Making the most out of Recruitment Career Fairs & Job Shows Hosted by:

Official Partner:

Introduction So you’re an in-house recruiter, contemplating taking on an exhibition as part of your recruitment strategy, but you’re not sure where to begin or what your brand can really get out of it. There’s no doubt that an exhibition is hard work, but with the right strategy in place your business can:  Generate new candidates  Gain live research about your brand  Have a voice through all that digital noise An exhibition’s primary role is to create potential hires and with a new generation to target there’s a bigger need than ever before, to outsource people innovatively. Exhibitions are a rare opportunity to meet new candidates face-to-face, eliminating much of that initial sifting process that you may typically experience as an in-house recruiter. It is also an opportunity for research; find out what people think of your brand, products and pitches. Direct market research is an invaluable resource to improve your service and job shows present that prospect.

“Employer branding is expected to gain greater strategic importance” - Harvard Business Review. The Harvard Business Review recently explained that ‘the approach to building a strong employer brand has changed over the last few years—as has its impact on hiring.’ Exhibitions are an opportunity to do just that. It’s a different approach to hiring and helps enhance your employer branding. Some people really enjoy this aspect of business, they can talk to the audience and build brand presence, but some of us can find it a bit overwhelming. In this 30-point guide you’ll find collected research from our conferences plus tried and tested pointers from Capita Resourcing that will help you discover how to get the best out of your recruitment job show. By nurturing your target objectives; learning how to create the most engaging approach and designing a memorable exhibition that achieves your brand objectives.

Pre-Event 1. Planning This is the most important part of any process you come across within business and planning for recruitment fairs should not be any different.

2. Key Stakeholder/Business Support This is important. You need commitment from the business so that you know everyone is on board and understands what you’re trying to achieve by exposing the brand at job shows and careers fairs. Sometimes, it may not necessarily be a more senior person, rather an “influencer” within the business. Someone who is respected by others and has a voice can have a huge impact when you are looking for senior level buy-in. Remember: Recruitment is ultimately the most important function in the business. Without recruitment there would be no people/a lot of very bad quality hires, so make sure you are constantly visible within your organisation in order to get this kind of support.

3. Strategy First and foremost, you need to have a clear strategy in terms of what you are looking to get out of attending a job show/careers fair. Ask yourself some of the following questions: What are you looking to achieve? There are a variety of good arguments for attending job shows. 

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Brand awareness; even if you don’t have any current opportunities, getting your brand out there and at the forefront of people’s minds is invaluable. This adds to your recruitment efforts as candidates will come to you rather than the other way round. You can use recruitment events as marketing tools. Talent-pooling; again, don’t feel as though a job show is pointless because you have no current opportunities. Job shows are a great place to connect face-to-face with candidates for potential future hires. Alongside your live recruitment campaigns, it is important to grow your employer brand and keep candidates engaged. Changing brand perceptions; one of the reasons you may struggle to hire could be because your employer brand has a bad reputation for one reason or another. This is the perfect, and one of the only opportunities you will have to change that. New hires; an obvious one! If you have vacancies you’re looking to fill, a job show is a great place for volume hires, and at the very least, eliminates the shortlisting process. It also gives you the opportunity to meet candidates who may not necessarily come across well in writing, but actually have the right attitudes and values that you look for in your workforce.

What justifies a good ROI for attending? Here are a few points to consider:  Increasing your company’s employer profile will naturally direct more candidate traffic to your site/recruitment campaigns.  Achieving better value per hire. The cost of setting up a space at a job show may, in many cases, be less compared to what you might pay a recruitment agency for a placement.  Retention rates could be improved by speaking to and selecting people with the right culture fit for the business. What are your current and future recruitment requirements? This should be the obvious question when setting out your job show recruitment strategy. Everyone representing the business must be fully aware of the current and potential future opportunities you have! If you don’t have a strong recruitment strategy, you need one. Especially if you are a rapidly growing business or a business working with volume hires. Have you exhibited in the past? If so, what worked and what didn’t work? Learning from successes and challenges you have experienced from past events should definitely factor into any careers fair you now partake in. One small tweak in your process could mean the difference between your new dream candidate or a washout event!

4. Find the One Research the event that attracts the visitors you want to meet that will ultimately get your brand results. An event that outsources your target audience will offer opportunities for your brand to gain market research that will help your business grow.

5. Keep Your Eye On The Target Note your key targets for the exhibition. This can be anything from the number of potential hires to application submissions you wish to accomplish. Alongside your targets set milestones to stay on track in manageable bite-size chunks.

