I know it seems like we are always on the opposite side of this story, but setting up for a job fair in order to seek out talent is just as frustrating as finding somewhere to unleash your talent. People from the human resources department or recruiters can have a frustrating job when it comes to finding new talent. There are definitely a myriad of different booths in every job fair and you see a few of them excel at really drawing people into their areas and keeping them there. A lot of this can be done using things like promotional pens that really do work because they bring people over to the booth and they advertise every time they write with the pen as well.
It can be clear at some job fairs that some booths are very excited about the opportunities and the talent that they have gotten the chance to talk to while other companies are furious because it seemed like a complete waste of time to drive down to the fair and set up their booth. These are the people who didn't come prepared and didn't do any research on the people they would be meeting during the job fair.
Planning before you go to the fair is the one thing that you have to do before blindly rushing onto the battlefield. Making sure that your exhibition stand actually does stand out can be a challenge. Dressing you and your area up can be the difference between hiring quickly and having a position open for months on end. Having people wandering up and down the halls with information will also increase the exposure of your company and you will have a much better chance of getting candidates to notice you. Setting up quick interviews on the spot will also save you a lot of time and effort later on. If you find out more about your candidates at the fair, the more you will have to go on in later interviews. You also need to get accurate data on your candidates so you can decide how many are actually a great fit for the job. If not, then you will have to waste time interviewing people that were never going to get the job in the first place.
If you stay positive and if you stay off your cell phone, smiling candidates will fill out applications and send you their resumes before you have a chance to get a cup of coffee.