Blog Post: The Job Seeker Square

I had the privilege of attending a Jobing.com Career Expo.  Besides being a part-time time keeper, a booth break down guy, and a chocolate chip cookie consumer, I spent the majority of my time registering the thousands of job seekers that arrived in hopes of career change.   

My role was to get job seekers to fill out a short form in order to give Jobing.com info on how to better serve our career expo employers and attendees.  I probably talked to around a thousand people in my hours behind the booth.  What I realized was that this booth was one of the most important pieces to whether or not a job seeker would be successful in their quest to meet employers.

Here’s my reasoning.  

Career Expo attendees usually show up with a sense of reservation.  They are nervous.  Some hold a look of wonder, as if they were being exposed to the bright lights of the Vegas strip for the first time, and continue to hold that look of wonder while aimlessly wandering the rows of career opportunity.  One twenty-something job seeker was actually shaking when he handed me his sheet of paper.   

What the job seeker registration booth does is break down the barriers job seekers walk in the doors with.  It puts them at ease talking with someone in a pressure free environment.  It gives them a sense of purpose when a magazine with a list of employers is handed to them.  It gets them out of the self imposed, invisible job seeker square that would have otherwise proved to be detrimental to their experience.  

I witnessed many who bypassed our booth with a sense that we were nothing but evil solicitors, only to see them walk out a hour later with the same unwavering walk, frustrated, and unsuccessful.  Then there were those who did stop to fill out a form.  Some smiled, some asked questions, some didn’t talk at all but thoughtfully checked off boxes and filled in blank spaces.  It caused them to take their mind off of themselves.  It altered their state of mind.  Then they walked in the doors, and most of the time, a hour later I saw them walk out with smiles, telling me how great their experience was.

What I learned from this experience is that we all have to get out of our squares.  Job seeker, employer, or employee, a simple utterance of a “good morning” is enough to throw someone off their track and become aware of surroundings.