The Power of Partnerships: Solving the Career Fair Conundrum By Victoria Wolff, M.Ed.

Victoria Wolff, M.Ed.

Director for Career Development

Whitman College

Early Fall and early Spring are typically prime career fair seasons for many colleges and universities around the country. Fairs are a staple for most Career Services offices, and, according to a recent NACE 2024 Student Survey report, “an effective means for students to convert connections into jobs.” While generally popular with students--more than 50% of survey respondents indicated that they attended a career fair in the last year--not all students take advantage of them. The NACE report found that 29% of students did not attend a career fair or similar recruiting events (i.e., employer meet and greets, presentations, or webinars). This is a clear opportunity for growth.

Career development and employer relations professionals can lean on a variety of partners to help them find creative solutions to solve their particular career fair conundrum. Whatever your specific challenge may be, chances are that investing in relationships with on-campus and off-campus partners will likely provide new ideas, help attract more students and employers, or even bring about creative alternatives. Hosting career fairs can be an effective strategy to expose students to a variety of companies and connect your employer partners to a large number of students, but it’s not the right format for everyone or the only tool in your toolbox.

Below are a number of effective approaches and successful examples of collaborative partnerships that have worked well for us at Whitman College. We are a small, private liberal arts school in rural eastern Washington serving about 1500 undergraduate students. Some examples are directly connected to our career fair while others highlight alternative employer engagement formats and creative recruiting ideas. All center on building powerful partnerships with a variety of stakeholders.

●     If you are trying to attract more students to your career fair, consider offering additional perks they might be interested in. We started offering free headshots for their LinkedIn profiles in partnership with the Office of Communications. They bring a photo backdrop, camera equipment, and a photographer, we set up our mobile clothing closet for students to have access to a professional outfit. Providing the opportunity to receive professional photos is popular with many students and an additional draw to attend the fair.

●     Partnering with faculty members is another key component that can help increase fair attendance. Reach out to faculty members early to advertise the fair and highlight particular employers or specific internship opportunities that would be a good fit for their students and discipline. Students listen to their professors and the extra encouragement from them to attend the fair can go a long way. Many faculty also have connections to industry professionals or sit on boards of local organizations. Invite them to share the career fair sign-up information with their employer connections.

●     Form partnerships with different student organizations. Reach out to club leaders to let them know about the fair and highlight opportunities that would align with their interests. Our fairs typically take place on a Wednesday and span the lunch hour. Clubs we partner with will cancel their lunch-time meetings that day and encourage all members to attend the fair instead.

●     Alternatively, partner with student clubs to host employers that are connected to their area of focus (think the Economics club and a local bank). Schedule these recruiting/employer info sessions during their regular club meeting time to encourage student attendance. Employers can join the meeting in person or virtually. This is a great format because it ensures that employers have an interested group of students. Find out where club members interned last summer and ask them to connect you to those employers. In collaboration with club leaders, determine if you want to invite those organizations to join an upcoming club meeting to talk about open internships and job opportunities. For example, we recently partnered with the Salmon Conservation Club and invited a representative from Idaho Fish and Game to speak about career opportunities and open internships.

●     If you are a small school or located in a rural area, it can sometimes be difficult to attract employers from larger cities. Partnering with other local or regional institutions of higher education can be an effective strategy to pool resources and provide incentives for employers to attend several career fairs in the region. If possible, try to schedule your fairs back-to-back and advertise them to employers as a 2-for-1 bundle. If the timing doesn’t align, consider inviting just a few employers who are attending another regional fair nearby to host an info session at your institution the next day. Be generous and share your employer contacts with each other. It will benefit everyone involved.

●     Another option is to partner with on-campus offices that support a particular student demographic. We frequently collaborate with the Intercultural Center which supports historically underrepresented and marginalized students. Earlier this year we collaborated with them to bring black-owned local business leaders to campus as part of the Black History Month celebrations and campus programming. Imagine a mini career fair that’s part of a larger event. This is a great way to engage particular student demographics and highlight a variety of employment opportunities centered around a shared identity. Additionally, we have co-hosted virtual employer panels focused on highlighting black and female scientists and STEM careers. Similar programming may be possible in partnership with your LGBTQIA+ Office or International Student Support Services.

●     Collaborating with your alumni relations team can help boost the number of alumni employers who attend your fair and is a great way to get students excited to attend. As you are getting ready to advertise your upcoming career fair, ask your alumni relations team if they would be willing to include an announcement in their alumni newsletter. We have been able to do just that and now host local alumni employers seeking interns and early career talent.

●     We also co-host a networking-focused “career fair alternative.” This series of events during winter break, called Whitties Helping Whitties, takes place in a number of cities along the West Coast where the majority of Whitman students and alumni live. Instead of bringing employers to campus, we go to them. Although the main focus of these events is connecting alumni and students for networking purposes, we now include opportunities for attendees to connect with potential employers and hiring managers as well. Invited alumni bring information about open positions and internships at their companies or connect us to their recruiting team. At the event, students and alumni get a chance to mingle and are given color-coded ribbons to indicate their industry areas of expertise or interest. Additional buttons indicate if they are hiring interns or are actively recruiting. Our employer engagement team is also present at these events. It’s a great way for us to build new relationships with employers who wouldn’t typically attend our on-campus fair.

Building powerful partnerships is key to effective employer engagement and successfully connecting students to career opportunities. From selecting accessible venues, to providing identity-based career resources and opportunities, to showcasing employers that align with your students’ academic and career interests, strong collaborations are the foundation of accessible, inclusive, and relevant career fairs and recruiting events for students and employers alike: invest time in relationships and people today to ensure your success tomorrow.

About the Author

 Victoria Wolff, M.Ed. (she/her) is a strategic leader in higher education and career development and serves as the Director for Career Development at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA. She has 15 years of experience in both Germany and the U.S. and has worked in career services for over a decade. Victoria holds a B.A. in English and History and received her M.Ed. from Humboldt Universität in Berlin, Germany. She has expertise in career education and development including alumni-student mentorship, networking, career fair management, employer engagement, internship programs, and DEIA-centered career coaching. Over the last 10 years, she has developed teams and scaled programs to provide career coaching, experiential learning, and employment opportunities to students and alumni alike. Victoria thrives in collaborating with key stakeholders and building powerful partnerships with colleagues to drive change and innovation.

Sources:

Gray, Kevin. “More Than Half of Students Attended a Career Fair in the Past 12 Months.” National Association of Colleges and Employers. October 7, 2024.

https://www.naceweb.org/talent-acquisition/student-attitudes/more-than-half-of-students-attended-a-career-fair-in-the-past-12-months