JOB FAIR CONCEPT NOTE

Stray Thoughts on JobFair (Online + App)

(Oct 05, 2012)

---

1/

As compared to a ground-based job fair,

an Online/App-based JobFair has certain limitations.

(Of course, it also has many advantages!)

---

On Ground:

Employer has paid for the stall/cabin

and has a comfortable place to sit / drink coffee / watch the crowd, while waiting for some candidates to turn up.

Recruiters will hang out till evening,

knowing that Job-fair is only for ONE day.

If there are no candidates, recruiters can even go for a “round,” leaving some junior person to hold the fort!

But which recruiter will hang around

on a PC / tablet for hours, waiting for some candidates to turn up?

On the other hand, imagine that the stall/cabin of a popular—

employer gets flooded with jostling candidates.

The queue in front of their cabin boasts of 212 jobseekers!

Not an unlikely scenario.

And difficult to handle.

What will that employer do?

Just collect the resumes and tell the candidates that they will "hear" from the company in due course!

Of course, they don't mean it!

They will reply to only those candidates whom they wish to interview.

And then there are companies who do NOT conduct interviews in a job fair.

They come only to collect the resumes and, therefore, post a junior person to man the stall.

Not ever having visited a job fair, I cannot say with certainty,

but I presume all participating companies must be displaying their VACANCY LIST prominently in front of their stall.

I also presume that most of the participating companies must be:

a) Keeping OPEN their own website on a PC

b) Having some kind of AUDIO-VISUAL presentation (about the company) going on a large screen inside the stall

c) Distributing some pamphlets / brochures

In case of a heavy rush, I presume,

some companies will instantly open up additional interview cabins, with additional interviewers.

If the positions are "ENTRY LEVEL",

and requirement is FRESH GRADUATES,

and positions are:

• Graduate Trainee

• Graduate Engineering Trainee

• Graduate Apprentice

• Supervisory Trainee
  etc. etc.

Then it is quite possible that the companies have ONE / COMMON / STANDARD “salary packet”.

And perhaps, there are NO negotiations with candidates as far as salary packet is concerned.

So, if in the interview a candidate is found suitable, all that needs to be done is to enter his name/address in the PC and print out an APPOINTMENT LETTER.

Perhaps, the field for “Joining Date” is left blank (in the standardized form) and needs to be filled in.

Earlier, I talked about a company recruiter getting overwhelmed by hundreds of jobseekers queuing up before his stall — and his solution to just shoo-away the candidates after accepting their resumes.

But Online / on JobFair App, we need a different mechanism to reduce applicants to a manageable number.

I suppose this (elimination) can be done in different ways, as follows:

---

(A) By Matching Criteria

Criteria	Job Advt / Vacancy	Candidate Resume
1. City	Pune	Pune
2. Yr. of Passing	2012	2012
3. Degree	BSc	BSc
4. Final Year %	Min. 60%	60%+
5. Gender	Male	Male
6. Medium of …	… (cutoff in scan)	… (cutoff in scan)

Hence, these "fields" must be identical in

• Job Advt/Vacancy posted by Employers

• Resume submitted by jobseekers

This will require re-design of:

① "Job Posting" for Fresh Graduates Form

② "Submit Resume" for "" ""

---

B. Now, thru such "Matchmaking/Elimination" process, we are able to bring down 1000+ applicants to just 10 applicants, the problem still remains, viz:

It takes 15 minutes to online interview each candidate.

So, 10 candidates will take 10 × 15 = 150 minutes, i.e. 2½ hours wait for the last candidate!

You cannot expect him to keep looking at his tablet for 2½ hours for a GREEN LIGHT to flash on the employer’s cabin, and

his Name! to appear on the screen!

