Monster and National Career Fairs have teamed up to bring 288 career fairs to 76 cities across the country in 2007.
“We’re committed to making it easy for recruiters to make connections that are best for them. Whether that is at a job fair or online, it is a strong commitment from Monster,” says Diana Nicholson, Monster’s senior vice president of consumer products.
Monster claims this new partnership will allow employers to balance their online approach to recruiting qualified candidates and gets the Monster brand out in a different way.
(The first event is scheduled in Chicago on January 8; check out the job-fair calendar to see when an event will be held in other cities.)
Nicholson explains that Monster job fairs will offer a personalized experience for job seekers who prefer to directly interact with employers in their local markets.
“It’s kind of the next phase; the Internet has gone big and broad, and now it’s getting more local. Now it’s about access to things that are near to you and being able to leverage that. I see a trend along big, online businesses and trying to localize that information. It’s a trend in general,” says Nicholson.
As part of the company’s growing local strategy, the company wants to be “on the ground in front of people, talking about Monster, interacting, and having that physical presence and connection.”
While she says this is not a trend away from using online resources, “it’s a trend toward localizing information, and the physical location is a complement to the online experience.”
For recruiters, it’s an opportunity to meet candidates face-to-face in one location for instant interviewing, which can reduce the time, effort and cost of recruiting. For candidates, the company hopes the fairs will reach those who may not use online resources when job hunting.
In addition to the company’s recently announced media partnerships — and now the job fairs — Nicholson says recruiters can expect to see more in terms of product development and additional services on the site in 2007.
“It’s not necessarily on the ground, and it will be things throughout the year; expect a heavy focus on enhancing the experience for consumers coming to Monster,” she explains.
Job Fairs and Careerbuilder
Other companies, such as Careerbuilder, are already actively involved in similar job fairs.
“We personally have held well over 60 job fairs in 2006, not including co-branding fairs we have with our newspaper partners,” explains Jennifer Sullivan, a Careerbuilder spokesperson.
“The fairs are an extension of our business model. The combination of national brand outreach efforts as well as effective local outreach through newspaper outlets, supplemented through career fairs, continues to be a part of our strategies,” she says.
In fact, she says the “face-to-face” aspect is less of a trend and something Careerbuilder has provided through its career fairs and mobile tours.
“Certainly, it is an idea that Careerbuilder has always embraced and is something we’ve always done,” says Sullivan.