NH's Best Attended Job Fair of 2008

Just another tireless week on the Recruiting Front Lines...

This week, we hosted a job fair for the first time ever in New Hampshire. After partnering with a radio group for additional exposure, and capturing 10 second TV spots, we felt confident that we could attract a significant number of job seekers for this event. As it turned out, we hit our goal of 1,000 attendees (this is an actual number, within 10 or 15 plus or minus based on sign ins), during the 5 hour event. Since 2004, the job board I work for has been the number one resource in the state for employment advertising, and our local focus and connection with the labor market really supported a tremendous event.

You can see a brief article on the event here: Greatest Job Fair Attendance in NH this year!

I was very proud to be part of this event, and am happy to report that many exhibitors considered this event to be among the best job fair they've ever attended. We prepared job seekers by asking them to register in advance, and then providing reminder emails and updates with articles and tips for making a good job fair impression. We believe this truly impacted the quality of the attendees, and provided the employers with good potential candidates.

It was great to see a room absolutely stuffed full of eager job seekers and well-prepared recruiters. On the other hand, I do have to question the motivating factor behind the turnout. While I'd like to believe that this was simply the power of the state's leading employment resource focusing all it's energy on bringing some of the best employers in NH together in one place for one day, even my hubris doesn't extend that far.

Is the market really causing an increase in the unemployed? OR, has the pervasive reporting of a potential recession stirred the fears of those who are working, inciting them to prepare for potential job change? I'd love to hear your opinion on the market in NH, if you have one. Please send in a comment!

MEMORABLE JOB SEEKER STORY OF THE DAY: Acting as the host for this event, I spent the greatest amount of time and energy ensuring the comfort and success of our employers. This gave me little time to talk with job seekers. I did have one conversation, though, with a job seeker who had been laid off from high tech software sales (project management) and was now looking to start over. Unlike many other stories, this was a highly technical, qualified, experienced hi-tec professional, who, due to losing a major account to a competitor, was laid off. It was interesting to hear about the process and obstacles that he now faces. In his previous career, he was selling 6 and 7 figure solutions to hi-tech companies, so a single account was worth a great deal of money. As you can imagine, there aren't too many jobs like that in New Hampshire. So, here he was, unemployed, but not in an urgent enough situation to take a big step backwards, walking through our job fair. I spoke with him briefly about transferring his skills and professionalism to a career in Volvo sales, thinking he would relate well to that market. I hope he had a successful day, and wish him all the best for a smooth transition into his next phase.


MEMORABLE EMPLOYER STORY OF THE DAY: Every event presents me with an opportunity to meet a great new business that is enjoying great success and growth in an industry that I'm not familiar with. This time around it was CNC manufacturer of Plastics, who was attending a job fair for the first time. Normally the rely on internet and word of mouth, but were hoping to reach a new audience through the face to face event. They were unsure what to expect, and I believe ended up with a decent number of good candidates. I was glad that they made the time to attend, and hope that they fill a few positions with us. I also spoke with a representative of another manufacturer who also never attended a job fair before. Prior to the start of the event, I was showing him where the lunch room was and walking him back to the exhibit hall when he mentioned that he wasn't even sure he should be there, because of all the work he had waiting for him. As is true of so many recruiters and personnel directors in mid size companies, he likely wears many hats, and finding 5 hours in work week isn't easy. I stopped by during the middle of the event, and he was very happy he made the decision to come. In fact, he said he found some candidates with potential for a few positions he hadn't even thought to hire for yet. Thanks for coming, if you are reading this, and I hope those resumes work out for you!

Well, that's all from the recruiting front lines in Bedford, NH. Happy Hiring, and Joyous Job Hunting everyone!

Jason