Why Career Fairs Are Obsolete & How We Can Do Better
Internapalooza
Last week I attended Internapalooza. There were more than 47 employer partners that participated, and 20+ employers who were in attendance. I was there to support Dev Bootcamp and our marketing team.
Our purpose in being there?…Engage with the local community & folks who might want to enroll at Dev Bootcamp.
There were companies in attendance like LinkedIn, Snapchat, Google, and Youtube. Not to mention there was swag as far as the eye could see. In addition to some of the major tech behemoths, there were 400+ college students, interns and job seekers looking to land their next tech gig.
I didn’t have high expectations for this event because of the corny name. However, I did go in with an open mind. Buckle up; This is my synopsis.
Why Do Career Fairs Still Exist?
Now that I work in the tech industry I’m constantly baffled at the lack of innovation in some areas. How is it that things like Machine Learning, Virtual Reality and AI exist, yet the way many tech companies hire is still in the stone age?
NEWS FLASH: most of the super talented candidates you’re looking for aren’t looking for you!
Lazlo Bock, the former visionary head of Google’s innovative People Operations, dives deep into how to find talented people in his book Work Rules!. One thing that he points out is how all companies recruit the same yet expect different results.
“If they are all recruiting the same way, why would any of them get a different outcome than their competitors? And by definition, this means firms are recruiting average talent. Sure they’ll get some superstars and some stinkers, just like every other company. But overall, the quality of their new hires is average.”
Albert Einstein said it best; Insanity is doing the things over and over again and expecting a different result.
In addition to this, tech companies constantly complain that they can’t find diverse talent. Of course they can’t, they’re doing the same things as their competitors; going to the same college campuses and the same Internapaloozas.
Not only does doing the same thing as your competitors suck, it’s expensive.
THE COST: This sh*t is expensive:
- $$$$ Sponsorship: It cost to be the boss; in this case, it cost to take a loss
- $$$$ Accommodations: Travel, Hotel, Feeding Employees
- $$$ Employee Time: 3–4 employees at each table for 4–5 hours
- $$$ Screening: 2–3 employees reviewing all the average resumes collected
- $$ Swag: because what would a career fair be without this
Total Cost = Tens of thousands of $$$ for 1–2 AVERAGE HIRES.
The actual data is scary. According to Glassdoor….
Career fairs and on-campus recruiting account for almost 75% of employer’s recruiting budgets. Add on travel, hotel and food expenses, and the budget adds up quickly. And, employers average four career fairs each academic year.
Crowdfunding can be useful when trying to raise funds for a great product or service, but does the same apply to hiring great talent? I think not.
Job Seekers, You Can Do Better TOO!
Now I was once a college student so I know the struggle is real. When you’re eating ramen noodles, pulling all nighters and stressing about finals it weighs on you.
However, this is no excuse for lacking empathy and not adding value when you meet people. The reason I say this was that the majority of people I met introduced themselves the following way…
I’m a {insert year} student at {insert college} majoring in {insert major}, what internships do you have?
Many people didn’t ask me my name. Didn’t ask me how I was doing. There was just a sea of folks that were solely focused on themselves.
Ironically I thought the event was aptly named (Internapalooza). It truly felt like a frat party. The companies were the attractive popular girls and everyone was fighting over them, driven solely by their hormones.
All I could think was: THIS IS THE TALENT THAT TOP TECH COMPANIES ARE FIGHTING OVER?!?!?!?!
PSA: We can do better folks.
The Solution: Let’s Scrap Career Fairs
Trusting my gut would have yielded in me bashing tech companies & college students this entire article for what they’re not doing. Instead, I want to be part of the solution. It’s not trigonometry. It’s not complicated.
Here’s what we can do better.
COMPANIES
Two ways companies can do better is to EDUCATE & HOST.
What does that look like? Host an event where you teach people about your product. Got a team that’s hiring? Have that team present a project that they’ve completed or a feature that they’re currently working on.
The people who are super passionate about what your company does will surface. This can help eliminate the people who JUST WANT A JOB. Host this at your office or a local co-working space like the Oakland Impact Hub.
You can also go to the people who are using your technology. At Dev Bootcamp every 3 weeks we have Demo Days. Students present group projects that are built in a variety of tech stacks. Everything from React to Python to Drones to Virtual Reality modules.
Breaking Into Startups, a podcast changing the narrative around how folks break into tech, recently came to Dev Bootcamp and highlighted two great group projects created by DBC graduates. Click here for the footage!
Key Takeaway: Go to the people that are passionate about building things. Not the people who are just looking to put an internship on their resume. Educate job seekers about your mission and the things they’d be working on if hired.
JOB SEEKERS
If you takeaway nothing from this piece, know this; It’s not ABOUT YOU! Think of job seeking like dating and you can improve your results. Companies want folks that can add value to their team and who are pleasant to work with.
Yes, you may be qualified. But are you self-absorbed? Would you want to date someone who was attractive but couldn’t stop talking about themselves? I didn’t think so. Companies feel the same way. Yes they want people who can do the job, but they also want people who can compliment the team and are delightful to be around.
The one person that I met that made an impression on me was a CODE2040 fellow. They’re an organization creating access, awareness, and opportunities for top Black and Latinx engineering talent to ensure their leadership in the innovation economy. If you’re a company who hasn’t heard of them WAKE UP! There isn’t a shortage of diverse candidates, you’re just looking in the wrong places.
The point I’m making is that this gent took a genuine interest in me by asking my name, what I did, how I was feeling etc. I don’t think it was a coincidence he was a fellow of this great org.
How to stand out from the crowd:
- Show genuine interests in the stories of others
- How long have they been at that company?
- What motivated them to work there? Did they relocate for work?
- Are they a native to the city they work in?
- Share your story and authentic self, not what you majored in.
Call To Action
If you’re a company that’s looking for motivated engineering talent from underrepresented groups in tech email me at anthony@devbootamp.com and let’s start the conversation.
If you’re a job seeker looking for work in tech I’d be happy to chat with you about how to network better and polish your personal brand!
Let’s Change The Narrative.