Ever wondered about bulk recruitment that can get you an effective and efficient mass of employees at once, and that too with affordable costs. You got that right. Job Fairs have proved to be an employer and employee-friendly method of volume recruiting. It has numerous advantages, which makes it an attractive mass recruiting strategy. Recruiting at a career fair can be a bit stressful, but you can interact and expand your network through this method of bulk recruitment. 

There can be various reasons and methods for bulk recruitment. But managing high-volume recruitment is a task in itself. For this, a bulk recruitment strategy is to be made by the recruiting team so that they attract the finest layer of graduates. Job aspirants who walked in the career fair or job fair get knowledge of various vacant job positions and expand their network. In this article, you will get to know about the reasons for bulk recruitment, Job Fair as a method of bulk recruitment, pros and cons of Job Fairs, points to bear in mind for recruiting talented candidates and the effect of COVID-19 on volume recruiting methods.

Why do companies go for bulk recruitment?

Most companies go for bulk recruitment when they are thinking of starting a new project, which involves a huge budget, research, planning and efficient implementation. The companies formed a lookout recently for bulk employees at once. Volume recruitment is required, especially in construction, BPO, customer support, hospitality, telecommunication, banking and manufacturing sectors. The established companies which are aiming to diversify their product line and going for a divisional structure also opt for bulk recruiting methods. 

What are Job Fairs? 

Job Fair or Career Fair is a method of attracting a bulk of talented aspirants simultaneously. Organizing Job Fairs will reduce the communication gap between the employers and prospective candidates. It is an event where companies, job aspirants and recent graduates take part and recruiters lookout for prospective employees. Job Fairs have proved to be an efficient way to attract many talented candidates at once. It is also helpful for the job aspirants, wherein they get to choose where they want to work and increase their network. 

How can Job Fairs help in volume recruitment?

Job Fairs prove to be effective on many parameters, such as volume recruitment, expanding contacts, enhancing networks and attracting the best talent. They can be extremely helpful for bulk recruitment and save time for interviewing numerous candidates. Many companies resort to organizing career expos or hackathons to get in contact with numerous talented people. This is also quite an easy way to recruit many people at once. Also, it is helpful to fill the positions that were vacant for a long time.

To organize a Career Fair, the advertisement costs are involved, and the event can be conducted at a suitable location, which can be the office as well. The HR team should also consider other methods of bulk recruiting according to their budget and requirements, such as Employee Referral Programs, Campus Recruitment, Social Media Recruitment, Job Boards, Employment Agencies etc. 

What are the merits and demerits of Job Fairs?

As every coin has two sides, Job Fairs also possess some advantages and disadvantages, which are as follows:

– Merits

1. As compared to other bulk recruiting options, Career Fairs have proved to be quite inexpensive. Though there are advertising and location costs, they are budget-friendly. 
2. The applications of the candidates are readily analyzed in the Job Fairs, which also saves time, both the job aspirants and the company. 
3. Job Fairs are a medium to interact with different types of candidates with requisite qualifications, who use different approaches to perform their duties. This helps the employers to not lose confidence with some unsatisfactory candidates. 
4. Also, these fairs allow networking with other corporations or organizations and increase contacts. For an employer, it becomes worth the time, money and efforts to join hands with competitors and gain knowledge of their plans and policies. The candidates looking for jobs also get to interact with different employers and understand their requirements. 
5. Job Fairs help increase brand awareness and indirect marketing of a brand because of the huge crowd of job seekers.

– Demerits

1. Job Fairs as an option for bulk recruiting is suitable for established companies, as hardly any aspirant gets attracted to jobs offered by recent companies.
2. The vast crowd increases stress on recruiters, as there are high chances of missing prospective employees, which makes Job Fair an unsuitable option.
3. Because of the immensely large population in the Career Fair, the time to interview each candidate reduces. This is a major drawback of a Job Fair, as many times an unsuitable or inefficient candidate gets selected.
4. Some people who already have a job attend career fairs to look for the second-best option and don’t come to get a job. 
5. Job Fair is a draining and tiring task. Due to the inability to deal with large crowds, it becomes the tendency of the HR team to miss out on some of the best options.

What are points to remember while recruiting through Job Fairs?

Some points to keep in mind while recruiting candidates by organizing Job Fairs are:

1. Always be industry-specific while organizing Job Fairs so that you are able to stimulate your employer branding strategy and attract top talent from your field.
2. You can also choose for Campus Recruitment by organizing a Career Fair in the college/university premises.
3. Choose your representatives wisely, as most job seekers get an idea and form an opinion about your company by having a conversation with the representatives. You can choose from the HR team, hiring managers or other delegates.
4. Prepare for the Job Fair in advance, and make sure that you do not forget to take the company’s brochures and cards that contain the employer’s contact details with you. 
5. Make sure to provide all the representatives with their name and designation tags. You can also get your company’s customized shirts designed for the representatives to have an impact on the job seekers.
6. Always prepare the interview questions beforehand. You can ask role-specific questions or questions related to skills and experience. Ask about the candidate’s qualifications, hobbies, interests and experiences. 
7. Advertising the event through social media, newspapers, existing employees and in your network is really important. 
8. Keep the interview within a specified time frame, wherein you gather all the necessary details about the job seekers and answer their queries. Inform everything about the organization and job to the candidates. 
9. After the event, get in touch with the prospective candidates for the further selection procedure. 
10. Don’t forget to analyze the results of the Job Fair recruitment. This will help you to know the best bulk recruitment strategy for your organization. 

How has volume recruiting affected by COVID-19?

The process of recruiting many people at once through Job Fairs has been affected by COVID-19. Nowadays, Job Fairs are being organized online, which has given the companies much flexibility to interview more and more candidates and also market their brand. Other types of recruitment, such as Campus Recruitment, are also being conducted online. But not interacting with the job seekers face-to-face continues to be a major drawback.

Conclusion

Among the various bulk recruitment methods, Job Fairs or Career Fairs or Career Expos have proved to be effective and efficient. But it, too, has certain benefits as well as limitations. Some points should be remembered while organizing a Job Fair. COVID-19 has converted the traditional Job Fairs into online Job Fairs, which has increased the options for the companies to recruit the best people. 

Questions

1. What are the merits of organizing a Job Fair?

Job Fairs are time and cost-effective, help to expand the network and increase contacts, get the best employees possible and marketing the brand.

2. What is important to consider before organizing a Job Fair?

Before organizing a Career Fair, prepare the interview questions, choose representatives, design customized shirts, brochures, cards and name tags for the representatives. Advertising and choosing the location beforehand is necessary to attract as many people as possible.