The rationale for careers fairs is well documented and count towards a number of Gatsby benchmarks. But they do require significant time and effort to organise, often followed by last-minute cancellations and frantic social media callouts for replacements.
So, are they worth it?
Careers specialist Liane Hambly shares her tips to help make the most of the experience for all involved.
Amid the logistics, coordination and deadlines, it can be easy to forget what a careers fair is really meant to achieve.
For students:
- Build a network and create connections.
- Gain knowledge and understand about careers and pathways.
- Develop careers management and employability skills.
- Expand horizons and be curious.
- Develop networking skills and practise communication skills.
For exhibitors:
- Showcase their brand and attract future talent.
- Connect with students to achieve outreach goals.
- Inspire students, challenge stereotypes, and widen participation.
So, they can be worth it, provided we:
- ensure students aren’t motivated solely by the freebies on offer
- effectively prepare both students and exhibitors
Here’s a thought — ban the freebies! Much will end up in landfill and marketing merch can undermine impartiality.
Next, shift the emphasis from knowledge to skill development. Investigative quizzes can help build basic knowledge and compare diverse pathways, but they risk cognitive overload, superficial skimming, and poor retention.
Skills activities
Ideally, exhibitors will bring their own activities, but here are a few suggestions:
| Skill | Five-minute activity |
|---|---|
| Decision-making | Provide several options of what to make plus LEGO bricks. Options can relate to a work-related decision, e.g. hospitality and retail. The student chooses what to make and the exhibitor asks coaching questions such as:
|
| Problem-solving/Resilience | Provide items (ideally related to the exhibitor’s work) that can be stacked. The task: build the tallest structure possible. If it collapses, try again or find another way. |
| Curiosity | Task the student to learn about a role they know little about — how the exhibitor got into it, what they enjoy, etc. Exhibitors can bring props from their work, and students ask about their relevance. Prompt cards with questions can be scattered among the props for support. |
| Persistence | 'Don’t buzz the wire' game. |
| Creativity | Make what you can from pipe-cleaners. Less confident students can add pipe cleaners to an existing structure in any way they like (it’s less intimidating if it doesn’t represent anything). |
Make it worthwhile and enjoyable – for every exhibitor
A common challenge is securing a diverse range of exhibitors. Why is it so hard?
People are busy, but some may also doubt the value of taking part. Meanwhile, exhibitors seen as less exciting, or lacking freebies, often end up watching students flock to the stalls with the latest animal shaped stress ball. It’s no surprise they’re reluctant to return the next year.
A skills approach
We know that career learning is so much more than knowledge – at its heart is the development of skills:
- Career management or development competencies (as outlined in internationally recognised frameworks), such as decision-making, change management, information management, and self-awareness.
- Employability skills such as teamwork, critical thinking, problem-solving, and entrepreneurship.
Of course, these areas overlap. The key is to map the skills to the career curriculum, both discrete and cross curricular, without getting bogged down in categories.
Practical ideas
- Share a list of career and employability skills with potential exhibitors and ask them to choose those relevant to their field. Encourage them to create a brief hands‑on activity for students such as a quick, prop‑based task from their workplace that takes under five minutes.
- For smaller providers or late volunteers, have a few ready-made activities you can suggest or provide (see my skills grid above).
- Prepare students with a reflective activity on their own career and employability skills: What are their strengths? What would they like to develop? Set personal objectives for the event, covering insights they want to gain and skills to gain.
- Expand investigative tasks to include both insights and skills.
- Target exhibitors who can fill gaps in your skills map – for example, self‑employed professionals for entrepreneurship, a career changer for flexibility and adaptability, or a counsellor for empathy and listening. Bringing in more self‑employed individuals can also widen your exhibitor pool.
- Ask students to identify exhibitors who represent the skills they need. Encourage them to ask how those skills are used in the exhibitor’s career, how they were developed, and then complete the activity to earn a signature.
Of course, students love freebies – who doesn’t? But evaluations show there are other effective ways to engage them:
- The more interactive the better – props, equipment, activities in addition to asking meaningful questions.
- Relatable role models – students often feel more confident speaking with people closer to their age, such as apprentices and recent graduates.
- Reach out to the quieter voices – encourage exhibitors to take the initiative and engage with less confident students.
- Value observational learning – listening in and watching peers complete tasks can be just as impactful and may give students the confidence to join in.
A career fair is a big commitment – maximise its impact by creating skill-focused, interactive experiences.
Thank you to careers specialists Hannah West, Chris Targett, Jude Hanley, and Katherine Jennick for their thoughts on this topic.