Job Fair

I attended the jobfind.com Technology Job Fair this afternoon. I found it to be a scary scene. The parking lot of the hotel (where it was being held) was filled to capacity by the time I got there (five minutes after it started, at 11AM). The 'additional parking' was filling up quickly.

The fair was held at the Doubletree Guest Suites in Waltham, MA. Each company was in a hotel room, using it as a makeshift interview/meeting room. This left the mass of candidates milling in the narrow hallways. Thankfully, the hallways faced an open air mezzanine, which reduced the claustrophobia somewhat.

I overheard someone asking if there was a copier on the premises. I heard very basic questions like "Do you have technical support openings?" People fishing for jobs, casting their multiple resumes at the seventy or so companies there.

I went to see only two places (Rational and BMC Software). I visited their rooms quickly, leaving my resume with the company representatives. I thought there could be an exchange of information, or an exploration of job fit but with the wall of people, I knew that wouldn't be the case.

The fair was very crowded, and the atmosphere brought to reality that this was an employers' market. There was a steady stream of people still walking through the door when I left (twenty minutes later). And I'm in the job market with all of them.