The Fair
I’ve never been to a job fair before. To me, they seemed a bit old-fashioned, but in a world that applications fly in by the thousands, I thought maybe a bit of face time would help with a potential job. So I went. On September 25, 2024, I went to the National Cyber Summit job fair in Huntsville, AL. The experience was interesting and a bit different than what I had expected.
Pre-Planning
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, so I was preparing a bunch of different options.
The Job Fair website had the following on their site:
So here’s what I did:
I printed 10 copies of my resume.
I prepared an online portfolio using Linq, a tool that I could share webpages via NFC or QR Code.
I prepared a doc of the companies I wanted to visit. Well I had generative AI do it for me. I gave it a list of companies, and told it to create a table with the website and what jobs openings they had listed. Worked quite well.
I came up with some questions and introductions, not quite knowing what to expect.
I emailed my resume to the contact on the website so I could register.
The Fair
OK, I can say I was a bit unsure what to expect, and how to approach people, I’m not used to going around asking for jobs. When I’ve gone to conferences with tables, it was me who’s the shopper, not the other way around. But here we go.
I walked in, and there was a registration table to register.
This is where I felt a bit disappointed. The job fair was sponsored by ClearedJobs.net. As someone without security clearance, I appreciated that ClearedJobs was supporting the fair and including non-cleared applicants. However, I couldn't shake the feeling of being a second-tier job seeker.
He handed me my name tag, which was a blue 3x5 card with my name handwritten on the back side. It’s fine, that was the method they wrote names, even on the cleared name tags. I saw the cleared name tags though, and saw they had the clearedjobs.net logo on a nice white ready-made tag. Odd, but OK, guess I get the 3x5 card, not complaining, just huh.
When I got my name tag, the person behind the counter said that as you’re not cleared, you are only able to talk to employers who do not have on security clearance required on their tables.
I looked at the jobs on the booklet he gave me and here’s what I found.
Of the 25 companies, 15 were clearance not required, that meant anyone could talk to them.
While anyone could talk to them, many of the companies without explicit clearance requirements still listed top secret (TS) clearance as required or preferred for their positions. I counted only 6 companies that were hiring without listing TS as a requirement in some form on all the jobs they had listed.
Of the 6 that were hiring that didn’t have cleared as a requirement, I counted only 3 that were in positions that were remotely related to my skillset or direction in cybersecurity or systems engineering.
Of all 25 hiring, I don’t think one of them were private sector driven. I’m pretty sure all companies there were seeking applicants for government contracts, either top secret, or civilian side government positions. Not a bad thing, but I’m sure the cybersecurity industry has more jobs in the cyber industry that are not government driven. I guess private sector companies don't view this particular job fair as prime recruiting grounds for this industry event, or the positions in the area are mostly based on government driven contracts.
Was I bummed? No, I wasn't disappointed. I was glad to be there, interacting with potential job recruiters. However, it felt a bit strange—like I didn't quite belong—especially given the scarcity of positions that seemed to match my uncleared status and skill set as a systems engineer or security engineer.
Could those positions that were hiring for TS sponsor me? Very likely, but that means from what I was told, I still had to pass the rounds of interviews, and then wait 6-12 weeks to get cleared before I could start, pushing a potential start date out by several months at best. For most job seekers, that’s untenable, especially if you’re living paycheck to paycheck.
Chatty Chats with the Recruiters
I think I didn’t do the best talking with the recruiters, although I had some good conversations and connected with some, my overall preparation and interaction, I felt was pretty sub-par. That’s on me though. My excuse is that I’m an introvert and don’t do a great job selling my skillsets. But that’s just an excuse.
I walked up, and asked them to describe what their company was about, what positions they had, available and sometimes hit it off with positions that may fit my skillset and uncleared status, but many times they just took my resume and said go look on our website and we’ll see about matching your resume here with the job application you submit online. Bleh. I’m still fighting with potentially hundreds of applicants.
I know one table I walked up to described what their business was and when I asked what positions they were filling, they said look on our website, and apply there. I asked if they would take a resume and they said no, they don’t take resumes. Huh?? Why are you here then?
The experience felt very salesy more than a job fair. Companies seemed focused on selling themselves to applicants, while I had to quickly pitch my skills to someone who likely was just there to take resumes and direct me to their website. I felt like an interaction was describe the company, talk about my skills, take resume, take business card or pamphlet about how great their company is, move on.
While I occasionally spoke with recruiters or hiring managers who discussed their business and available roles in depth, most interactions felt superficial. Representatives often seemed more interested in promoting their company, concluding with a perfunctory "Let me take your business card and resume. If you're interested in a position, please apply online."
Even the business card was either a general recruiting business card or a pamphlet from the business about what they do, their benefits as an employee and a link to their job board. Out of the 8 companies I talked to I got 3 business cards with real human names on it.
I get it. You are talking to hundreds, if not thousands of people, thats how these go. But in the end, I felt like I could have been more productive taking the list of companies they provided, going to their website and applying for 10x more jobs than spending half a day prepping and only get to talk to 3 companies who were probably hiring for a role that fit my skillset.
What I Would have Done Differently
I think if I was able to aim for the positions I wanted and prepared discussions about specific roles, I may have come out with a few more connections. However, the setup, general layout and salesy-feeling aura didn’t provide opportunities for long discussions about specific roles. This contrasts with the experiences of job fairs from 30 years ago that some people I know have described to me, where job fairs could have turned into interviews if the initial discussion went well. I think that comes from a limited amount of people available to choose from, whereas now you can compete with a world of people. Some of it is just the world we live in now.
End Result
Overall, I was bummed. I would have rated my experience a 4/10. While it was refreshing to talk to real humans in this AI-driven, SEO-optimized, ATS-dominated hellscape we call job hunting in 2024, I felt there were many missed opportunities. Companies still cling to their "apply online" methodology at a job fair, rather than seizing the moment with something like, "Hey, you might be a good fit. How about we do an initial interview right now?" Worst case, a potential applicant could have gotten some interview experience, and the company hiring could have learned more about a possible job that may fit a job opening they have.
I feel a better method of a job fair in 2024 and beyond is a limited, closer knit, less salesy, more immediate and less formal discussion that looks more like a networking event that people can just talk to other people than a conference floor laden with swag and people behind tables talking about their company’s great opportunities… but apply online.
Again, my experience could have been completely different to someone who was successful getting hired through a direct contact there, but someone like myself who didn’t quite know how to fit in and make those connections unique, because I’m not a sales person who can pitch and pivot quickly and thrives more on deeper discussions and connections, loses out on what could have been a wonderful experience, and could have benefited better, even if it turned out to be a connection that knows someone who knows someone who IS looking for a Systems Engineer.
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