Don’t do this:

Hat tip to Boozeworthy for the image!

Notices of some new local job fairs landed in my in-box, so I’ve updated the list in the right column. Here are some of the events happening this spring:

Colorado Construction Industry Job Fair
21-APR-09:8:30AM-2:30PM
National Western Expo Hall, Level 2
4655 Humboldt St., 80216

Fort Carson Defense Technology & Intelligence Career Fair
21-APR-09: 10:00AM-2:00PM
Elkhorn Catering & Conference Center
1725 Woodfill Road, Building # 7300
Fort Carson, CO 80913

Peterson AFB Defense Technology & Intelligence Career Fair
22-APR-09: 10:00AM-2:00PM
Peterson Club
260 Glasgow Avenue, Building 1013
Peterson AFB, CO 80914

Post-News Diversity Job Fair
22-APR-09: 10:00AM-3:00PM
INVESCO Field at Mile High
1701 Mile High Stadium Cir W, 80204

Jobing.com Fair
28-APR-09: 2:00PM-6:00PM
Colorado Convention Center
700 14th Street, 80202-3213

RecruitMilitary Career Fair
7-MAY-09: 11:00AM-3:00PM
Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum
7711 East Academy Blvd, 80230

Women Job Fair
14-MAY-09 10:00AM-3:00PM
The Oxford Hotel
1600 17th St, 80202

Post-News Healthcare Job Fair
20-MAY-09: 10:00AM-3:00PM
Belmar Center
405 S Teller St,80226

Denver Career Fair
27-MAY-09: 11:00AM-2:00PM
Crowne Plaza Denver
1450 Glenarm Place, 80202

More Colorado job fairs are popping up, most recently the 1st Annual Sustainability Career Fair on March 19, 2009. This new event is sponsored by the University of Colorado at Denver Career Center in conjunction with the Denver’s Office of Economic Development. Registration is limited and must be completed on-line at www.careers.cudenver.edu. The fair will run from 1:30PM to 4:00PM at the Colorado Convention Center.

Readers can find a full list of all the known job fairs at the bottom of the column on the right.

Related Link: How to Work a Job Fair from Workforce Colorado.

Brett Nordquist has an article about a recent encounter at a career fair:

About an hour into the fair, a man approached my booth and we chatted for a few minutes. Before he left he picked up one of my business cards and said:

Well, if I can’t find anything better, I’ll give you a call and see if we can work something out.

That’s always the best way to show commitment to your potential employer.

The Job Fair vendors are starting to leak their event calendars for 2008, so I’ve been able to update the Career Fair block. It looks like we’ll know more even after the first of the year.

A Career Fair is an ancient and honorable way to find a job. If you want to increase your chances of finding work, go to a Fair.

One service I intend to provide with this blog is an up-to-date list of Colorado Career Fairs. See my calendar in the lower part of the right-hand column. Any assistance, corrections or changes can be sent to notjobs -AT- bettingers.org.

Did you know that Career Fairs pre-date HR departments? In fact, after networking, the Career Fair (a.k.a. Job Fair, Hiring Fair or Employment Fair) is the oldest form of recruitment activity. Job Fairs started in the late Middle Ages as events called “Mop Fairs”. After the the Black Death ravaged Europe, the manor system suffered from a severe labor shortage. Employers needing to find workers would attend a Mop Fair held in the market town in their area. Some towns have been holding Mop Fairs for over 700 years.

Workers looking for a position would gather around the village green or market square. Since the mostly illiterate population had no way of printing a resume (this was also pre-Gutenberg), candidates would carry an item indicating their trade, or wear an item in their hat. A shepherd had wool, a cook had a spoon, a gardener had flowers, and a carter had a leather whip. The unskilled would carry a mop, indicating their willingness to clean up. The number of unskilled laborers gave the fairs their name.

Hiring was simple: Employers (often a steward, butler or chamberlain) walked around the square, looking for a particular sign in the hands of a likely candidate. The two would talk about the work and the benefits (generally, meals and housing, but stout castle walls could provide added life insurance and job security). After coming to an agreement, the employer gave the worker a few pence to seal the deal (a hiring bonus). The candidate would hide the sign of his or her job and don a bunch of colored ribbons to show they were off the market. Vendors of food and drink lined the edge of the square, ready to provide sustenance to the newly employed.

Today, some English villages still have a Mop Fair, but the emphasis is on rides, food and drink and not on employment. But the idea that candidate and company can gather together in one place is still working. Now, just as in 1351, if you want to find work you should go to the Fair.

For more, see: Wikipedia on Mop Fairs