by Ashley West, Vocational Rehabilitation Employment Specialist

The Iowa Department for the Blind was proud to partner with staff from Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Aging Resources of Central Iowa, Iowa Employment Solutions at DMACC, Candeo, and Easter Seals Iowa to hold the Reverse Career Fair on March 9, 2016. This new model turns the table on the typical job fair format, so that the employers stop by the booths of the job candidates! In this format, the job candidates have a better opportunity to showcase the talents and skills they can offer to an employer, in a setting that is more conducive to making a real connection. The employer also benefits from being able to quickly identify which job candidates are most likely to have the skills, abilities, and personality that will fit well into the position they are looking to fill. It is a classic win-win situation.

In the weeks leading up to the event, we invited select job candidates to participate in a group boot camp as well as to work in individual sessions with staff, in order to help them get their booths prepared.  The five key areas we focused on were Resume-Portfolio, Dress for Success, Display 101, 30-Second Elevator Speech, and Mock Interviewing. We then held a dry run where the job candidates set up their displays and interacted with partner staff playing the role of employers, and offering feedback to the job candidates about their displays and their performance.

On the day of the event, we were pleased to have over 50 employer representatives take the time to join us at the Wellmark YMCA in downtown Des Moines, where they got to see the booths of our 24 job candidates and got to interact on a personal level. We had each of the tables at the job candidates’ booths color-coded to identify in which job sector they were mainly seeking employment. For instance, if they were hoping to find a position in a clerical field, their table cloth was green.

Feedback gathered by exit surveys of both employers and job candidates showed that our event had been a terrific success.

Employer comments included:

“LOVED the concept and the color coded tables! We could go right to the skills we needed and who we thought would be a good candidate for our company.”

“I think it is a great experience and opportunity for both the job seekers and me as the recruiter.”

“Every candidate was well prepared and seemed comfortable in their setting. THIS WAS AWESOME!”

“Well done!! I look forward to attending more in the future. Thank you for this opportunity!”

Comments from the job candidates included:

“Having my booth was great! It gave me a chance to show my skills without shuffling my portfolio andresumes around at a normal fair.”

“The thing I liked best were the meetings prior to the job fair.”

“This was great- please keep doing this.”

Our team of partner agencies plans to hold two more Reverse Career Fairs in 2016, and we have spoken with other Des Moines metro area service providers who are interested in duplicating this model. We are excited to see interest in the approach grow, and to see our job candidates find the satisfaction that comes with working to their full ability.

If you are interested in learning more about the process or how to participate either as an employer or as a job candidate, contact Shannon Myers at Shannon.myers@blind.state.ia.us [1] (515-661-8597) or Ashley West at Ashley.west@blind.state.ia.us [2] (515-250-8177).

Link to WHO13 News Report: http://whotv.com/2016/03/09/reverse-job-fair-connects-iowans-with-disabilities-to-employers/ [3]