The Job Fairs - Norwich

R P.

Note: Small correction made. The event was from 10AM to 1PM. The event organiser tried to slope shoulders by being pedantic about a typo for the end time. Ultimately, same day, same venue, same company. I double checked my Eventbrite invite. Don't be fooled by their response to this review.

1* because the greeter at the doorway was polite and welcoming. Otherwise zero*...

I attended The Jobs Fair (aka The Bridge) with high hopes and a sense of anticipation, only to be met with utter disappointment and frustration.

I couldn't find any information on exhibitors and recruiters online. This was particularly frustrating because it doesn't help prospective participants evaluate whether the journey, time invested, parking costs, and career pathway relevancy will be worthwhile.

The organisers wouldn't publicise who was going to exhibit beforehand and they urged everyone to book early, promising a fruitful event from 10AM to 1PM. However, my experience couldn't have been further from that promise.

At 10AM, the doors opened and I ventured inside to the designated hall. Other than the warm greeting at the doorway, everything else turned out to be a complete waste of time. I left within 22 minutes, having stopped at every exhibitor's stand, discussed the roles, and realised there was zero compatibility with what they were offering and what I was looking for.

22 minutes to speak to every stand, for an event scheduled for 4 hours... That should give you a sense of the scale and limited opportunities on offer.

It's unacceptable that an event supposedly dedicated to broad spectrum career opportunities could be so poorly managed.

The lack of transparency in terms of exhibitors and recruiters reflects poorly on their professionalism and respect for attendees' time, effort, and costs.

For example, I drive a 40 mile round trip as this was the nearest venue. I spent £70 on printing CVs and business cards to hand out as advised by the organisers. Parking (even with a disabled badge) cost £8 for 2.5hours. So, all in all, it'll have cost me >£100 minimum to attend a jobs fair with practically zero relevance to me.

Let me explain further: the exhibitors were - Amazon warehouse jobs, Aviva insurance call centre roles, Army & RAF, NHS porters, toilet cleaners, office cleaners, etc. Firstly - there is absolutely nothing wrong with any of those jobs or positions. Every job is respectable and anyone able to perform a role, regardless of status, should be thanked and appreciated for fulfilling a necessary role.

However! For someone like me, with 25+ years of experience in Programme Management, 3x postgraduate Masters degrees, 8 PPM certifications, and a chartered membership to a global certifying body, I'm in the market for senior Portfolio, Programme, or Project Management roles. I'd have known not to waste my time or money on preparing for the day, if the organisers had publicised the exhibitors and bottom to top salary ranges as an average to the exhibiting room.

Instead, I wasted over £100 to prepare, travel, and get suited up (as recommended by the organisers), for a room full of 20-30k jobs for old people's homes, care homes, warehouses, military, call centre, and education services.

If you are looking for jobs at >£30K, I would strongly advise against participating in any future events organised by them, as they clearly prioritise booking calendar dates and overreaching the benefits if attendance over the attendees' experience and investment.

In summary, my experience with Job Fairs UK (aka The Bridge) was nothing short of a disappointment, and I regret wasting my time and resources on an event that failed to deliver on its promises.

Location was at Bristol, November 2024

I D.

I attended a job fair in Edinburgh,
I wasn't really happy of the even, mainly because it wasn't clear who would have been present: the list of company wasn't publicly released and I didn't find any pertinent job in my area of expertise. Great fair if you were a carer though. For the organisers: would you consider to publish the list before the event next time instead of asking for a private email in order to obtain it?
I found a little annoying the guys who help writing CVs: the person I talked to pointed out a couple of flaws of my curriculum (fine with that), said that these were the reasons I wasn't successful of job applications (I actually am, but nevermind) and offered insistently to book a paid appointment at their office.
The venue was good and easy to reach, which is a plus.

Godfred A.

Job fairs are great events for getting a flavour of the organisation you would want to work for

Gabi S.

different way to look for a job, attended the event in Norwich, worth while attending

Toby D. N.

Great events!