Hosting a career fair is a large undertaking. It requires event planning, employer invitations, and student interaction. The entire planning process can feel overwhelming at times. In fact, even small career fairs can take more work than some are willing to put in. You may be wondering if all the work is worth it to your school and its students. Well, trust us when we say the benefits of hosting a fair can far outweigh all the stress.
Top Benefits of Hosting a Career Fair
- Give students access to a large number of employers. The focus of the fair is to get your students access to employers who have plenty of positions to fill. Hosting a fair gives you the ability to invite as many employers as your venue can handle. You can scale the fair based on your students' needs and fields. Students will get the opportunity to meet a wide variety of employers from multiple industries.
- Promote your school as a source of good candidates to employers. You have a stake in the career fair as well. You want employers to view your school's programs as good training venues for future employees. When you host recruiters at the fairs, you get the opportunity to give them an overview of your programs and school.
- Give employers access to high-quality job candidates. The main reason recruiters attend fairs is to meet highly qualified students that can fill the positions they have open. When you host a fair, you are offering them this opportunity. The more students who attend, the more potential employees the recruiters get to meet.
- Educate students on how to conduct their job search. Besides giving employers and students a chance to meet, a career fair offers a chance to host seminars and lectures on all aspects of hunting and securing a job. You can ask employers to be part of panel discussions on topics related to particular industries or job types. You can even have guest speakers from inside or outside the school.
- Educate students on the school resources available to them. Your school has a department devoted to assisting students with their job searches. Surprisingly, many students don't know much about these resources and often do not use them to the fullest extent. You can set up a table at the fair, which allows you to connect with students who want to learn what resources are available to them.
An efficient, well-planned career fair will definitely benefit your school and your students. It will even provide value to the recruiters that attend. Now, all you need to do is get started planning your first fair.
