man, and until things get worse and all the hope and rays of sunshine in peoples hearts have been snuffed out, nothing is going to change. But once reality does set in, I think we are going to see a $4!7 storm the likes of which we have never seen.

Or

The depression 2.0 could really be over and there will be jobs for all digging ditches by years end

[/sarcasm]

shit storm summer 2010 is my guess.

[vanvaley1]

Re: Crowd Of 10,000 Overwhelms N.H. Job Fair

shit storm summer 2010 is my guess.

I'd be interested in knowing what the trigger will be that sets it off: gasoline prices, food prices, expiration of unemployment benefits, grid failure, another war, etc. etc. etc. ?