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The woman with the baby in the stroller looks like she is with the man to her left. Perhaps they, as a couple, had other business in addition to the job fair. And if she is the job-seeker, why would this be a bad thing? People have children. The job fair is not an interview. It is a place to find out who's hiring and hook up with who's looking. If something looks promising for either one of them, the other parent is available to walk the baby away for few minutes while information is exchanged.
Sorry, but I disagree. If I was a hiring person at a job fair and a casually dressed woman showed up pushing a baby carriage I would immediately think that she did not have dependable child care arrangements available and that it would probably be an on-going issue. That may not actually be the case but that is the message I would be getting. Whether one or both parents are "looking" they should spilt up and one parent stays out of the room with the baby, leaving the other free to concentrate on the hiring people - then they alternate.
Sorry, but I disagree. If I was a hiring person at a job fair and a casually dressed woman showed up pushing a baby carriage I would immediately think that she did not have dependable child care arrangements available and that it would probably be an on-going issue. That may not actually be the case but that is the message I would be getting. Whether one or both parents are "looking" they should spilt up and one parent stays out of the room with the baby, leaving the other free to concentrate on the hiring people - then they alternate.
I totally feel your pain. I went to apply for a job with my roommate the other day. I dressed well as I always do for work and applying for jobs. Well it wasn't till we arrived there and were talking to the guy we'd be working for that I put my hand out to receive tactile sign (I'm deaf-blind and so my roommate signs into my hand) and my hand accidentally touched his knee...he was wearing his NIGHTIES! He was wearing nighties with shorts over them! I just about wanted to die on the spot. There goes my chance of getting that job.
I have to eat my own words here. Both my roommate and I got the job.
Though I do think it was very lucky and many employers would have turned him down for showing up in nighties. I also think my speaking Spanish to them played a factor because most of the workers there are Spanish-speaking and usually shocked when a white deaf person knows Spanish. Lol.
At the last however many job fairs I've been to on campus, people were being directed to the company website to apply directly. Sure, paper resumes could have been taken if one really wowed the HR people, but that was the far exception and not the rule. Most of the people in the booths weren't even hiring; they were just there because of agreements/contracts made years ago. Since these were career fairs at a college campus, everyone except the one or two most socially awkward people there were in full business formal dress. It wouldn't have mattered if people showed up in shorts and a tank top.
Every interaction with any employer is as serious as an interview.
Very true. That first impression can make a difference.
Quote:
Originally Posted by marklbucla
Sure, paper resumes could have been taken if one really wowed the HR people, but that was the far exception and not the rule.
Then find out what you need to do to be one of the exceptions that wows them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by marklbucla
Since these were career fairs at a college campus, everyone except the one or two most socially awkward people there were in full business formal dress. It wouldn't have mattered if people showed up in shorts and a tank top.
That may be the case, but you should always dress to impress during any potential interaction with a future employer. It sounds like you are still in college (or maybe a recent grad). I will say, as someone with much more experience out in the working world, that it probably matters more than you think.
Very true. That first impression can make a difference.
Then find out what you need to do to be one of the exceptions that wows them.
That may be the case, but you should always dress to impress during any potential interaction with a future employer. It sounds like you are still in college (or maybe a recent grad). I will say, as someone with much more experience out in the working world, that it probably matters more than you think.
Yes, I agree with business formal for any relevant interaction with a potential employer. The point that I was trying to make is that if they're not hiring or taking resumes, what's the point? Because someone there may actually be hiring and playing by the old rules? As my post implies, I still suit up anyway, even though it probably doesn't matter because of the economy and the way things are done.
Exploiting personal contacts is a more efficient way of getting one's foot in the door, not going to career fairs and through the HR route. I remember coming home from career fairs during the dot com boom and it would be reminiscent of Halloween as a kid. Now, I don't really see the point in going beyond getting a list of who attended. The HR people they send can't answer anything specific about the supposed job openings, not because of confidentiality, but because they have no idea what the job entails beyond the generic description. Furthermore, they were just referring everyone to the website to submit their resumes.
Once when I was looking for work I went into a business that was looking for janitors. When I went in there were already several people filling out applications. One by one they would approach the receptionist to turn in their completed applications. Each time the receptionist would put their application in a bin without looking at it and send them on their way. When I turned in my application she did not even give it a once over or ask me anything. Instead, she escorted me to the general managers office. Without looking at my application the first words out of the general managers mouth was "The job's yours if you want it". He then explained that he could teach anyone to do the job. He said I was offered the job because I was the first person applying that was not wearing blue jeans or worn out clothes.
If every interaction(job fair) was as serious as an interview, I'd be hired already.
I used to wear dress clothes to job fairs until:
*People got locked out of job fairs in my city.
*I saw men representing the company more interested in hitting on(flirting) with the woman with the baby(whose husband was in the hallway) rather than me
* The clothes were more likely to get messed up due to job fair shenanigans, than noticed.
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