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Tired of having applicants take one look at your police recruiting table at job fairs and walk right on by? I know, not an awesome feeling! Good news, I’ve got the five must have items that every police agency needs to get applicants to your table at job fairs in 2024...keep reading! 👀
Hey everyone, it’s Tom Sye your Police Marketing FTO and this week let’s get into job fairs. I don’t talk about these a whole lot, and if you’ve followed me for any amount of time you already know this but, I don’t put a lot of stock into the effectiveness of job fairs. In fact, I’ve now been to 2 of them in the past two years. I’m not saying there isn’t any value in them, they’re just way down on my scale for what works in police recruiting. 🤷♂️
With that being said, I know a lot of you out there are still attending job fairs regularly, and struggling with them, so that’s why I gotta help. Without further ado...here are the five items every agency must have to be successful at a job fair in 2024. 🖐️
1 Stickers
I know you want to have pens, and cups, and chap stick, and key chains, and dog bowls, and stress cars, and beach balls, and every other thing that is mass produced at cheap prices from the promotional site of your choice. Those are staples at police recruiting tables after all but are really only great at attracting job fair freebie surfers...you know, the ones that go from table to table scooping up anything you’ll let them get their hands on. 🏄
If you want to start attracting those 18–30-year-old candidates, translation...the bulk of the people who will be applying for jobs with your agency...you better start having something they’re interested in. 🤩
There’s a reason coffee giant Dutch Bros has huge lines the first Wednesday of every month and run out of stickers to give away every single time.... 💪
They figured out that people in those age demographics love stickers. So, they design a cool looking new one each month. You should do the same. The old police badge stickers we all give out to kids aren’t going to cut it here. 🌟
Here’s one that I designed for a recent event at an Air Force base in our city...
Catchy colors, subtle advertising, and most importantly, relevant to the audience we’ll be in front of. That’s how you do it. Get creative with these, use sayings, have different graphics, try new things that you never dreamed of for a police agency. If you need some inspiration, google Dutch Bros stickers and that’ll get you going. 🔍
2 Job Cards
OK, stop it with the paper flyers, pamphlets, and brochures...everyone, from every industry, has those and yours is getting tossed in a bag never to be seen by the person who took it again. 💯
If you really want to stand out, produce some high-quality job cards that are easy to carry, easy to refer to, and attractive enough to keep them separated from the paper trash they’ve been collecting. 😎
Here’s an example of a Records Technician one I designed.
Again, nice catchy photo on the front...with smiling faces...always smiling faces...😁
And on the back...all the details of the job to include the greatest hits of what they’ll be doing, all the benefits they would receive and information on how to learn more through your website or social channels. ✔️
Trust me, people love these things and will refer to them later. 😍
3 Scannable QR Code
Whether it’s printed on your tablecloth or on a piece of paper in prop up stand, you must have a QR code applicants can scan to get straight to an application, website, and/or your social media channels. When you have someone standing in front of you and they’re interested in something...that should trigger sales mode in your head. You’ve got a hot buyer and it’s time to convert. 🔥
By sending them to whatever they’re looking for right then and there, you will have a better chance of converting them later when they go back again to check it out. Remember, most people don’t make big buying decisions instantly. 💡
In this case they’re buying the idea of working for your agency. The chances of them referring back to it when it’s saved in their phone as opposed to a verbal check out our website later, will convert far more often than not. 👍
4 Knowledge
Don’t let this one throw you off because it’s not a tangible, hold in your hand item. This one is huge. There’s nothing worse for a potential applicant than coming up to your table with a question you don’t have the answer to. If your representative can’t answer questions about what it’s like being a police officer, volunteer, intern, dispatcher, property clerk, or whatever, send the right combination of recruiters who can! 🧠
5 Personality
I’ve intentionally saved this one for last, because it’s by far and away the most important thing you can bring with you to a job fair. All the stickers, job cards, QR codes, and knowledge in the world aren’t enough to overcome a gruff or disinterested personality at a job fair. 😠
If you really want to know why people are passing you by...it’s likely because you don’t look approachable. This usually comes in the form of a mean mugging or stoic face, but can also be because you’re sitting down, playing on your phone, or turn away when someone looks at you. And yes...that happens a LOT. 😳
Want people to engage with you? Wear a smile like a uniform, initiate friendly conversations with passerby’s, laugh a bunch and look like you’re having fun. That’s what attracts people. 🧲
Think about it...do you want to work at boring central or a place where people look like they enjoy what they’re doing. 🤔
There you have it...my five must have items for police agency’s at job fairs in 2024. 🙌
Let me know what you think about the list in the comment section, and I’d really love to hear how implementing some of these worked for you! Don’t be afraid to reach out later to tell me. 💬
Ready to take your recruiting out of the job fairs and into where people really are? My Road to Better Recruiting course is launching soon and loaded with everything you need to start recruiting like it's 2024! 🚀
👉 Check it out by visiting forcopstraining.com/rtbr.
Have more questions about police recruiting, marketing or anything else you're struggling with? Don't hesitate to reach out...I’m always here to help. 🙏
Until next week my Police Marketing Squad, happy recruiting! 😃
Tom
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👋 I’m Tom Sye, your Police Marketing FTO. I founded ‘For Cops’ Training to teach Police Departments how to attract more qualified candidates through the same tried and tested methods I’ve used for the past ten years at my own department to keep up with turnover and stay ahead of vacancies.
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