So the day of
the fair came all my efforts over the last six months had gone into making the
next four hours a success for our team, the University, the enmployers and most
of all…the students!
I dealt with the
pressure and having to do three things at a time! I was at the main entrance making sure that
students swiped their cards (method of
recording attendance) at one point there were so many students coming in that I
needed more staff to work at the sign in desk.
At the same time a student came up to me asking for directions and
another member of staff was ringing me to ask me if we could order more food
(delicious samosas). What I did? I prioritised
each action according to how urgent it was.
I directed the student very quickly as to where he needed to be, then tried
and direct the students to swipe in and then, when I found a precious moment
when there were not too many students, I rang my colleague back to help with
the catering order.
Impressions
I cannot believe how time flies by when you have an event! I’ve been planning this event for 6 months
and there it was all my efforts and plans in just 4 busy hours! It’s like going
on holiday, a week away and you feel it has just been a day! I have to say this was the busiest day of my life;
I met hundreds of people, made useful contacts and understood so much about
managing events, managing time, team work and managing staff.
(Picture on the left: Jaguar Land Rover displaying one of their cars at my event)
Any surprises? One of my biggest fears was that the
time to open the doors would come and ….bam! No students. But no! My fear was
just a fear! Students did come and not
only came but queued outside the entrance for 15 minutes before we opened up!
Picture on the right- Grad Jobs Fair at its busiest moments – and this is just one part of the venue. (900 students in 4 hours)
Students
Another major
factor which contributed to the success was having several students giving out
flyers and a student playing guitar and singing, wearing a pink t-shirt saying
“GRAD JOBS FAIR NOW” while the event was on.
The mistakes students make when
applying for jobs
That was an
experience! Having to recruit students meant I would have to advertise the
vacancy, shortlist the candidates and then interview them. We’ve had 2 adverts, for a musician and for 3
student ambassadors. On the student advertisement, we’ve asked the students to
explain in 50 words or less “why should we choose you”. It made me realise that one of the biggest
mistakes students usually do when they apply for a job it’s that they actually
don’t read the instructions, and this can tell a lot about someone’s attention
to detail and sometimes their personality.
Some students send their CVs or an email with far more than what we’ve
asked them to. Almost all the emails
were the same. I know that 50 words it’s
not too much when it comes to applying for a job and describing something, but
if you can be creative and come up with something unique in 50 words then it
shows you can follow the instructions and maybe you can go that extra
mile.
The job
advertisement was put on JobShop for only one day and we’ve almost received 80
applicants! I remember one person sent the same email 10 times – Mega Fault
when applying for a job. I had to
separate the emails; I created a folder with the No’s and a Folder with the
Yes’s. The No’s included the ones which
exceeded the 50 words. Even if what was
said was unique and they had a lot of experience, if they couldn’t follow the
instructions, I couldn’t shortlist them.
In the end I shortlisted the 5 best answers and invited them for an
interview. The interviews went well and I tried to be fair. After all 3 out of
those 5 people were going to get the job. Having student ambassadors and a
musician promoting the event, immediately created a lot of interest.
Personal reflection
What I’ve
learned: team work is everything, I wouldn’t have managed to deliver the event
without a great deal of help from my colleagues
Managing
staff: Managing and positioning staff where appropriately and according to
their strengths is very important
Dealing with
pressure and difficult situations can teach you a lot about yourself. No matter how well prepared you are, pressure
will always find its way in, what matters the most is how fast you deal with it
and how effectively you manage it.
Multi-tasking and time management: prioritise
each situation and act fast!
Last minute changes: No matter how prepared
you are you always have those. Be
prepared and find easy and fast solutions!
Measuring the success
Student
attendance numbers, Organisations attendance numbers, Employer feedback, student
feedback, finding out how many students got a job from each company.
Overall the
venue was full with students from the time the doors opened until the closing
time. This year there were more than 900 students attending (almost 200 more
than last year). Knowing that I have
planned and executed the biggest Careers Fair, both in regards to employers and
students attending, at the University of Huddersfield gave me great
satisfaction and pride. And the fact that the Vice-Chancellor is aware of the success
of the event, as he mentioned it at one of his talks this week, makes me think
of one thing: After the rain comes the
rainbow!
The best value I’ve gained from this
event? The confidence and expertise which I needed
when dealing with events - now I can start building my Events Career!
