Career Fair Experience Redesign LMC 6314 Semester Project Proposal Vicky Yuan Gao Varsha Jagdale Megan Hamilton
INTRODUCTION Career fairs held on university campuses are a popular way for companies to meet recruiting goals, especially given the competition to attract the best talent (Silkes et al., 2010). Career fairs also allow students to learn about organizations and their recruiting needs (Brennan et al., 2004). As students, many of us regard career fairs as vital events for securing job and internship opportunities. However, there are several frustrating aspects of career fairs, which make the experience less enjoyable and less efficient for the attending students. We aim to improve the overall experience of career fairs from the student perspective, through service design (technology & system). PROBLEM We aim to understand the problems faced by the three key stakeholders in this system: the attending students, company representatives/recruiters, and the career fair organization team. At this moment, we are focusing on the problems faced by students, since the different stakeholders will have different needs for improving their respective experiences. The main problems plaguing students attending the on- campus College of Computing career fair at Georgia Tech are as follows: Registration Process The current on- site registration process happens in three stages. First is the reading of the Buzzcard by a volunteer holding a scanning machine, then (2) filling out and printing one s name tag, and (3) obtaining the paper band worn around the wrist (having different color on each day of the three- day career fair). Since the current process is site- dependent (students are not allowed to register online beforehand, for example) and divided into three steps, it results in backlog and long lines of students waiting to enter the career fair space. Time Long waiting queues for companies which are high in demand. When students are holding their own place in a long line, this waiting time is not being utilized for any other purpose, except perhaps researching companies if the student brings a smartphone with them. Conversely, many of the smaller companies lines are vacant for most of the time. Information The information brochure handed out to the students after registration doesn t contain up- to- date information. For example, it lists certain companies as offering internships in the Spring, when the company representatives say that they were only recruiting for interns in the Fall. The geometric layout of the company booths is confusing, and doesn t match well with the mental model of the Klaus atrium. 1
Sometimes, the student only learns that he/she is not eligible for the position, or there are no open positions, after standing in a queue for a long while. Every company has a different process of handling the recruitment process at the career fair. It ranges from collecting physical forms of resumes, to entering the information on tablets to capturing a photo of the resume. Also, the follow up procedure for every company is different. As a result, by the end of the day student is bombarded with information and is at a loss on how to follow up with the companies, especially if he/she didn t capture all the information in a detailed fashion. This could be worse if the companies have impending deadlines or cutoffs for online applications. Space The current allotted space for student belongings (such as backpacks, which aren t currently permitted in the career fair booth space) isn t large enough to accommodate the number of students attending, resulting in a disheveled, overpacked space. Additionally, the management doesn t take any responsibility of the belongings, and potential theft is an issue. Furthermore, the booths are so closely arranged that it becomes difficult to form proper queues, which leads to more organization work for the management. In certain circumstances, the lines get intermingled, adding to the already- present chaos. Psychological and Physical Effect Waiting in line, pitching elevator speeches and standing for close to six hours in the career fair each day, for up to three consecutive days, often leads to psychological and physical exertion for the students. Current Mobile App The current app doesn t indicate the exact location of the companies on the floor map and so it must be used in conjunction with the paper floor map to help direct students to booths that they re interested in. Environmental Impact Lots of paper is utilized by all the three stakeholders - like printing of the resumes, the name badge stickers, wristbands, company information brochures and other promotional materials. PROPOSED SOLUTION Our proposed solution will take the form of holistic service (re)design, incorporating mobile technology in thoughtful ways. We want to retain the elements of the career fair experience that are effective - such as the face- to- face contact and engagement that creates personal connections between recruiters and students. By interviewing students and a career fair organizer, we will glean which 2
elements should be highlighted and kept important in the process of career fair, and also which elements can be removed or recast to improve the experience for students. We aim to incorporate and refine the usage of mobile technology to streamline the overall experience of the career fair for GT students, from the initial gathering/coordination of career- fair- related materials (such as resumes and name tags) to waiting in line, talking with various recruiters and walking away (or somehow being notified) of outcomes, such as gaining an interview or callback for a job offer. INITIAL RESEARCH Literature review While reviewing literature pertaining to on- campus career fairs, we found that the career fair is vital to both companies and students. From companies' prospective, the career fair is an important component of their recruiting strategy with relatively low cost and high efficiency (Hansen 2006). Besides, career fairs also allow companies an opportunity to increase their brand awareness (Gordon, Adler et al. 2014). For students, it is an opportunity to explore career and internship options, find out what different companies look for in their potential employees, as well as gain advice regarding relevant courses, skills or experiences that might assist the student in their area they are specializing in (Payne and Sumter 2005). However, improvements can still be made to career fairs. The literature review provides experience and suggestions from two sides of participants - Companies and students. From companies point of view, several suggestions have been made. According to Susan Gordon et al, more than half of companies in the study suggested regulating attendance by class (freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior), as the most popular answer followed by a desire to have a longer career fair as indicated by 15%. A few respondents wrote in their own suggestions. Some of the comments were more time to interview, one hour not 30 minutes, more attendance by students, more interaction with university faculty, each company [makes] a presentation and/or small group panel discussions, and have [company] information session prior to career day (Gordon, Adler et al. 2014). Students at other universities also have some complaints regarding on- campus career fairs. For example, some complain that not enough companies attend their on- campus career fairs, and some of their favorites had not shown up. Students also recommended that there should be more space for future career fairs, as space became quite crowded at times according to their experience. A few recommended broadening the focus of the career fair to provide more opportunities, especially for those multiple- disciplinary companies (Payne and Sumter 2005). 3
Therefore, it is meaningful to design for better experience for the career fair, because of its importance to all its stakeholders - especially from the students perspective, which we are focusing on within the context of this project. Field work Our team attended the Georgia Tech College of Computing Spring Career Fair which was held in January 2015. All the problems listed above were from our own first- hand experiences, as well as from talking with other attending students. Below are a few of the images captured at the event. These images depict the problems mentioned in the above section. PLAN FOR RESEARCH In addition to our literature review, our team conducted some preliminary fieldwork by attending the GT College of Computing career fair in January 2015, and taking photos/notes of the process for attending students. We plan to interview a career fair organizer to obtain her perspective on the process. Furthermore, we are interested in interviewing GT students who attended this career fair, to gather details on their experiences and what they would like to see changed or improved about the career fair process. We will document our process via written/typed notes and a timeline, and within our team we may take on roles as actors/key stakeholders (i.e., students, career fair organizers and recruiters) to test and develop our prototype ideas, in addition to interviewing and speaking with our target user population (students who attend the GT CoC career fair). 4
REFERENCES Brennan, C., Daly, M., Fitzpatrick, E. and Sweeney, E. (2004) Tradition vs. technology: career fairs in the 21st century, International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp.23 41. Gordon, S., et al. (2014). "Career fairs: are they valuable events? Hospitality and tourism recruiter perceptions of attributes towards participation and activities." International Journal of Hospitality and Event Management 1(1): 81-94. Hansen, F. (2006). "Far from obsolete, career fairs are a low- cost way for firms to hire quickly and fill pipelines." Workforce Management 85(4): 46-47. Payne, B. K. and M. Sumter (2005). "College students' perceptions about career fairs: What they like, what they gain, and what they want to see." College Student Journal 39(2): 269. Silkes, C., Adler, H., & Phillips, P. S. (2010). Hospitality career fairs: Student perceptions of value and usefulness. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 9(2), 117-130. 5