So, we need a mechanism (s/w tool), in which, [after this preliminary s/w-based matchmaking/elimination], the concerned Company Recruiter, who is online, can enter:

---

Vacancy: Graduate Trainee | Cabin No: XYZ

Sr No	Applicant Name	Interview Schedule
		Date

---

Each shortlisted candidate will get this intimation thru email & SMS, so that at the indicated date/time (IST?),

he can, once again, login thru his tablet and enter his "Ticket No", so that he is directed to the concerned INTERVIEW CABIN.

If the shortlisted number is still too large, the concerned employer/recruiter would have the option to open up as many "Interview Cabins" as he wants.

▶️ Temporary/One-Time Password to a Jobseeker

How can we encourage registered jobseekers to start a “buzz” about JobFair?

Here is an idea:

Every time a "Registered" jobseeker logs in online (— maybe this can also be done on JobFair App!), we pop-up the following message:

---

Dear [   ],

Would you like a friend/colleague to experience different features of this website (www.CustomizeResume.com)?

Then just enter his/her email ID below:

My friend’s Email ID: [   ]

We will email to your friend, a “ONE-TIME USE / TEMPORARY” password, for visiting our JobFair

[  Submit  ]

P.S.

We will, of course, tell him/her that we are sending this password, as requested by you.

▶️ Ambience / Atmosphere

On Ground-based JobFair	If at all, how can it be replicated ONLINE?
▶️ Huge crowd of jobseekers	▶️ Counters for: • Visited so far []<br>• Visiting Right Now []
▶️ Employer stalls	▶️ Counters for: • Employers Participated so far []<br>• Participating right now []
▶️ Employer Names on stalls	▶️ List of Participating (Online) Employers – right now
▶️ Vacancy Lists on each Employer stall	▶️ Vacancy List on each Employer stall
▶️ No clue as to how many candidates have handed in their resumes to any given employer	▶️ On each Employer stall, counters for: • Resumes submitted against each advertised vacancy • Total No. of resumes submitted so far to each employer

On Ground Fair	On ONLINE Fair

▶ Visiting one stall after another

▶ Dropdown list of currently participating companies will get displayed every time an online jobseeker touches/views a product advert delivered by InMobi. (His incentive = our revenue). When displayed, he can “enter” stall of any other employer listed.

▶ Lingering in a stall

▶ Within a given employer stall, jobseeker can visit different “cabins” (by clicking), such as:

Limitation  • Stalls are small and cannot accommodate many jobseekers • Company cannot depute many HR people to answer questions from hundreds of jobseekers • Not enough wall/table space to exhibit all info

- Company Video - Company Information - Company Website - Company Financials - Company Locations - List of Directors - List of Top Management - List of Products - List of Joint Ventures - List of Tech Collaborators - List of Sister Concerns - Press Reports etc.

On Ground	ON-LINE

▶ Jobseekers can come with friends and move around in groups

▶ Maybe we can provide some way for a visiting jobseeker to find out whether any of his friends are ONLINE at the same time. In a panel, we can ask him to enter the “mobile numbers” of his friends, and after searching who all have logged in at that moment, we can flash green signal against one (or more) of the Nos. entered by the jobseeker.

If he sees a green signal against any, he may even actually call him up on mobile to inquire what he is doing! We can then display a NETWORK diagram, showing whose friends are present!! Could cause a VIRAL BUZZ On Ground ONLINE ▶ Jobseekers who have handed-in their resumes (for interview) against a particular job/vacancy have to keep inquiring as to when their “turn” will come. Recruiters’ front-men have to keep answering. ▶ A Bulletin-Board will display a listing of jobs/vacancies for which interviews are going on. Clicking on a particular job will reveal: - No. of candidates applied □ - No. of “ ” already interviewed □ - No. of “ ” remaining to be interviewed □ - Your turn will come at (approx) 9:30 AM Maybe we should show: Date     Time ▶ We should provide an option to employers to enter, if they so desire:

On Ground	ONLINE

▶ A coffee shop for coffee/snacks

▶ Not possible!

