Observations of a Job Fair
Two days, two job fairs. First one was described as "email your resume, we'll then forward it on to all the participants". The other was your typical, run of the mill thing.
Well, Tuesday night, first fair. The company running it instructed you to register and then you'd receive 'cards of introduction' from the companies already there, so that you didn't waste your time talking to ones that weren't a good fit. Nope, didn't happen. In talking to one of the recruiters, they were passed around a book with all the resumes and they had two minutes each.
It was a sea of boring, black suits. Each recruiter did a two minute sales pitch on why you needed to work for their company.
I equate it to 'sharks'. Some of these guys were aggressive about why THEY had the best job. Ya know, not everyone wants a high pressure, commission sales job. I ended up talking to three of the twelve companies, one I really liked (still commission, though-yuck) because their corporate model is built on all profits going to philanthropic efforts.
Wednesday morning, same hotel, different company holding job fair. The same room that had 12 companies last night now had 30 companies. More traditional, with tables set up. This one was good, you got a program when you registered that listed the participants, what their company did and what positions they were hiring for. There were a lot of people, and the good companies had looooooong lines. The FBI was there recruiting, too. Nice to know I'm too old for them, huh? The department of Social Services for Washington State was there. Hello, this is the other side of the country!
I ended up talking to five companies in all, and a couple of other job seekers. Mostly while we were waiting in line for my previous employer. One recruiter handling this and they'd had the longest line. What they were recruiting for is below my neccessary salary, but they did need Ops Manager candidates, so I may be hearing back. There was another that loved the resume, was really interested until we talked numbers-they pay considerably less than what I make. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. At least I know the resume is good-got comments from just about everyone.
Once again, if I wanted a job selling cars, I could start ASAP. Unfortunately, the dealer in question doesn't have the companies I like under their banner. Ed would love it-here honey, I brought a demo Charger home for the weekend! Yeah, the money's good, but I am so gun shy of commission. The whole point of this exercize is to find jobs that don't involve weekends.
There was some amusement factor in this one. I saw a real life "Pat", you know, the Julia Sweeney character from SNL. Walked by in a herringbone sport coat and pants and looked like a girl but enough 'off' to make me question my identification . Later, saw "Pat" talking with a recruiter and 'it' appeared to be a guy, but maybe the voice was due to chain smoking cigarettes. Dunno.
Hootchie mama clothes are NOT suitable for job seeking. Yep, some female was there in a white cami top, painted on jeans, belly piercing showing with three inch flip flops on. She was waiting in line for the Social Services job. She was probably the worst, but I did see some neon dragon lady nails, too.
All in all, not a total waste. That said, I still need to venture to more of these events, so I suppose I'd better get used to them!
Well, Tuesday night, first fair. The company running it instructed you to register and then you'd receive 'cards of introduction' from the companies already there, so that you didn't waste your time talking to ones that weren't a good fit. Nope, didn't happen. In talking to one of the recruiters, they were passed around a book with all the resumes and they had two minutes each.
It was a sea of boring, black suits. Each recruiter did a two minute sales pitch on why you needed to work for their company.
I equate it to 'sharks'. Some of these guys were aggressive about why THEY had the best job. Ya know, not everyone wants a high pressure, commission sales job. I ended up talking to three of the twelve companies, one I really liked (still commission, though-yuck) because their corporate model is built on all profits going to philanthropic efforts.
Wednesday morning, same hotel, different company holding job fair. The same room that had 12 companies last night now had 30 companies. More traditional, with tables set up. This one was good, you got a program when you registered that listed the participants, what their company did and what positions they were hiring for. There were a lot of people, and the good companies had looooooong lines. The FBI was there recruiting, too. Nice to know I'm too old for them, huh? The department of Social Services for Washington State was there. Hello, this is the other side of the country!
I ended up talking to five companies in all, and a couple of other job seekers. Mostly while we were waiting in line for my previous employer. One recruiter handling this and they'd had the longest line. What they were recruiting for is below my neccessary salary, but they did need Ops Manager candidates, so I may be hearing back. There was another that loved the resume, was really interested until we talked numbers-they pay considerably less than what I make. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. At least I know the resume is good-got comments from just about everyone.
Once again, if I wanted a job selling cars, I could start ASAP. Unfortunately, the dealer in question doesn't have the companies I like under their banner. Ed would love it-here honey, I brought a demo Charger home for the weekend! Yeah, the money's good, but I am so gun shy of commission. The whole point of this exercize is to find jobs that don't involve weekends.
There was some amusement factor in this one. I saw a real life "Pat", you know, the Julia Sweeney character from SNL. Walked by in a herringbone sport coat and pants and looked like a girl but enough 'off' to make me question my identification . Later, saw "Pat" talking with a recruiter and 'it' appeared to be a guy, but maybe the voice was due to chain smoking cigarettes. Dunno.
Hootchie mama clothes are NOT suitable for job seeking. Yep, some female was there in a white cami top, painted on jeans, belly piercing showing with three inch flip flops on. She was waiting in line for the Social Services job. She was probably the worst, but I did see some neon dragon lady nails, too.
All in all, not a total waste. That said, I still need to venture to more of these events, so I suppose I'd better get used to them!
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