Attendees walk the floor from booth to booth and to resume critiques at TheLadders Marketing Career Event July 29. Most said they were interested in probing recruiters and fellow attendees for trends and leads.
John began his job search in January when he decided to leave the consumer package-goods company at which he had worked for 35 years. He gave notice that August would be his last month as director of marketing and set about to find a job much the same way he had found consumers for many of the products he had brought to market over years.
John, who asked not to use his last name or identify his employer, spent the first quarter of 2009 identifying and strengthening his network, which included industry peers as well as the many recruiters who had tried to hire him over the years and those he had used to hire employees himself. John used the second quarter to research the job market and the mechanics of finding and applying for jobs: which job boards to use as well as how to write a cover letter and network.
It’s the third quarter, and John is putting his network and research to work to find a job. I found him at the New York Athletic Club July 29 for TheLadders Marketing Career Event, where he was conducting more research.
He spent more than two hours talking to recruiters, gossiping with fellow attendees and having his resume reviewed and critiqued twice by TheLadders resume analysts.
“It’s marketing myself the way I know how,” he said. “I listen, I research. I’m learning the game.”
“I have interviewed before, and my resume is not a disaster, but is there a better way to interview that I don’t know about?” he asked. “Are there new ways to do a resume? How has the game changed since I played it last?”
“Where else do I fit in?”
Call it “field research” or “carpet research”; most of the attendees visiting the booths and receiving resume critiques said they were primarily interested in probing recruiters and fellow attendees on the floor for details about market conditions and where to find leads on a job. No one who spoke to Career Line said they expected to find a job at the event.
“I treat it like an interview, I certainly dress like it’s an interview, but I don’t expect to walk out of here with a job,” said Tracey, who managed marketing sponsorships for a financial-services firm before she was laid off earlier this year and also asked not to use her last name.
“This is more research for me. I want to hear what they have to offer. I want to hear the types of jobs they’re hiring for, they departments that are hiring, the positions available, etc. That’s all information that will better inform my job search. I can use that to go back to my network and look for those same things there.”
Stefanie, the former director of event marketing at a financial-service company, was interested in seeing what jobs were available and how she might parlay her skills and experience to acquiring them.
“There isn’t a lot of room for event marketing jobs right now, so I am trying to sell myself to other aspects of marketing,” she said. “When I speak to recruiters, I am just trying to see how and where I fit in. Do they have jobs for my skills, and what positions are those jobs?
“I have always been a square peg trying to fit in a round hole,” Stefanie said. “Now I am trying to see where else I can fit in.”
(Photo by Karl Rozemeyer, TheLadders Career Advice)
For more on attending a Job Fair:
- Executive Jobs at the Job Fair?
- What’s Your 15-Second Pitch?
- Job Fairs Reach the Senior Ranks
- Executives’ 11-Step Guide to Job Fairs
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