June 9, 2009

NSHP and LatPro find success in Los Angeles job fair

Posted by hispanicjobs under Hispanic professionals, bilingual, diversity, hispanic jobs, job fairs
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Last week LatPro and NSHP Network hosted a job fair in southern California, where 23 companies and professional organizations met with over 600 candidates to discuss professional employment opportunities. I’m excited to say that despite the current economy, which I believe is slowly showing signs of improvement, this has been one of our most successful recruiting events in California. I was able to see many well prepared, professional level candidates being interviewed onsite by potential employers and heard more than one success story.

Immediately after opening the floor, employers such as Wal-Mart and Boy Scouts of America were conducting on site interviews. Wal-Mart alone had 9 recruiters present, compared to the usual 2 recruiters per company. Government agencies have been a very good alternative for job seekers in these troubled times, and we had the U. S. Department of State, U.S. Census and Social Security Administration present looking to fill open positions. Health Care was also well represented by employers such as UCLA Health and California Prison Health Systems, and fellow Hispanic professional health care candidates were encouraged to network with the NAHN Los Angeles chapter. As usual at our shows, there were also many opportunities for finance, sales, and marketing candidates which were able to meet with AXA Advisors, New York Life, Aflac, and many more.

I firmly believe we have established ourselves very well in the East coast, just as we have in the central region. The west coast has been a gradual growth pattern for us, and we are working hard to continue improving all of our shows constantly. We are dedicating exhibit space for private interview areas, accommodating exhibitors to facilitate their recruiting needs, supplying advice to pre-registered candidates and more. We have begun providing two additional resources to help job seekers find employment online, through diversityjobs.com and justjobs.com. This is all for you, the job seeker, the networker, the fellow Hispanic professional.

This was our last show for the first semester of 2009; after 5 job fairs in the last 4 months, we will regroup in July, work hard to bring in exhibiting companies and innovate new strategies to improve our job fairs. See you in our next job fair on August 27: Atlanta. Enjoy the summer.

 

June 9, 2009

New job search engines launched

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Last week we launched JustJobs.com, a new job search engine intended to simplify job search by aggregating positions from other job boards and employers’ websites. JustJobs.com follows the launch of LatPro’s DiversityJobs.com search engine in 2006.

In development for over 3 years, the JustJobs.com family of newly launched job search engines is the outcome of lessons learned over more than a decade running its flagship Hispanic and bilingual niche job board, LatPro.com. This family also includes HispanicJobs.us a showcase for Hispanic and bilingual jobs.

JustJobs.com is about creating as much value as we can for job seekers-our goal is to show clear immediate value to job seekers, job boards and employers. In our annual review of the Top 100 Job Site Niches, it becomes clear what ties together the job sites that are perennial leaders – they show job seekers immediate value.

JustJobs.com is a free resource for job seekers and job board partners and will remain free. It launches searching more than 1,000,000 jobs from over 75 partners and currently serves 1 million+ monthly page views over its family of job search engines.

Justjobs.com also includes a career focused social network and blog where the company welcomes all careerists, career experts and job seekers.

 

May 24, 2009

Over 1,000 bilingual professional candidates attend job fair in Washington DC

Posted by rvillalba under bilingual, diversity, job fairs
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Over 1,000 bilingual professional candidates attended our job fair in Washington DC on May 21, where they were able to meet with almost 40 exhibitors and professional organizations. It’s always exciting to setup events in DC, given the multicultural ambiance and professional atmosphere. I was very pleased to see that a couple organizations were holding on site interviews, and some even made some hires such as Healthstream.

This is our third consecutive year hosting our DC job fair, and this year we scheduled two events in DC in our 2009 calendar, one in the spring and the second one in the fall. Many government organizations are always present at our DC shows, and with this troubled economy governmental organizations provide a secure work environment. Nonetheless, there were many non-governmental organizations providing employment opportunities such as Oracle, Bridgestone Firestone, SGT Inc, Chevy Chase Bank, Verizon Communications, and many more.