▶ Nearly ALL visiting jobseekers will belong to the same city where jobfair is being held. Some (few) may come from nearby towns

▶ Absolutely NO restrictions — Jobseekers/Employers from all over the world may participate — and throughout 24×365

▶ Jobfair will start at 8 AM and close at 6 PM

▶ For attraction, we could display a list of: • Countries participating • Country-wise Employers • “ ” Jobseekers • “ ” Vacancies

Clicking on each of the above-mentioned links will display results with names etc.

On Ground	ONLINE
▶️ Issue of Offer Letter
• In a Jobfair, I presume, a candidate can appear for any no. of interviews, with a no. of Employers and collect a no. of offer letters.	• In ONLINE job-fair too, a candidate will be free to appear for any number of interviews, with different companies and collect any no. of offer letters.
• In Campus Interview, this is NOT allowed. Once a candidate has received job-offer from 2 (sometimes 3) companies, he is not allowed to appear for further interviews. Companies conducting Campus Interviews are required to submit to the Placement Officer, copies of each & every offer made, enabling placement officer to "debar" a candidate from further interviews.	• Since participating Companies have to issue offer letters using ONLINE job-offer FORM, we will, of course, come to know, how many offers each candidate has received. But we will NOT stop him from appearing for any number of interviews.
	• We will use “offer-letter” data to plot a frequency distribution curve, which everyone can see, without revealing individual’s identity.

Page Write-Up for

"JobFair Entrance For Jobseeker" page

08/10/12

Jobs for All = Peace on Earth

---

Dear Jobseeker

● You can use online JobFair only if you are:

▶ registered on this site as a Fresh Graduate (0–2 yr. exp)

▶ logged in

● JobFair is an online platform where:

▶ Employers / Recruitment Agencies advertise jobs for fresh graduates

▶ Registered jobseekers (Fresh Graduates) look up these jobs and apply online against one or more jobs

▶ Employers conduct online interviews and issue offer-letters to selected candidates (Online + Email)

● Employers will conduct interviews using one of the following methods:

▶ Skype (if you have provided your Skype ID in your Resume)

▶ Online Chat

▶ Mobile Phone (on number provided in your Resume)

● You can participate in JobFair using:

▶ Online (thru your PC / broadband)

▶ Offline (by downloading / installing “JobFair” App on your Android Tablet)

● As soon as you APPLY against any job-advt, you will see an “Interview Schedule” online,

indicating [Date / Time / Ticket No] for your interview. In case your application (i.e. Resume)..

...is not found suitable by the concerned Employer,

you may see a message, saying:

“Regret we will not be able to interview

you since your resume does not match

with job-criteria advertised”

However, if you are accepted for interview
and given “Date / Time / Ticket No”, you
must login again with these details, and
you will be directed to the concerned
Interview Cabin (C) of the concerned Employer.

---

● Your overall “Recruitment Process chart”
is shown below:

[Chart Placeholder Box]

---

● Are you ready? Then click
Enter Job City

---

Hemen Parekh

Oct 09, 2012

🔷 Re-writing the Logic of JobFair

Earlier I have said that neither
a Recruiter, nor a jobseeker can hang
around (with a tablet in hand or facing
a PC screen), waiting for the other to
show up.

Hence, it is necessary (essential)
that they have a pre-agreed date/time
of interview, so there is minimum of
waiting.

This can be achieved as follows:

🔷 "Job Posting for Job Fair" form shall have
following mandatory fields for employer:

• Interviews will be held on ___ [ Date ▼ | Time ▼ ]

• Last date for Applying –––– [ Date ▼ | Time ▼ ]

• Interview Schedule will be released on ––– [ Date ▼ | Time ▼ ]

---

Hence,
▶ all resumes received after "Last Date" will get
rejected. Maybe, after that date, we should
simply disable the [ APPLY ] button below
that advt.

