Have you ever had a disappointing experience at a job fair?
## Job Fair Blues: A Frustrating Experience
A few days ago, I went to a job fair at my local community college in hopes of finding a new opportunity. However, my experience left me feeling disheartened and frustrated.
### Lack of On-the-Spot Interviews
Most of the booths at the job fair were for the military, local police departments, and other agencies. Unfortunately, the ones that interested me weren’t conducting on-the-spot interviews or accepting resumes.
### QR Codes and Online Applications
Instead of traditional methods, they handed out QR codes and directed applicants to apply online. This was a new and challenging process for me.
### Application Roadblocks
When I attempted to apply for a job online, I encountered several issues. One application repeatedly encountered error codes, while another had no openings in my city. The third application resulted in a quick rejection email.
## The Struggle of Job Hunting
This experience highlighted the difficulties of job hunting in today’s society. Despite our efforts, the process can be needlessly challenging and frustrating.
Remember, you’re not alone in your job search struggles! 🌟 #JobFairBlues #JobHunting #JobSearchStruggles #NewOpportunities #JobSeekerTroubles
Yeah, job fairs are ugh 😑
I’m supposed to go to one next week, but the last one, of course, was like the one you described. So, I highly doubt that I’ll attend. Like yourself, I brought my resume(s), and I dressed nicely (the same as I would to an interview).
Only a few booths there actually involved my career field (healthcare), but all they seemed like they wanted to do was sit there, look pretty, and hand out pamphlets, and then tell me the same QR code shit and/or apply online.
Then WTF are you doing here??? 🙄😒🤨
“Only time I get emails from potential employers tbh” – same.
Two examples of pointless fukery:
Even though this one site (24/7) hasn’t gotten me a gig in a decade, I went to try to refresh my profile there recently as I’d gotten a promo email, and that profile is 3 jobs out of date. Updating the site wouldn’t work, and I contacted them to let them know the issues and zero response.
Every freelance site is a scam where you buy credits for the privilege of bidding on jobs….
Copy and paste the job description in white onto the end of your resume for fewer rejection.
I’m retired (from the military, as it happens) and I’ve watched job fairs go from decent leads to useless in the last 30 years.
It also chaps my ass that absolutely nobody promotes things like union membership or government jobs that don’t require 5 years of experience for a $15/hour job.
One of my early bosses got into a high school internship program at one of the 3-letter agencies, and was an SES (Senior Executive Service) with a high school diploma. She needed to get a bachelor’s around then, but by that point, she could go online and check that block.
Most recently, I saw an ad for [federal-level Air Traffic Control ](https://www.usajobs.gov/job/786558200) – which only requires a HS diploma, a psych eval, a background check and a bare-basic physical exam, (essentially less than you need to join the military) which pays a living wage while in training, starts at over $100k, and comes with a federal pension, which is pretty cushy.
I’m at a loss as to why the capitalists are drowning out the decent options we should all have, but I’m not surprised.
Job fairs are pretty useless now. I’ve gone to several over the years and I’ve regretted it every time. It’s either military, police, fast food chains, recruiters, insurance/sales or colleges. Every now and then I’ll see a hospital or trade job for welders.
Those are the types of jobs that want to pay as little as possible. Any employer there is just churning through employees.
Please reach out to the job fair sponsors and tell them your experience with the failed online application. They will likely follow up with the hiring organizations and the one with the failed system will report that they received zero applications. Arm the job fair organizers with actual data to ensure that they can demonstrate that the hiring process was flawed.
Stay strong.
Job fairs are useless for jobs.
Bit long but this was my most recent fair experience.
I got laid off on April 1st. They told me in January that I’m out so I started my hunt. I went to a job fair hoping to get some leads. Last fair I went to there were in the spot interviews and details about the openings. I was expecting this but bit I was wrong. .
TeamWork boasted about over 20 different teams will be there looking to fill openings in the sports entertainment industry. The entire room reeked of depression and desperation. I only could tolerate talking to five of these organizations because it was completely useless to waste my time and energy.
One company was talking about how they are starting up so they don’t have any positions. Why are you at a job fair if you don’t have any openings? Second has openings in France. Bitch, I’m in Jacksonville, FL. Talked to 3 minor teams and all of them were based in Georgia. Why the fuck they were in Jacksonville is beyond me. It was six hours to drive to their HQ. “Do you do remote? “No” Then whats the point of you being here? The Jaguars and the rest of the minor league teams said the only way to apply is through TeamWork.com. I asked point blank “What’s the point of the job fair if you are not hiring or interviewing here?”
The answer they gave was “So you can lean more about our organization.”
Google and Glassdoor exists. I don’t need to chat up some HR asshole about how great the football team is. I need a fucking job and this was just wasting my time.
I linked up with my super supportive wife, watched a minor league hockey game, downed a couple beers, and tried to forget how insulted I felt. I had an absolute panic attack that evening because that whole experience. The depression of waiting and watching everybody try to find something was a level of depression I never experienced before. I’ll never go to a job fair ever again. At least not for TeamWork. Fuck those guys
I’ve received more job offers at Scarborough Faire than all of the job fairs attended plus linked In and the rest of the online recruiters combined… Corporate, governmental and institutional employers all have one basic thing in common: HR… Human resources, think about it – they spell it out. Your experience and skills are irrelevant, as there are an endless number of people vying for the job. Your ability to be a more attractive candidate than Joe Blow across town comes down to who had more buzzwords in their CV. The winner(s) of the AI vetting round win an all expenses paid trip to a zoom town meeting where you will be asked a bunch of crazy questions straight out of a Roberts personality profile assessment by some of the most inhumane people on the planet. Maybe I’m being a bit overdramatic but I see and hear people complaining about these issues more and more every single day. To these employers we are all members of the original renewable resource, the human race aka useless eaters. Our ever increasing population steadily decreases our value to large organizations that exist only to increase profits for their stakeholders. If it sounds bleak that’s because it is, and things will continue to cost more as we are paid less in exchange for jobs that demand more time and energy than it will be worth, or if you’re a glutton for punishment the stress kills you first.
I once went with my friend in college to a large job fair for our major. He was looking for an externship, I had already secured mine. He put on a business suit, I had on a sundress and flip-flops. I had no resume. I’m pretty average looking.
I wander around while he scoped out places and made connections. A while later, we met up, and I asked if he some to everyone he wanted to. No. He indicated a booth for a really high-end type place, where two reps were busy explaining the details of the job to potential new hires.
I motioned for him to follow as I stood behind the students, listening. I struck a conversation with one of them, allowing my friend to swoop in on the other guy. After a while, he passed along his resume to the recruiter he was talking to and we left.
The next day, my friends head back from that resort!
It was the guy I spoke to, asking if my friend could pass along my information since I didn’t leave a resume and didn’t write anything in the information sheet.
Went to a job fair a few years ago. There were six booths and a line wrapped around a Manhattan block. It was Mary Kay, EMS, and 4 others. A complete waste of time and in pouring rain. Nothing I nor anyone around me on the line was interested in.
It is what it is. I’m sure six people out of the 400+ people walked away with a career.
Join coast guard and become a stationary engineer. They make six figures in NYC.