It was exciting to see the presence of Voice of America covering our job fair, obtaining feedback from both exhibitors and candidates. This will surely serve as a good boost for our next show in the fall.

 

March 27, 2009

1,000+ Candidates visit Navy Pier in Chicago for 3rd annual bilingual professional job fair

Posted by rvillalba under bilingual, diversity, hispanic jobs, job fairs
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Over 1,000 candidates attended the 3rd annual Chicago LatPro / NSHP bilingual professional job fair at Navy Pier on March 2009. Despite the cold weather, many professional bilingual candidates lined up eager to meet with potential employers including First Northern Credit Union, Boy Scouts of America, SPX Cooling Technologies, State Farm, BP, AXA Advisors, U.S. Department of State and many more. Furthermore, we had the participation of other professional organizations such as SHPE that encourage networking amongst the Hispanic professional community.

This is our 3rd consecutive show in Chicago, and it just keeps on improving every year. This year we had almost 50% more candidates than in 2008, and most importantly their professionalism has also increased. Every crisis brings opportunity, and during our first two job fairs of 2009 I’ve noticed how the preparation level and eagerness of candidates has increased. Job seekers are doing research on the exhibitors before attending the shows, bringing plenty of resumes, dressing professionally and pitching an introductory speech to the recruiters to try to stand out from other job seekers.

Another motivating factor is the recognition that LatPro / NSHP job fairs is gaining amongst recruiters. Most if not all are very pleased with the quantity and quality of applicants, which is why they continue to recruit at our job fairs. In addition, we had live broadcasts and news clips from FOX News Channel 5, Channel 7 and WGN Chicago. All of these details add up and create even more awareness for the Hispanic and bilingual professional community, and helps us get together to network to obtain better positions. I also enjoy being able to meet some of our 5,000+ members in person, and sharing a few words with each one of you.

 

March 2, 2009

First job fair of the year: Houston

Posted by hispanicjobs under company news, job fairs
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Last week we hosted our first job fair of the calendar year in Houston, TX. This was our third show in Houston in the last three years, so we have lots of practice with the venue and so have the recurrent exhibitors.

We had the opportunity to unite almost 650 candidates with over 20 diversity minded exhibitors and professional organizations. Employers including Aflac, Black & Decker, BP, The Scotts Company, City of Houston Health Services, Universal Weather & Aviation, La Michoacana Meat Markets and many more.

As we do more events, I’m pleasantly surprised to see so many well prepared, professional bilingual candidates. We now setup private interview areas in the locations where we have additional space, and I’ve seen them being used a lot by exhibiting companies. I met with many of the recruiters after the job fair ended, and they were all exhausted from the large flow of traffic they saw.

Nonetheless, these tired recruiters were very pleased with the quality of candidates and they were taking potential hires’ information back to headquarters for further review and possible follow up interviews.

Many candidates ask why they must drop off a copy of their resume at the registration desk – the answer is simple, it’s for the benefit of each candidate.  We compile a digital database with these resumes, and this database is sent to each exhibiting company.

I’m pleased to say that we started our 2009 series with the right foot and a successful event, both for candidates and recruiters, and we will now turn our full attention to our second stop in our job fair calendar: Chicago on March 19.

Thanks to all who helped make this event a success!

 

October 30, 2008

Dallas job fair unites 900+ bilingual candidates with 43 exhibitors

Posted by rvillalba under Hispanic professionals, bilingual, diversity, hispanic jobs, job fairs | Tags: , , |
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“Live large. Think big,” That is the new slogan for the city of Dallas. I believe it’s a good fit for our eighth job fair of the year too, which we hosted this past October 23 at the Dallas Convention Center. With a large space to fill, we worked diligently to bring over 43 exhibitors and laid out a floor plan which would also include some private interview rooms, to fulfill the requests from both job seekers and recruiters. Employers including Aflac, Sunbelt Rentals, Prudential, The Scotts Company, Pella Corporation, VHA, GE Energy and many more had the chance to meet over 900 bilingual candidates who lined up before registration admitted candidates at 10 am.

