College job fairs, do they actually help?

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I've heard the following information on job fairs:

Negative
______

They often just tell you to apply online, why go?
They are only good for getting free pens and coffee mugs.
You can usually just figure out what companies are coming based on the companies appearing list and just apply online and not even show up.
Sometimes companies are there just for show and might not really intend to hire.


Positive
________________________
Good for networking
You might get a job

I have a job career fair thingy at my old community college next Thursday. Doesn't appear to be much in my field or even close so far. (I saw some at least two staffing agencies on the attendance list, some retail guys, and some manufacturing guys, and maybe a few others.)

Last time I went, they at least had a web development thing, though they just had me apply online (though I DID give them my resume anyway.) I'm glad I found out about that company as they are close and I might be able to get in and they have hours that I'd like (the downside is, they very rarely seem to be hiring.) However, this year, there doesn't appear to be as much and there aren't any computer programming oriented ones this time there at the job fair.

The negative is pretty much the most applicable thing to the purpose job fairs actually serve. You get free stuff, but many places just tell you to apply online. Then if you go to the extent of getting an interview on the spot all I can say is that you better have experience because if you don't they'll skip right over you despite how much knowledge or skills you have. Never hurts to pick up an extra job, but for all that its worth the only purpose job fairs serve is to get free stuff and that's it. I'll tell ya what, if you find one closer to the fall you can actually get free flu shots on hand

I have degrees, but am lacking in the experience department, unless they are looking for experience hunting down political donors to various causes and also experience writing fiction.

I see that the following companies are coming:

10/33 Ambulance Service, Ltd.
Booth/Table: 37
Accurate Personnel Services
Booth/Table: 61
Advanced Medical Transport
Booth/Table: 43
Advantech B+B SmartWorx Inc.
Booth/Table: 60
Allegion-LCN Division
Booth/Table: 54
Allstar Smiles
Booth/Table: 46
Ambassador Steel Fabrication LLC, a Harris Rebar Company
Booth/Table: 7
American Nickeloid Company (Virtual Participant)
Aperion Care Spring Valley
Booth/Table: 39
Aramark Uniform Services
Booth/Table: 31
August Hill Winery
Booth/Table: 47
Business Employment Skills Team, Inc.
Booth/Table: 25
Canam Steel Corporation
Booth/Table: 48
Casey's General Store
Booth/Table: 4
Centrue Bank
Booth/Table: 63
Clover Technologies Group
Booth/Table: 67
Del Monte Foods, Inc
Booth/Table: 52
DuPont Pioneer Research (Virtual Participant)
First National Bank
Booth/Table: 56
Gateway Services, Inc.
Booth/Table: 59
Get Covered Illinois
Booth/Table: 78
Good Samaritan-Pontiac
Booth/Table: 49
Heartland Health Care Center of Henry
Booth/Table: 53
Heritage Health:Therapy & Senior Care/Evergreen Place Supportive Living
Booth/Table: 5
Holiday Inn Club Vacations
Booth/Table: 6
Home Instead Senior Care
Booth/Table: 22
Horizon House of IL Valley, Inc.
Booth/Table: 57
IBEW Local 176
Booth/Table: 62
Illinois Dept. of Employment Security
Booth/Table: 24
Illinois Valley Center for Independent Living
Booth/Table: 41
Infra-Metals
Booth/Table: 55
James Hardie Building Products
Booth/Table: 23
Kay and Associates, Inc.
Booth/Table: 58
Kelly Services
Booth/Table: 42
La Salle County Broadcasting
Booth/Table: 10
LaSalle Veterans' Home
Booth/Table: 8
MBL USA Corporation
Booth/Table: 9
Mediacom
Booth/Table: 66
Modern Woodmen of America
Booth/Table: 70
Monterey Mushrooms
Booth/Table: 44
NBG/ American Buildings Co.
Booth/Table: 72
Oak State Products, Inc.
Booth/Table: 45
Park Pointe Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center
Booth/Table: 64
Peoplelink Staffing Solutions
Booth/Table: 73
Pleasant View
Booth/Table: 74
Preferred Home Health Care
Booth/Table: 12
Royal Publishing
Booth/Table: 2
Ryder
Booth/Table: 3
Starved Rock Lodge & Conference Center
Booth/Table: 34
The Reserves Network
Booth/Table: 51
The Results Companies
Booth/Table: 68
Tri City Foods, Inc.
Booth/Table: 38
Tri-County Opportunities Council
Booth/Table: 76/77
Trinity Broadcasting Network
Booth/Table: 32
Unytite, Inc
Booth/Table: 36
Vactor Manufacturing
Booth/Table: 65
Visiting Angels
Booth/Table: 69
Walmart Distribution Center 6092
Booth/Table: 50
WestCare
Booth/Table: 71
Zip-Pak
Booth/Table: 13


I know that I applied, non-job fair related, for some stuff at Centrue Bank recently and never heard back. I know that Kelly Services, Accurate Personnel Services, Peoplelink Staffing Solutions, and The Reserves Network are all staffing agencies.

The Results Company is a call-center (think it best to avoid). Some of these other ones want electrical engineers or lots of direct interaction with customers. A few sound like they MIGHT be ok.

It was my experience that college career fairs were a monumental waste of time. Not only did most companies want more experience than any college student has, the ones who were hiring on the spot were for jobs nobody really wanted anyway. It was so depressing seeing the 8-10 booths and the hundreds of fellow grads wandering the floor. Of course, that doesn't even get into the fact that most companies sent their junior/lowest ranked employees since nobody likes working booths.

It is usually only good for networking. Since I stink at that and can't make a great and memorable first impression, they don't help me at all. It's this invisible (to me) social thing that is going on for the NTs that is beneficial about the job fairs, and I haven't been able to crack it, so I don't bother attending them anymore. If you can throw on a suit, look sharp, and manage good, confident, brief small talk while handing over your resume, it could help. Actually, it would always be great as practice, too - for interviews. So it could be worth going to just learn how to zip on that "swimming with the NTs" suit long enough to network.

This was the same in my case too.

They dared to ask me this question repeatedly "What did you learn in your classes?" or "Why didn't you learn [their piece(s) of software or the skill(s) in your classes?"

Add that on top of all the huge requirements to get hired for those entry level jobs (most didn't have it), it was useless.

Also a lot weren't even hiring, they just had you put your information in their database.
Those that did, made you go through their online jobs portal to apply for jobs and in the end you went through HR which had different requirements for the job than they told us.

This is why I am still unemployed along with having AS.

I wasted too much time at them only to get upset and very few interviews.

In my experience its pretty hit or miss