Eg:

• Interview date/time …… Dec. 12ᵗʰ / 9:00 am (IST)

• “Interview Schedule”
  Release, will be on …… Dec. 10ᵗʰ / 9:00 am (IST)

• “Last Date for Applying” will be …… Dec. 08 / 6:00 pm

This will give Employer, 2 days (Dec 08 → Dec 10) to go thru the resumes received and decide,
which ones to be called for interview – and,
which ones to be rejected.
When “Interview Schedule” becomes visible online (for jobseekers to login and look-up), it may look like following:

+----------------------------------------------+
| Employer Name :  Wipro Ltd                   |
| Job ID        :  23689                       |
| Position/Vacancy : Asp.Net Developer         |
| No. of Resumes Read :        236             |
| Resumes selected for Interview :  102        |
| No. of Interview Cabins :         6          |
+----------------------------------------------+
| Candidate List                               |
| Cabin No. : 1                                |
|            2                                 |
|            3                                 |
|            4                                 |
+----------------------------------------------+

Clicking on any Cabin No. will display following:

+-----------------------------------------------+
| Employer Name :  Wipro Ltd                    |
| Job ID        :  23689                        |
| Position/Vacancy : Asp.Net Developer          |
+-----------------------------------------------+
| Candidate Interview Schedule for  Cabin NO 1  |
| Interviewer :  G. Ramanathan                  |
+-----------------------------------------------+
| S/N | Candidate | Schedule | Confirm | Tick   |
| No. |   PEN     | Date/Time| by Tick | for Int|
|-----|-----------|----------|---------|--------|
|  1  |           |          |    ☐    |   ☐    |
|  2  |           |          |    ☐    |   ☐    |
| 16  |           |          |    ☐    |   ☐    |
+-----------------------------------------------+


Instructions to candidates:
If you fail to tick [✔], “Candidate Confirm” column, against your PEN, 
at least one day before interview, your name will be deleted from this schedule.
You should tick [✔] the last column (against your name), at least 15 minutes 
before the scheduled date/time.

Note to S/W Developer
To ensure that there is no “mischief” or “proxy”, 
candidates visiting this “schedule” will get to see only their OWN horizontal column, 
after login, as follows:

User Name : _____________  

Password  : _____________  

PEN       : _____________  

Now, a candidate may have “applied” against many job-ads of many companies (say, 12 companies and 43 jobs).

How can we expect him to “remember” all of these, then visit online published schedules of 43 jobs, and

• tick ✅ “Confirmations” 2 days before interview?

• tick ✅ “Arrival for Interview” 15 minutes ” ?

This will be so complicated/difficult that no candidate will take the trouble and it will be a big fiasco! Imagine, 40 employers (recruiters) just waiting and waiting and waiting!
No jobseekers turning up!!

We need to SIMPLIFY the process.

Can we think of,

Ⓐ Jobseeker logs in with,
– User Name []
– Password []
– PEN [__________] [Submit]

Ⓑ Straightaway we show him following:
“Summary of All Interviews that You have Registered For”

All that candidate has to do is to SEE this ONE Summary Table & confirm his acceptance. Same with "Arrival Announcement"

Then our S/W will migrate his Confirmations/Arrival Announcements, to respective individual tabulations which are job-wise/company-wise.

So this SUMMARY TABULATION becomes,
Candidate’s Dashboard.

We can have a similar SUMMARY TABULATION for Corporate Employers, to be called
Employer’s Dashboard

What could an EMPLOYER DASHBOARD look like?

• ✓ ▶ Total No. of Jobs posted so far (Chronologically)

• ✓ ▶ Total No. of LIVE JOBS (where resumes being accepted)

• ✓ ▶ Total No. of CLOSED JOBS (Recruitment process over)

• ✓ ▶ "LIVE JOBS" where interviews are going on now (Cabin-wise)

• ▶ List of Candidates issued OFFER LETTERS (Job-wise):
    Here, in this tabulation, there will be a column to indicate
    "Whether offered candidate joined" OR
      ["Candidate Joining Date"
      &
      "Candidate Actually Joined on date"]