It’s officially over! People were hired, questions got answered and attendees were satisfied. So, what really went on at JobsCentral Career Fair 2006? Let us give you the low-down.

By Lum Xiang Rong

Making an impressive debut, JobsCentral Career Fair 2006 attracted more than 20,000 career seekers. Lasting across two days, 28-29 October 2006, the career fair of the year had over 5,000 white collar vacancies advertised. People looking for further education were not excluded too as prominent institutions all converged at Suntec City Convention Centre. The fair was so hot that there was already a long queue waiting to enter even before the event kicked off!

Think different
If you are thinking of your average career fair, scrape it out of your mind. JobsCentral Career Fair 2006 offered more than just your ordinary fare of organisations and jobs. Featuring quality and professional organisations with specializations ranging from accounting, hospitality services, insurance, sales, banking, electrical engineering to civil service, they were all ready to employ people on the spot.

Kicking off the career fair was Dr Teo Ho Pin, Mayor of NorthWest CDC and MP of Bukit Panjang SMC, [speaking about the great response from the public just from the registration alone.] The fair was organised by JobsFactory and supported by the five polytechnics, Nanyang, Ngee Ann, Republic, Singapore and Temasek.

The fair was definitely an excellent way to meet potential employers face-to-face and to answer any burning queries. It was an exhibition for serious jobseekers by serious employers. Attendees to this one-of-a kind exhibition included students who were indecisive about their next step, whether to enter the workforce or to further their studies. Fresh graduates were also spotted as they eagerly looked for potential jobs. Speaking to some National Service (NS) men, they too wanted a piece of the action as they had lost touch with what was “in” and wanted to find more about the current job market. Dressed in swanky suits, people in the workforce who were considering career switches also could not resist themselves as they looked for the possible job opportunities.

Knock, knock, who’s there
Some of the well-known organisations at the fair included DBS Bank, L’Oreal, Hardware Zone, STMicroelectronics, Great Eastern and NTUC Fairprice. Like many of the attendees, student Tammi Kwok, who is currently thinking of entering the workforce, was attracted to the JobsCentral Career Fair.

The Mass Communication student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic said, “There are so many organisations here and I can’t seem to decide which one to go to first! There really is something for everyone.” Tammi found Marcus Evans, an events management company, “extremely interesting and relevant”. She was indeed impressed with how professional the people attending to her were. “They spoke to me with such flair as though every one of us was a potential employee,” she said. The 19-year-old also felt that the JobsCentral Career Fair 2006 gave her a better understanding of the various industries and their working culture. “The lifestyle of someone in the workforce is certainly very different from that of a student. The career fair will certainly help me prepare for a smoother transition,” said Tammi.

Other than recruiting people, organisations like the Singapore Tourism Board were also looking for attendees who were interested in its overseas scholarship programmes. Taking on a scholarship programme would mean a secured job after graduation in its local or overseas offices. Education providers like Nanyang Technological University, SIM University and the Management Development Institute of Singapore were also represented. Many foreigners found these booths valuable as the fair gave them a variety of educational institutes to choose and to compare from.

Looi Yong Kean, an auditor, who was looking at the educational booths “found the Kaplan Singapore booth extremely helpful, especially for someone who is intending to further their studies”. “Although it was really crowded, they still bothered to answer all my queries. They were extremely helpful in explaining to me about the Finance Chartered Analysis Masters Program they offered,” added the 25-year-old.

The fair also gave people hope. Hope to find suitable jobs, especially those who unfortunately have been unemployed for some time. Highly qualified and experienced, some of these people just needed some extra help. People deciding on career switches also found the fair really insightful as it gave them a brief overview of each industry and its requirements to make the switch.

“Some of these jobs require certain paper qualifications and finding what I need allows me to make an informed decision if I should further my studies,” said Tammi. “In fact, I didn’t think of furthering my education because I really wanted to go straight to the workforce after studying for so many years. But, after asking around, I am now considering to go overseas to further my education,” she added. How convenient that the educational booths are just next door.

The attendees were not the only ones who left the career fair feeling contented. The exhibitors too had good feedback on JobsCentral Central Career Fair 2006. “Overall, the response was really positive. The fair managed to capture the target audience that we were looking out for,” said Natt Srinara, 30, Senior Programme Consultant for SMa School of Management. “The advertising was well done and many people heard about the event,” commented Michelle Yeo, Talent Acquisition Manager at DFS Singapore.

Bringing people together
A career fair is just like a match-making agency. It is a place for people to meet and in this case specifically, employers and potential employees. It brings great joy for the organiser to see successful matches and “couples” walking away feeling satisfied.

Although this year’s JobsCentral Career Fair is finally over, do look forward to a bigger and better JobsCentral Career Fair 2007! So until next year, wait impatiently. We will definitely see you there!

JobsCentral Career Fair 2006 Fast Facts & Figures
• More than 20,000 people turned up over two days.
• A total of 49 employing exhibitors, and 9 educational providers at the Fair. JobsCentral Career Fair 2007 promises to be twice as big!
It will be held from 20 Oct to 21 Oct this year, at Suntec International Convention & Exhibition Centre Hall 404.
So see you there!