This event clearly surpassed last year’s Dallas fair, and I’m convinced that a great deal of that success was the location. It was much easier to find and not as big, yet large enough to give exhibitors privacy when they wanted it. Not only did we double the amount of candidates, but I’m seeing a higher quality of job seekers as we host more events; Better prepared, improved resumes and many with an impressive experience record. Then again, after 12 events, our events have improved thanks to recruiter and candidate feedback along with hard work.

One of aspects that caught my attention the most, was the use of the private interview rooms by two of the recruiters. I was thrilled to see interviews and it is definitely something we will try to incorporate more in the future. At the end of the day, I had the chance of talking to a few recruiters, one of which had plans of setting up 41 interviews after the event! That was great news to me – enough to keep me awake during my flight back to sunny South Florida and into the office on Friday to work on our next and final challenge of 2008: San Jose bilingual professional job fair on November 6.

 

September 15, 2008

The dreaded “apply online” – Leveraging face time at career fairs

Posted by vanessalppr under Hispanic professionals, Spanish, bilingual, company news, customer service, diversity, hispanic jobs, immigration, job boards, job fairs, trade shows | Tags: , , |
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We have been thrilled this year with the success thus far of the NSHP/LatPro Diversity Career Fairs. Employers and jobseekers alike have had overwhelming praise for the events and we are proud to be able to provide such a forum for the professional advancement of Hispanic professionals.

With all the positive comments and experiences jobseekers have had with our events, occasionally we hear from a job seeker who has heard one-too-many-times from a recruiter, “Go to our website and apply online.” This is because many companies are required by government regulations or their own internal policies or protocols that
candidates apply online. It does not mean that the recruiters present are not interested in you.

“But I can apply online in my pajamas from my sofa!” they will later say to me. Well that is true, but there is one incredibly valuable advantage they are gaining at the career fair that they could never get from their sofa… face time. The most important thing is how you choose to use that face time.

Here is my list of suggestions to make the most of your face time with recruiters.

