Employers Joining More Job Fairs to Recruit Workers

BY Courtney Huckabay
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CareerBuilder has predicted hiring trends in their annual Q4 job forecast. According to the study, 34 percent of employers plan to add full-​time, permanent employees in the fourth quarter, on par with 2015.

1. "Wages are rising. According to the study,68 percent of employers plan to increase salaries for full-​time, permanent workers in Q4, with 28 percent anticipating an average pay increase of 5 percent or more. When it comes to seasonal workers, 47 percent of employers expect to increase pay in the fourth quarter, with 75 percent planning to pay $10 or more per hour."

"What this means for you: As the job market becomes more competitive, employers need to find ways to entice job seekers to join – or current workers to stay," Debra Auerbach wrote for CareerBuilder. "This is especially true for harder to fill positions. That gives you more of an edge when it comes to compensation – so consider negotiating your salary or requesting a raise (so long as you can show evidence you're worth the pay bump)."

Hiring managers can tout their salaries at career fairs! The AudienceSCAN study revealed 6.3% of U.S. adults want to attend job fairs in the next 12 months.

2. "Retail hiring remains steady. As the holidays near, seasonal hiring among retailers will dip slightly from Q4 2015, but will still be sizeable and yield higher pay. Nearly half of retailers plan to hire seasonal workers in Q4, down 4 percentage points from last year (53 percent). Of those retailers hiring seasonal help, 53 percent will pay $10 or more per hour – up from 43 percent in 2015."

"What this means for you: Seasonal hiring may be slightly more competitive this year, so get started now on your search. The good news is that your paycheck may be bigger than it was in years' past."

Job Fair Attendees react well to TV commercials. According to AudienceSCAN data, 47% of Job Fair Attendees took action after watching television (over-​the-​air, online, mobile or tablet) spots in the past 30 days.

3. "Certain seasonal roles are in demand. The study found that companies across industries are hiring seasonal workers for the following roles: customer service (37 percent), administrative/​clerical support (19 percent), accounting/​finance (16 percent), inventory management (16 percent), shipping and delivery (16 percent), technology (15 percent), marketing (13 percent), sales – non-​retail (13 percent), and hosting/​greeting (13 percent)."

"What this means for you: While it's perhaps not surprising that customer service workers are in demand around the holiday season, don't discount other functions within a company that need the extra support at the end of the year."

The above-​mentioned industries need to get more exposure from career fairs. The AudienceSCAN survey reported 22.2% of Job Fair Attendees get most of their local news from newspapers.

4. "Temporary to permanent continues to be a trend. Sixty-​two percent of employers expect to hire some of their seasonal staff for full-​time positions, up from 57 percent last year and a big leap from 42 percent two years ago."

"What this means for you: A trend that has emerged as the economy has been recovering is for employers to "test drive" workers before making the commitment to hire them on a permanent basis. If you're looking to turn your temporary role into a permanent one, ask the hiring manager if the position could turn permanent, and make it clear that you're interested."

AudienceSCAN data is available as part of a subscription to AdMall for Agencies, or with the SalesFuel API. Media companies can access AudienceSCAN data through the AudienceSCAN Reports in AdMall.


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