Plant Services - September 2007 - (Page 23) CRISIS CORNER Root cause failure analysis of job fairs Most common pitfalls for job seekers and employers to avoid A fter hosting the fourth Skilled Maintenance/Faciliqualified talent and a decision-maker to ask the most qualities Engineering Job Fair on July 19, at the MPACT fied the tough questions and set up follow-up interviews. Learning Center in Greensboro, N.C., I realized 4. Prejudge candidates too soon. Recruiting skilled mainthat many job seekers and employers still have lots to learn tenance technicians is tough. Many times, the best techniabout how to optimize performance at these events. Many of cians are great at the work but rotten at conveying a polished the 1,200 candidates and 52 employers who participated were image, a spiffy resume or communicating their knowledge. delighted with the event, while others wasted the opportuMeanwhile, many incompetent technicians have great renity to network by committing common mistakes. sumes, suits and can talk for days, but won’t be good workThe biggest root cause contributor to inefficiency is lack of ers. That’s why it’s important to have an open mind and have knowledge and experience with job fairs. So, to help job seekmultiple exposures to potential candidates to make sure you ers succeed, I offer the five most common mistakes to avoid: find the best candidates. 1. Not bringing enough resumes. You’ll need 5. Fail to follow up quickly. After the job fair, at least 40 copies. sort through the stack of resumes and invite 2. Wearing too casual attire. Being too casual the best candidates for preliminary interviews. Lack of can be construed as lack of interest or ambiknowledge and Do this quickly, as other employers are comtion to attain the job. Wear a suit and tie. peting for the same talent. To make sure canexperience are didates are considering you first, e-mail them 3. Meeting only with employers who market to the two biggest invitations within 24 hours of the job fair. consumers. While lines formed for Miller and Goodyear, many walked past Degussa StockFinally, here are the two biggest mistakes contributors. hausen and other companies whose names job fair organizers should avoid: aren’t as familiar. Talk to every exhibitor. 1. Failure to promote the event. Getting me4. Arriving too late to spend quality time with employers. For dia support is critical to gain awareness and attendance. A example, the MPACT Job Fair starts at 4 p.m. and lasts unmedia consultant helped me develop my press release so til 7 p.m. Arrive at 3:30 p.m. to meet with employers while that it contained information the media wanted to see in they’re still fresh. a format attractive for them to view. Also, send several an5. Expecting employers to call them. Each candidate should nouncements. Provide job descriptions and pay scale ranges pursue opportunities by taking the initiative and persistentof employers. Give the media lists of confirmed employers ly following up with desired employers. that will attend. Remember the cliché, “if it bleeds it leads,” Now for the five most common mistakes employers make: so if you want your event to get billing over the latest violent 1. Fail to clearly express needs to job fair organizers. In adcrimes, develop strong relationships with media. vance, send the organizers your job orders, pay scale ranges, 2. Failure to design the event for real employers. Amazingly, types of qualifications and job descriptions. The more fair many job fairs are designed backwards. They attract candiorganizers know about your needs, the better they can fill dates and a full day is allocated to make it easy for them to them. Your information also could be used in media promoattend. They also charge employers and not the candidates. tion to increase the candidate pool. Therefore, most job fairs become dominated by temporary 2. Fail to stand out over other employers. To be noticed by agencies. If you have quality, big-name employers and proattendees and help them connect to your company, display mote it, candidates will come from hundreds of miles away. your product. To identify potential talent that can solve your I stand ready to help you with recruiting maintenance talbiggest equipment issues, bring some small equipment that ent. Please feel free to contact me to brainstorm. commonly breaks down, like motors, steam traps, etc. 3. Fail to connect with candidates. Bring enough staff. Have E-mail Contributing Editor Joel Leonard at leonard.joel@mpact greeters to collect resumes, a staff member to filter potential learning.com. September 2007 www.PLANTSERVICES.com 23 http://www.plantservices.com/articles/2005/453.html http://www.PLANTSERVICES.com
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