Job Fairs are Smelly

Three weeks ago I was informed that my employment would cease in the very near future. As a result, I have been doing what 8% of the population has been doing - looking for a job.

My first venture was to attend a public job fair. For those few of you who have no idea what a job fair is, let me break it down for you. Employers come to a large facility (imagine your high school gym), set up booths, and talk to people about potential jobs. The current or future unemployed walk around and inquire about available positions and hand out resumes like candy on Halloween.

As a former manager, I have attended job fairs on the employer side of the table. In previous years, this was a very easy part of my job. In fact, I often looked forward to going "out there" to meet the public. Below is a rough example of a job fair conversation eight years ago:

Employer: Hi! Welcome to My Company's booth. My name is Hiring Manager. What kind of job are you looking for?

Candidate: Hello, my name is Job Seeker. I have extensive work experience in Your Field of Expertise. I have been employed with My Current Company for the last two years and I am interested in expanding my skills so that I can actively contribute to an organization that values innovation, hard work, and business ethics.

E: Wonderful! You sound like the perfect candidate. Go ahead and complete this application. Once you are finished, I will interview you. If you have a resume, I'd love to see it.

C: Excellent. Here's my resume. Do you have a pen I can borrow?

***

This candidate was probably hired on the spot.

Fast forward to the job fair I attended last week. Here's an example of a conversation I overheard:

Employer: Hi. We're currently hiring for one Open Position. Do you think you are qualified?

Candidate: Yes. My name is Desperate Job Seeker and I was recently laid off from Your Company's Competitor where I worked for over ten years. My most recent accomplishment was to initiate an internal review of our current work flow processes. After extensive recommendations, I was able to save my company over $20 thousand simply by streamlining the way we handle our external customer inquiries.

E: OK. Yeah, sure, that sounds great. Here's our website. You can see all our jobs and fill out an application. We're not currently taking resumes at this job fair. I don't have any business cards either. Good luck.

***

This person was probably not hired. Instead, she was herded into the next booth, shoved into another waiting line of a company that she did not know and started to perspire (again) with a mixture of expected nervousness and unexpected desperation.

The bad thing is that she wasn't the only person perspiring; and we all know that if a lot of people are perspiring at least one of them forgot to use deodorant. Just like it only takes one obnoxious person to ruin a dinner party, it only takes one smelly person to ruin a job fair.

Once I did a quick whiff check, I tried to guess who the culprit was. I considered the balding man with the too-small suit and the gray haired woman who dabbed her forehead with a dingy white tissue three times in twenty seconds. Both of them seemed likely candidates. The smell became overwhelming. At five feet, I am nose level with most armpits - a very uncomfortable position in a room of 1,000 people. I spent approximately 45 minutes at this job fair.

I didn't pick up any business cards and I didn't leave any resumes. Instead, I quickly walked through the maze of booths while breathing through my mouth. I made it to the end of the cramped hallway and pushed myself through the door to chilled fresh air and freedom.

I am planning to attend another public job fair this week.

**Lesson learned: Keep deodorant in the car at all times.