Insights and best practices

Maximise the effect of your career fair

A career fair is ultimately about creating meaningful connections. When the event is filled with dynamic and engaging stalls, content, and activities, the higher the chances of two parties being active, "meeting" each other, and connecting.

We have gathered insights from hundreds of hosted career fairs, and are proud to present four easy ways in which you can maximise the effect of your career fair.

1. Organiser stalls

Each exhibitor/attending company will have their own stall at your event. We have found that hosting an organiser stall adds additional value to attendees. Examples of these stalls could be a support stall for general questions about the career fair, a CV-optimising stall, or even just a spot for your attendees to communicate with you.

Organiser stalls help support attendees - which ultimately will increase the effectiveness of your career event. Based on hundreds of past events, we can say that attendees are very interested in stalls offering CV and cover letter help, and that they use support stalls actively.

Feeling well-supported and having a clear idea of where to go in case of doubt or practical questions provides tremendous value.

Quick tip!

Use your organiser stall to encourage attendees to be proactive in reaching out to companies! It is an excellent way to maximise interaction.

2. Competitions and giveaways

Just as in a physical event, grabbing and retaining attendees’ attention during a career fair can be a challenge. One way of attracting attendees to a company stall is by doing competitions and giveaways. They provide additional value to attendees, and even though visitors of a stall may not originally be lured in because of the company itself, our research shows that visitor retention, interaction, and overall ROI increases with the use of such incentives.

Giveaways and contests can be done on the organiser level, or on an exhibitor stall basis. Past successful examples include organisers rewarding attendees with the most initiated interactions (chat, video chat or interview), and exhibitors selecting winners among those who visited the stall and sent in a CV, asked questions or in other ways interacted with recruiters.

In short

Create your own giveaway, and encourage exhibitors to do so as well!

3. Mingle with exhibitors

As the organiser of a career fair, it can be challenging to communicate with exhibitors on the day of the event. That is why we have now added the option of visiting a stall/event as an attendee.

Visiting a career fair as an attendee shows organisers the event from a different perspective, and it provides a better overview, and understanding of how the event is going. When in visitor mode, you can “walk through” the stalls and initiate chats with exhibitors. In our experience, it creates more two-way communication between organisers and exhibitors, increasing interactions and bringing a human element to a fair.

Quick tip!

Assign one of your organisers to “mingle” with exhibitors on the day of the event.

4. LIVE Presentations

Live presentations and webinars are an excellent way to provide additional value to all parties involved in a career fair. Attendees will learn about exhibiting companies, hear experts talk about their field, and even ask real-time questions. Meanwhile, presenting exhibitors will get increased exposure, interaction from students and overall a stronger presence on the day of the event.

We recommend that you organise a combination of keynote speakers, company presentations, and even panels. As the event host, we strongly suggest that you give a presentation of your own, for instance, to welcome the participants or engaging them in quizzes (e.g. via kahoot). 

Hosting presentations is a huge plus for a career fair. However, hosting too many (and filling up the entire length of the event), or having several simultaneous presentations decreases their effect. Instead of the many benefits, these practices will result in decreased interaction and split audiences, ultimately decreasing engagement and value.

In short

Use the LIVE Presentation tool to welcome students and give our own presentation. Avoid hosting too many/simultaneous presentations.