NJ jobs: In-person job fairs make a comeback. Can they fix the labor shortage?
Michael L. Diamond, Asbury Park Press
6 min read
TOMS RIVER - Recruiters for Merri-Makers Caterers set out shiny pamphlets and a basket filled with Reese's candy at Ocean County College one day this week, hoping to convince students to come and work for them.
It was their second job fair of the day, and Holly Houghton and Lauren Bott thought they were making progress. They were offering $15 an hour plus tips, and a flexible schedule.
"This is the best way to do it," said Houghton, the caterer's staffing coordinator. "And people are showing up. We've hired I would say at least 50 new people" in recent weeks.
Shelved during the pandemic out of safety concerns, in-person job fairs are making a comeback, giving employers and job hunters alike a chance to see each other face-to-face.
Ocean County College hosts a job fair for part-time help.Toms River, NJTuesday, April 5, 2022.
For recruiters, they are a welcome sight. The virtual tools they have turned to during the past two years might have saved them time on the road, but they said they weren't sufficient to find reliable workers.
How much were they missed? The Ocean County College fair had 37 employers — and another 10 to 20 that had to be turned away because there wasn't enough space, said Kirsten Bollinger, the school's career services coordinator.
"We could have had more employers here, but we had to cut it off," Bollinger said.
Merri-Makers had plenty of company. Marquis Health Consulting Services based in Brick attended both the Ocean County College fair on Tuesday and a job fair at Brookdale Community College in Middletown sponsored by Monmouth County on Wednesday.
The company staffs rehabilitation and health care centers and has no shortage of positions: nurses, receptionists, dietary aides and cooks, said Garbrilla Gallotta, a recruiter for Marquis.
"Job fairs are 100% better in person," her colleague, Tarisa Weber, said at the Brookdale fair. "The candidates get a better feel for the company, you get a better feel for them, whether or not they'll be a fit. It's just much better than virtual."
Tarisa Weber talks with a potential employee about job opportunity at Marquis Health Consulting Services. Ocean County College hosts a job fair for part-time help.Toms River, NJTuesday, April 5, 2022.
New Jersey's job market was hit twice as hard as the nation during the early months of the pandemic, creating chaos for workers and their employers.
As the pandemic rolled through the state in waves, employers scrambled to fill job openings and stay afloat. They were forced to give up in-person job fairs that helped them get the word out to high school and college students, as well as job seekers trying to get back into the labor market.
They tried to get creative. They had virtual job fairs through Zoom. They advertised on Indeed. They offered bonuses to existing workers for referrals. In one instance, Monmouth County had a drive-thru job fair at Brookdale, where job seekers were given flyers with a list of potential employers to contact.
But recruiters said they continue to have plenty of job openings. And they have missed the chance encounters that can take place during job fairs.
"I like in-person a lot more," said Rachel Novy, human resources manager for Colts Neck-based Esposito Construction. "When they're virtual, they have to essentially sign up to see you. If there's somebody walking around (at an in-person fair) that I think could potentially be a fit, I can then go up to them and have them come over. And I just feel like in-person and seeing somebody's mannerisms and whatnot is a lot better than just being on a computer screen."
Georgianne Regus, director of recruitment for Adamas Building Services based in Rutherford, agreed.
"I'm on Indeed a lot, so I've been searching, seeking, inviting people to apply," Regus said. "People apply for interviews, but they don't show up for interviews. So it's kind of a little bit of a struggle, but we'll get there."
In-person job fairs alone might not be enough to solve the labor shortage.
The Asbuy Park Press talked to four Ocean County College students who dropped by the fair Tuesday to see what opportunities were out there. But there was one catch: They already had jobs.
Students Daniel McLean of Jackson and Calissa Naletov of Jackson discuss job options in the current employment climate. Ocean County College hosts a job fair for part-time help.Toms River, NJTuesday, April 5, 2022.
Daniel McLean, 21, of Jackson, works at The Home Depot. Calissa Naletov, 20, of Jackson, works at Wawa. Max Bonanno, 21, of Berkeley, works at Bath and Body Works. Faith Cherico, 20, of Toms River, works at Joe Bella's Italian Restaurant and Bar, also in Toms River, where she buses tables.
Even so, the students found the in-person job fairs useful. Cherico is in her second year at Ocean County College and trying to decide whether to go into nursing or culinary arts.
The job fair gave her a chance to weigh her options — and brush up on her networking skills.
"The last time I had one of these things was in high school my senior year," Cherico said. "I like being around people. It's much better than seeing them on a screen and not really being there with them. I like to be there in person."
Bollinger, the career services coordinator at Ocean County College, said at times it feels like she talks more to employers needing workers than the students she counsels.
But any doubts that in-person job fairs would be replaced by technology seemed to vanish.
At virtual job fairs, "students have to purposefully sit down and log in and choose what employers to talk to," Bollinger said, "whereas here, they can bop around, talk to people, shake a hand, have that face-to-face communication."
"So the pressure is on a little bit more," she said. "But it's definitely, I think, a more rewarding experience for the student and for the employer."
Holly Houghton and Lauren Bott of Merri-Makers said they have been going to two to three in-person job fairs each week, trying to ramp up for the busy wedding season, which starts this month.
The hiring strategy seemed to help them avoid a repeat of last summer's labor crunch.
Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter who has been writing about the New Jersey economy and health care industry for more than 20 years. He can be reached at mdiamond@gannettnj.com.
