For the last 3 years, the L.I.V.I.N.G. Ministry been hosts of a revolutionary job fair. This job fair is unlike any other job fair around. Instead of just setting up tables and having people show up and meet employers, we hold a ‘closed’ job fair, where all of our prospective employees receive job training skills (budgeting, resume writing, conflict resolution, and interviewing skills). These skills help prepare them so that they are a step ahead of other jobseekers when they speak with employers. This always makes a better transition and saves employers a lot of time in selecting qualified and prepared candidates.

Our next Job Fair is coming up on MONDAY, August 16th 2010. This will be our 10th job fair, and we are expecting to continue the success that we have had in the past (about 44% of all of our participants get work at the job fair, or soon after). Below I have detailed exactly the premise of our Job Fair. Please take some time to get a little better idea of how this event is run

Participants…

Where do we get our participants from? Good question. What we typically do is print up flyers and take them to all of the shelters that we attend throughout the week. On the flyer we tell people that we are having a job fair on August 16th and that there will be free resumes, training, interviews, and lunch provided. However, we do not disclose the location or time of the job fair. On the paper we explain that every person that wants to come must pre-register. The reason we do this is to weed a lot of people out. We want people dedicated to coming and really trying to get a job. It’s seems too easy, but simply making people have to call and signup helps screen out a lot of people! We usually get around 30 people who pre-register

Employers…

Perhaps the hardest part is finding employers. While we want our participants to thoroughly enjoy themselves, we want this event to be worthwhile for our employers as well. How do I find the employers? First, I always start with people I know that might be hiring. I contact them and see if they are interested. Then I think about other services to come like colleges and banking institutions that won’t employ people, but can provide other necessary resources. Then I start hitting the computer. I look at the craigslist and go down the employment and I respond to every post that seems fitting about the job fair. For ones with phone numbers, I write them down and call them. I do the same for the Pennysaver and the Post Gazette as well. I usually do this for about 10 days prior to the job fair date. Some people would like more time to know in advance, but many people don’t know that they are hiring at that time.

The day…

When participants sign up, we tell them that they must arrive on time or early to the job fair. At 9am, the doors shut and no one else is admitted. People are allowed to show up as early as 8:30am and we will have coffee and donuts for them as they read over their orientation packets. Speaking of packets, we give every individual a folder with information in it. The first piece of paper welcomes the individual to the job fair and explains how things will work. The next is the schedule for the day (which I have copied below)

8:30am — 9:00am Breakfast and Registration
9:00am — 9:10am Orientation and Devotional
9:15am —1:00pm Training Classes
1:00pm — 1:30pm Lunch
1:30pm — 3:00pm Meet And Greet The Employers

This page also contains the various training classes and the names of the employers coming to the job fair. The page after that will have information on the phone that we provide for participants to use and how we also provide for transportation needs. The next page is our satisfaction survey, which just asks what the men and women thought of the job fair.

In terms of the schedule, it is pretty self-explanatory. After registration, we will have Mike Gallo come and give the morning devotion. Then after that, we will work on resume writing. We will do this as one large group. I will teach this class and discuss the importance of the resume. Then we will give each person forms to use and they can fill out their own resume. I will collect all of the handwritten resumes and will spend the next few hours with volunteers typing them all out. After the resume class, we will break into 3 groups and head to the other classes. These will be conflict resolution, financial responsibility, and interviewing techniques. Each class will be about 50 minutes, and then the groups will rotate.

At 1pm the classes should be finished, and we will then eat lunch together. After lunch the employers should be arriving and setting up their tables. Once they are ready, we will have people go around and talk to them as they are ready. We will also have applications to various restaurants available for people to fill out as well as jobs that they can apply to online with the computers that we have set up. This will go on for about an hour and a half. Then at 3pm we are finished.

So that is the premise for the L.I.V.I.N.G. Ministry’s Job Fair. We do this event 3 times every year (March, August, and December). If you are an employer and would be interested in participating, please let us know by emailing us at contact@livingministry.org. If you are intersted in volunteering for the event, please contact volunteer@livingministry.org.