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•Know which positions you are actively trying to fill. Be sure that you are familiar with our open positions and hard-to-fill opportunities. Career fairs attract a wide range of people and you never know who will show up at your booth! You may consider preparing a sheet of talking points to ensure you cover all of the key points.

•Be well versed in who our company is and what we do. Be prepared to answer questions from candidates regarding our business.

•Prepare questions or a brief interview to pre-qualify applicants. Chitchat is great, but the goal of attending a career fair is to find candidates for your jobs. Prepare questions to ask those who express an interest in your company to pre-qualify them. This ensures that you don’t waste your time, or theirs.

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•Give attendees every opportunity to get in touch. Leave a sign-in sheet at the front of the booth so that candidates can leave contact information; this approach will also help draw in less-outgoing candidates.

•Dressing to impress is a two-way street. Please dress professionally in business or business casual.

•Be sure to be set up on-time•Being approachable means getting out from behind your table. Standing up in front of the table makes you appear more inviting to potential candidates.

• If you are collecting resumes at the booth, find a way to discreetly mark resumes of those candidates who warrant a follow up. Make sure you let candidates know they will need to apply online and be able to give them instructions. Po

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• Follow up with your new contacts immediately after the job fair. You will want to talk with the candidates while their attention is still piqued. Send a quick e-mail to thank them for speaking with you and career page link with how to apply directions. Send this no later than one week after initial contact at the fair.

•You may want to reach out to people who attended the fair, but didn't approach you. Some companies offer employers access to a database of resumes from all the registered attendees for a period after the fair.

•Reach out to fellow Recruiters post fair with any prospective candidates resumes who might be a good fit for their open position.

•Pass copies of the most attractive candidates on to HM’s and Recruiters, but hang on to all of them for several months. If you need to hire quickly, you'll have your own small database of candidates, many of whom you've already screened, to call in for further interviews.

Conifer Health Career FairA Practical Guide and Best Practices

for Attending Job Fairs

• As a corporate recruiter or representative attending a career fair, you are a brand ambassador and the “face” of your company. For the people who visit your booth, you may be the only person from your company who they ever meet. The way that you engage with job seekers leaves a lasting impression of your entire organization. Whether that impression is good or bad, is up to you. Whether is a college career fair or local job fair, you are the face of the company to the job seekers.

• Dressing to impress is a two-way street. Please dress professionally in business or business casual. Consider dressing in layers, as unfortunately the temperature in the Fair facility is unpredictable and can fluctuate between too warm and too cool.

• Be sure to be set up on-time (as it’s often the most motivated students who arrive earliest in the day).• Being approachable means getting out from behind your table. For many job seekers, attending a job fair is intimidating. They

are in a vulnerable position during these tough economic times. Our job as company representatives is to be approachable. Standing up in front of the table makes you appear more inviting to potential candidates.

• The best way to welcome potential new employees is to stand, not sit, at your exhibit (And this reminds me – wear comfortable shoes!). Don’t wait for candidates to approach you; consider asking open-ended, yet specific questions. Initiate contact with quiet, shy jobseekers. It can be very intimidating for people to strike up a conversation with a stranger, so be sure to break the ice. If one person is at the booth, it makes it tough to take meal and restroom breaks. Leaving the booth unstaffed may leave people with the impression you don’t care. Instead, try and bring a buddy. It can also make the slow parts of the day go more quickly if you have someone to talk to.

• Develop a system for follow up. If you are collecting resumes at the booth, find a way to discreetly mark resumes of those candidates who warrant a follow up. If you are not collecting resumes, make sure you let candidates know they will need to apply online and be able to give them instructions. After the fair, make sure to follow up with all people who inquire and met you at the booth. Follow up with your new contacts immediately after the job fair. You will want to talk with the candidates while their attention is still piqued. You may also want to reach out to people who attended the fair, but didn't approach you. Some companies offer employers access to a database of resumes from all the registered attendees for a period after the fair.

Recruiter Tips for a Successful FairThings to Remember:

Recruiter - Career Fair Follow up Checklist

Return Career Fair Pack supplies to Talent Acquisition Coordinator

Send follow up email to all candidate contacts within 7 business days. Be sure to include “how to apply” instructions

Reach out to interested Recruiters post fair with any prospective candidates resumes who might be a good fit for their open position

Follow up with Talent Acquisition Coordinator post fair with feedback form. “Was this worth our time and investment”?

Recruiter Career Fair Supply Checklist

Retractable Banner

Branded Tablecloth

Business Cards

Who we are Flyers

Screen Cloth Giveaways

Pen and Pad for notes

Please check to make sure all supplies are included in your Career Fair Pack. Please return all unused business cards, flyers and all other provided supplies for

future Fair use.