6. Create a Marketing Plan Get to know the organiser face-to-face and be personable. Don’t be afraid to ask for the organisers marketing plan to ensure you’re attracting the right target audience and be involved in free press coverage and event TV interviews. Also have a look at what your competitors are doing in areas of marketing, both in digital and print to maintain a competitive edge while creating your marketing plan.

7. Get People Talking How will you stand out before the event? Get your web listing promoted through social channels and look into the right editorial to promote the event. Local newspapers and magazines are great promos before the event to explain why you’re going to be exhibiting.

8. Social Media strategy This is another good way of getting people talking. Engaging with the event organiser is advantageous on both sides. They will crave some pre-event noise in the same way that you want to promote your employer brand. Don’t dismiss social media strategy. It should be comprehensive and consistent.

9. Budget Check Use these costings as a checklist to help manage your exhibition:    

Stand and Stand Space Staffing (before, during and after event) Giveaways Travel & Accommodation (if required)

10. Pick a Theme Themes are fast becoming the hot exhibition trend because it breaks up the monotony of bland stands. Although big brands may maximise on space, you can maximise on impact. Ensure your stand is responsive with strong graphics and avoid garden furniture with tablecloths, as they tend to look on budget. You could also provide an educational element to your theme, for instance developing topical surveys and games which produce content specifically from the show, which incentives’ candidates to stay in touch and exchange details.

11. Stand Position Yes this really does matter and is extremely important. Imagine yourself as a candidate at a job fair for a second and think about your behaviour as a visitor to a show yourself. You are instantly drawn to the first thing you see aren’t you? If it is a big show, they may get fed up, bored, tired or need to leave for a variety of reasons. If you are pushed up against the back wall, quietly out of the way then you aren’t giving yourself the best chance from the off.

12. The Five Senses Take advantage of every sense to bring in your audience. Challenge the visitor’s learning and discovery of your products in a live environment. Build the sensory exploration into the stand design to show the difference between you and everyone else.

13. And You Are? Have a system set-up to record and backup your potential hires. A great incentive is to sign-up your potential hires then and there, this will trigger your next step to schedule a meeting. If you’re noting your candidates the old fashioned way with pen and paper, have a template ready to detail essential information you’ll need to follow up with: contact, name and the best time to get in touch.

14. Who Should Attend The Stand? 80% of successful stands are the result of staff, SO TRAIN AND INVEST IN THEM! Collaborate staff, avoid only hiring recruiters to manage your exhibition stand. Make sure you include those actually doing the jobs you are advertising for.

“People are far more likely to trust a company based on what its employees have to say than on its recruitment advertising” – Harvard Business Review. Clients look for first-hand knowledge of the roles advertised and insights to organisations working culture; so get those specific people in, too. Give staff KPI’s, jobs and responsibilities for the job show to keep them ahead of the competition and smash their ROI. Case Study: PwC attended the London Job Show, where they hired 20 recruiters on a rota of 4 people per shift. PwC primarily had recruiters, including student recruiters to reach a new, digital generation. This was a new tact for PwC and worked for their target audience.

15. Grand Designs Ensure your stand delivers your exhibition objectives. Include interactive components for customer engagement and create an eyecatching presence. Remember, a stand may appeal to the eye, but the first and only reason for their existence is to help meet your objectives.

Image: Quadrant2Design

16. Free Stuff / Collateral Give Away You want to offer a sample of your product, but you don’t want it to suck. Here’s how:   

Make it a ‘test drive’. Ensure the freebie gives enough experience of the product that it makes them want the real thing Ask how they will use it and will they tell others? Select a product that keeps people talking after the exhibition, it will expose your brand message long term

17. Partner in Crime The only thing better than having a stand at an exhibition is having four and if you partner up with the right exhibitors you’ll be the true dons of the exhibition hall. Do your research; liaise with companies that could help drive visitors to your exhibition stands. Word of mouth referrals get results.

During the event 18. Flag Your Ship Add a preview issue by creating a sign that simply says: ‘See us on Stand #’ In an environment where everyone is trying to get your attention, a little direction never hurt anyone. A flag is an opportunity to build up anticipation before your stand, so take advantage of the step-bystep alerts you can design to offer momentum.

19. Stranger, Danger As little boys and girls we were told not to talk to strangers. At an exhibition, forget everything your mum told you. Speak to everyone. Ensure your team have a strategy in place that considers your rota, team placement and conversation. Remember, don’t just sell - try to have a personality too!

20. What’s Your Opening Line? Avoid closed questions that deliver an immediate NO. Ask open questions that require more than a one-worded answer. Here are three questions to kick-start discussions:

“Who are your top three recruitment brands?"