  1. Be prepared. Don’t go up to a recruiter at a booth at a career fair and ask, “Tell me about your company?” or, “What kind of jobs do you have,” or other questions which show you were clearly not prepared to speak with them. Do your research before you go to the fair. Organizers of career fairs such as NSHP post the confirmed employers for their events weeks in advance.Go to the event prepared with specific intelligent questions for each employer you would like to talk to. Has their company recently been in the news? Ask a question about that. Has there been a recent acquisition of another company? Ask about how that has impacted their business approach. Demonstrate a knowledge of their company. You want to ask specific questions that will make you stand out from the other jobseekers.
  2. Ask for a business card from all of the employers that you speak with. Once you have left their booth and are out of sight, jot down a few notes on the back of their card about specifically what you talked about, and any portion of the conversation that may help jolt their memory about their interaction with you on that day. Indicate on the card if they accepted your resume or told you to apply online. You should take these notes because the day can be long for you as well, and it is easy to start confusing recruiters by the end of the day, so sneak away after each booth and take a couple notes. Recruiters talk to hundreds or thousands of jobseekers at job fairs, so being able to recall something very specific about your interaction is where you can really shine.
  3. Know how you will respond. It is probable that at least one recruiter at a job fair will encourage you to apply online, so know in advance how you will respond if a recruiter you really wanted to give you quality time directs you to the employers website.LatPro founder and CEO Eric Shannon suggests an approach such as this: “Susie, I traveled from Boston today to meet you because I am a true XYZ Company fan — I know that with so much traffic here, there isn’t time for us to talk in depth, but, I would like to follow up with you after I apply online… May I do that?”
  4. Don’t procrastinate. If they told you to apply online, do it when you get home, or at the latest the next day. Don’t put this off. You want them to receive your application while you are still fresh in their minds, not after they have attended three more career fairs with hundreds more candidates just as enthusiastic as you. Follow step 5 when crafting your cover letter.
  5. Leverage your face time even when applying online. If a recruiter tells you to “apply online” still get their name and ask them some deep, thoughtful, questions about the company they are representing (which you already prepared in step 1). When you go home and apply online, mention in your cover letter that you were encouraged to apply by *recruiter name* at the *city* Diversity Career Fair on *date* and that you enjoyed discussing *specifics about discussion* with them. By doing this you have already demonstrated in your cover letter that you are interested enough in employment opportunities with their company that you got off of your sofa to meet with them. That alone can set you apart from hundreds of other online applicants.When the employer receives your resume, it is likely that the HR person who first sees your resume online may contact the recruiter you mentioned in your cover letter and ask if they remember discussing *specific topic* with you. Best case scenario is that they say, “Why yes I do remember discussing *specific topic* with that candidate at the career fair. He or she was very professional, experienced, and demonstrated a knowledge of our company that many other attendees did not.”Worst case scenario is that they don’t remember you. If this is the case, at least the recruiter may be more likely to remember your name because they have tried to do a little research on you. The more a recruiter has invested in you, often the better your chances are that they will remember your name and pull out your resume when the perfect job comes along.
  6. Be Gracious. After the event, send thank you notes to recruiters of most interest. Be careful here. Don’t be obnoxious or an annoyance. You don’t want to go overboard and litter people’s mailboxes or inboxes with generic form letters about your interest, however if a particular employer and position is of great interest to you, make sure you let them know that.Remember, you were one of hundreds of faces they encountered that day. Almost all of the other jobseekers acted interested too. If this is “the job” for you, go after it, don’t just hope they will remember your charm and neatly pressed business suit. Refer to the steps from mentioning the face time in step 5 when writing your letter or thank you note.You may choose to e-mail the recruiter, though be aware they most likely receive hundreds of e-mails a day so your message could be lost. If you decide to send a letter through the US Postal Service, you should either type your letter on a high quality paper (similar to the paper on which you print your resume), or you can handwrite a note on a clean, professional looking thank you note card. Do not send your note on any flowery or busy looking stationery.Here are some approaches to writing your note:

    a. If they accepted your resume, thank them for accepting your resume at the event, mention specifically what you discussed with them at the event, and try to do it in enough detail that it will jog their memory about their encounter with you. Express your enthusiasm for the company and the particular position.

    b.If they told you to apply online, thank them for encouraging you to apply, mention when you submitted your application online (so they can find it more easily in their database) and again, mention something specific about your conversation with them such as… “I look forward to the opportunity to continue our discussion about how your company’s acquisition of your closest competitor has changed the face of your industry.”

  7. And one final tip… Make a day of it. I have observed that the flow of jobseekers is different in every city, but there are almost always a couple times during the day when the crowds thin out. Clear your schedule, arrive early, and plan on making it a day. By being there during those times when the event is less crowded, you may be able to get more face time with a potential employer. Those extra couple minutes you may get with them could be the few minutes you need to make a lasting impression!
 

September 11, 2008

Second New York job fair another success

Posted by rvillalba under Hispanic professionals, bilingual, diversity, hispanic jobs, job fairs
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There is no doubt that New York City is one of the largest melting pots for global cultures, and our New York City job fair serves as a window to view a sample of this diverse population. Over 900 multicultural candidates attended our job fair last week, eager to meet with more than 40 exhibiting companies and organizations that were anxiously waiting for the bilingual talent to appear bright and early. Based on previous events, we were expecting a large number of attendees and we knew we had a long day ahead of us. Nonetheless, NYC is always an exciting event, and a city we look forward to returning every time. The high level of candidate experience and education that we encounter in NYC along with the huge volume of attendees is always something we look forward to, and so do the participating employers. The busiest booths were Home Depot, Corning Inc, and Unilever, although all of them had a very good candidate flow. Candidates constantly asked me for the location of Federal Home Loan Bank of New York and Bridgestone Firestone on the floor plan, and as in previous locations, candidates had a great experience with Boy Scouts of America. For the first time since we began organizing job fairs in 2006 we decided to repeat a location in the same year, and New York City was our pilot for such an endeavor. As usual, these events are organized for you, and we work hard to bring employers and candidates together in one location. I had the opportunity of meeting a job seeker that was experiencing her first job fair, and Iam very satisfied that it was at one of our shows. I have been to many job fairs throughout the country, organized by major online job boards or local organizations, trying to compare our fairs to theirs and attempting to grasp where we could improve. As much as I can study other shows, its all about the job seeker for us and you are our best source for improvement, so we highly appreciate any feedback provided. On another note, NYC was a great opportunity to finally meet in person many of the wonderful individuals who are helping our new networking site grow! With almost 800 members already, we are growing at a great pace, and this is all because of you, so pat yourselves on the back, and continue networking.

