Journey going to 2 job fairs in one day and lessons learned.

It was January 19^th 2017 and I was excited to attend two fairs in one day!

                                                          

The 1^st was the Canada Job Expo where I have been speaking since 2011. I have assisted organizer in sourcing out speakers for his event and have an amazing business relationship since then,

It’s held at the North York Memorial Centre in the Yonge and Sheppard area. There is great signage and instructions for the attendees to locate the hall. The fair has various types of employers for different industries automotive, financial services and many more.

The one added feature that Canada Job Expo offers is various speaking sharing insights on networking, social media, branding and interview skills.

The room was busy with employers and potential employees having engaging conversations.

The event runs from 10:00am-3:00pm for more information on future events click here

                                                     

There was a second event happening in the evening at Steamwhistle headquarters just behind Rogers Centre at 6:30pm that evening. I had secured two tickets for the event in return for promoting it on my newsletter.

It was cool evening in Toronto so I decided to walk from an appointment I had at Queen and George St toward the Downtown core.

The streets were full of people who just finish work and were heading home for the evening. I headed down South on Yonge Street then East on Front Street and then south on Bay street toward the Steamwhistle.

I got there a little early so I walking in and there were people drinking beer and getting ready to go to the hockey game at the Air Canada Centre where the Toronto Maple Leafs were playing.

The security approached me in a frim voice and said “ we will be empty the place out at 6:00p and re-opening at 6:30pm for the Tech Vibe event” I said “Okay sir” and went outside

As it neared 6:20pm a line began to form and it was very long. Lot of people looking for career in the Tech sector.

As the door open and we were let it to pick up our lanyards, I go the this uneasy feeling that it was going to be an interesting evening.

They gave us a drink ticket which I found odd for a job fair. As soon as I walking quickly realized that this was party to drink, mingle and try food samples and if lucky win some prizes!

Very different vibe from the morning event. I had a few resume with me and began to walk around and attempt to speaking to some decision makers and Hr Representatives. 

 

It was going to be hard than I thought. 

There were to many people for the space!  Loud music playing, very noisy and made it hard to talk to people, I did manage to speaking to few company representatives and give them my resume and were to told to check their website. What the heck I was here to talk to them not visit there website! 

In less than an hour I was done. The only bright spot was I was stopped by a woman who saw my Talent lanyard and told me about a Job Fair happening at her company of Feb 2^nd in Toronto,I pulled out my phone and made in notes app and said thank you to her.

Besides that I did pick up a few things and little technology gadget called a magic Speakers

Learn more about Techfest events click here

The moral of the story. Be careful what type of job fairs you go to!

Three tips before you go to job fair:
 1. Do some research before hand to see who will be there
2.  Ask friends/ connections about job fairs happening in your area