“Tell me about your objectives for attending this show”

“What are your major challenges in recruitment?”

21. Whatever You Do, Don’t Do This.... Here is a breakdown of actions to avoid at your next job show, we know it’s all habit, but just don’t...      

Use a mobile phone Eat on the stand Sit down in-front of your audience Have your back to the aisle Create a messy stand Offer cheap freebies

22. Have a Voice Be confident– you know your business, its achievements, abilities and goals. So sell it like you do. Discover an element of the business that you’re most passionate about and talk about it. Strained enthusiasm is transparent and can weaken the voice of you and your brand.

23. Interview at the Event! Be a game changer, be proactive and get interviews rolling at the event. Be clear on how you will use the exhibition space. You can set-up an area that allows you to speak to potential candidates with an element of privacy. Keep the interview light with a follow-up meeting to really cater to their search.

24. Provide A Great Candidate Experience Try to note an extra detail. If you can make a personal note of something different about that candidate it shows you paid attention and can bulk out the follow up conversation with a more personal element.

Post Event 25. After care strategy You’d be amazed at how many exhibitors forget an after care strategy. Have this in your marketing plan: a marketing email, social media thank-you messages and have the phone at the ready! Remember to review your first objectives, your achievements and then go forth.

26. Post-Event Follow-Up Checklist Richard Hutchinson, Head of Sourcing at Capita Resourcing, recommends this 4 point follow-up check list post-event: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Next day - thanks for attending email 1 week – more information about current live roles Quarterly - keep warm strategy Follow up on all leads to ensure maximum hire impact

27. Track Your Exhibition ROI This is one of those ‘ohhhh yeahhh!’ moments. To monitor response rates from an exhibition there are options which luckily aren’t as scary as you may think.

Setup the following: 

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Code adverts – they are great for competitions and with everyone owning a Smartphone this is an easy way to track candidates. See our Resources section for more information and check out ‘5 Genius Examples of QR Codes in Marketing’ Use a dedicated URL, email or phone number as a response mechanism for the event. This way you know the people contacting you via these mediums are from the exhibition only. The unique URL could also promote specific vacancies that are not promoted elsewhere as a selling point (aka. click bait)

28. Keep Building Your Job Show Presence Once you’ve experienced a job show or two, you will start to build an idea of what works and what doesn’t work for you! Note this down and use it to develop your process. Eventually you’ll iron out all of the cracks and end up with a strong, slick candidate experience.

29. Candidate Experience Should Always Be Front Of Mind Remember that the candidate experience is what your entire process should be about. You’ll attract the best people if you’ve offered a well-structured, personalised and most importantly EASY experience.

30. Have Fun One last point to leave you with, just enjoy yourself! As an in-house recruiter, you will enjoy interacting with people and job shows offer you that opportunity but supercharge it so you will be in your element.

Resources Here are some useful resources to give you inspiration on designing your stand and creating the right Q&A for your next job show.  Design Inspiration For Your Stands From Quadrant2Design https://www.flickr.com/photos/quadrant2design/  Red Cliff’s Do’s & Don’ts of Exhibitions http://www.redcliffe.co.uk/resources/planning_for_exhibitions.htm  Top 7 Questions You Should Ask an Exhibition Organiser http://www.chsgroupuk.com/node/33  CEOs Need to Pay Attention to Employer Branding https://hbr.org/2015/05/ceos-need-topay-attention-to-employer-branding  Case Study B-to-B Case Study: How to Stand Out at a Crowded Industry Event http://adage.com/article/btob/case-study-stand-a-crowded-industry-event/295931/  5 Genius Examples of QR Codes in Marketing https://blog.kissmetrics.com/genius-qrcodes/

Conclusion We hope you found this 30-point-guide helpful and consider some of these next time you’re approaching an exhibition. The aim of this guide is to offer you a fresh insight into targeting your audience by developing brand voice, design and sell. Every aspect of a job show allows you to deliver a tangibale, offline experience that can be visually stimualting for your audience. It also benefits your staff, presenting challenges that will broaden their skill set, so why not give your local exhibition a second look? Richard Hutchinson from Capita Resourcing kindly presented his experiences of job shows and careers fairs as Capita’s Head of Sourcing. Special thanks to JS Media, creators of the hugely successful London and Milton Keynes job shows which boasted over 265,000 attendees. JS Media work with over 120 existing clients including PwC, easyJet, Mercedes-Benz, Rightmove, NHBC and many others. To find out how you can benefit, visit JS Media or email Mike Bickerdike: [email protected] quoting ‘breakfast event’.