 

August 25, 2008

Washington, DC job fair a success

Posted by internetinc under Hispanic professionals, bilingual, company news, hispanic jobs | Tags: , , |
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With over 900 attendees and 57 participating employers and professional organizations, our 2008 DC bilingual & Hispanic job fair was a great success. Job seekers were lined up to meet with diversity minded recruiters anxious to find bilingual talent for their open positions from customer service to managerial positions, and covering all industries from health care to banking.

dc-08-fair-013DC is a great city for us, given the large variety of employers and governmental agencies we brought into the room — these agencies offered the opportunity to land a job that can help you make a difference overseas with USAID, or the US Department of State. DEA and FBI always attract many job seekers as well. For finance professionals there was Pepco Holdings, Chevy Chase Bank, Bank of America, Liberty Mutual and Federal Reserve Board. Teachers were looking at the City of Arlington and Prince William County Public Schools, and engineers were excited about the positions offered by Bridgestone-Firestone, Sunbelt Rentals, Navair, and more.

The variety of job seekers that attend our shows is impressive; it is a good mix of young, new graduates and older, more experienced applicants. It’s also exciting to see the cultural melting pot that we create, and DC was a great place to see it. The majority of our candidates are bilingual, but bilingual in how many languages? Fluent in English and Spanish or Portuguese sure, but we also see, German, French, Arabic, a variety of African languages, and many more.

In talking with candidates and recruiters, we heard positive feedback from both sides. So, I’m proud to report another successful show under our belt. That makes it six career events so far this year that our team has put together with three more to go.

Thanks to everyone who helped make it a success!

 

July 10, 2008

Excuses are for losers!

Posted by robertsteward3 under company news, customer service | Tags: , , |
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I overheard two guys from another office in our building this morning talking about not having enough product to deliver to their clients. One asked the other, “can’t we make an excuse for each of them for why they wont get their product?” And the other replied, “We can, but it just hasn’t been done yet.”While LatPro doesn’t have the manufacturing piece of the equation to worry about like these guys, every company faces challenges that come their way that can be put off by an excuse. If you really want your clients to respect you, instead of an excuse, let them know the truth as to why there have been delays or issues and how and when you plan to rectify the situation.

If a client calls and asks for pricing, for example, they should get a prompt reply back. I’ve been in the situation where they’ve called a few times because they didn’t feel like they got that return information soon enough. Yes, their sales rep may have been on vacation or the red light on the phone didn’t show a new message was in the phone inbox, and sometimes it really isn’t your fault or there are complicating factors. But an honest call back saying sorry for the delay and how can I help you now usually does the trick, and clients are thankful for the attention they are getting and the forthrightness.

So I know this isn’t earth-shattering business news, but try to do things that are asked of you, when they are asked of you, with the quality that your customers expect from your company. And if it doesn’t quite work out that way, which sometimes it wont, and a client complains or asks why, tell them the truth. Tell them you will do better next time… and make sure you do. So back to the title “Excuses are for losers!”—my high school wrestling coach used to use that on our team all the time. And you know what? He was right then and it applies now as well.

 

 

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