When you’re a recruiter, you can’t show up for a job fair unprepared. It would be like attending the interview panel in your underwear, only worse, because you’re about to see a whole bunch of potential candidates in a very short time. You want to make an impression that catches the best qualified ones. So pull up your big-kid pants and let’s answer these questions before you go.

What are your recruitment goals?

Think about your industry, your current hiring needs, and the types of candidates you’d like to attract. Knowing this makes it easier to choose a job fair that will be worth your investment. To showcase your brand and increase reach among industry candidates, you can attend (or host!) an industry-specific job fair. If you’re hiring entry-level or intern positions, set your eyes on college job fairs. If you’re after candidates with a military affiliation, look at veterans’ job fairs.

Who will you bring?

Choose a broad but solid representation of your team. You’ll want to consider some members of HR, who handle hiring in their day-to-day tasks. They know what they’re doing! They can talk with candidates, gather resumes and contact information, and even coordinate interviews. You’ll also want to consider bringing hiring managers. If they’re filling a position in their department, they can answers questions about the opening or even evaluate candidates on the spot. Also think about any other team members worth including—folks who embody your company’s culture and values, who are generally charismatic, or who might connect with the target audience (university alums, military vets, and so on).

What marketing materials will you prep?

You need booth banners. You need brochures. You need business cards. You need event advertising. In short: you need to develop a lot of marketing proofs. So work with your affiliated designers on eye-catching and informative designs that will work for your target audience. A few weeks before the event, post your ads to your company’s career website and social media pages. And if you’re thinking about event giveaways (especially great at colleges), ditch the throwaway pens and stickers for something useful, like custom socks, a brick USB hub, or a smart wallet that sticks to a cell phone.

What questions will you ask?

You’ll be moving quick at a job fair, so have your script ready in advance. Ask role-specific questions for your open positions, such as whether candidates have experience with the necessary software or processes. Ask questions about interests and career goals to gauge a long-term fit with the company. You can also ask questions about your company to find out who is already knowledgeable about your company and interested in signing on.

How will you manage all those candidates?!

First of all, breathe! Arrive early to set up. Remember that you’ve already done a lot of the prep work! From there, focus on speaking to as many candidates as possible. Everyone deserves a shot, and a wider pool improves your chances of finding top talent. But you’ll also want to keep interviews short and structured to give everyone a chance. Collect resumes and encourage candidates to apply on the career website, but also take notes; this time will move fast, so faces and conversations may blur together. Finally, let candidates know what’s next: tell qualified candidates when they might hear from you about moving forward, and tell other candidates that you’ll keep them in mind when a suitable position opens up.

How will you follow up?

Once you breathe (again) and sort through your thoughts, notes, and resumes, it’s time to reach out to the most qualified candidates before someone else does. Coordinate the next steps, including an application, call screening, or in-person interview.

How will you measure success?

Gather your team to debrief after the job fair. Did this job fair work for your overall recruitment effort? What worked well and what could be improved? How many impressions were made, and how many high-potential candidates were discovered? Save these notes to compare with the actual hiring outcomes. How many job-fair candidates were interviewed? How many hired? What was the total time-to-hire? This will all help you gauge whether job fairs are a good resource in your company’s recruitment strategy.

In conclusion

Don’t show up to the job fair with your pants down. You’ll make the best impression on top talent by following a plan before, during, and after the job fair. Then you can gather data to determine if job fairs are right for your company’s recruitment strategy.

How does your company use job fairs in recruitment?