Government of India

Ministry of Labour and Employment

Directorate General of Employment

Standard Operating Procedure for National Career Service Job Fairs

Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) is implementing the National Career
Service Project to provide a wide variety of employment and career related services
to jobseekers and youth using technology and through a backbone support of
physical career centres. It has been envisaged under the project that 978
employment exchanges be converted into IT enabled state of the art career centres
and 100 model career centres have been established towards this goal. National
Career Service (NCS) initiative was launched in 2015 as an ICT based platform for
providing career related services to public, at the URL www.ncs.gov.in.

1. The NCS has grown significantly since its launch. With over 3.6 crore job seekers, 9
lakh employers, the NCS project has mobilised over 1 lakh jobs since its inception.
The NCS portal facilitates job seekers to register online and allows employers to post
vacancies/search candidates free of cost.

2. An integral part of the project is to conduct Job Fairs (also known as Rozgar Mela/Job
Mela) at the district and state level.

Below are some guidelines and recommended standard operating procedures (SoPs)
for the same. The goal of these SoPs is to arm the Career Center/Employment
Exchange (CC/EE) hosting the job fair with best practices and learnings from previous
Job Fairs organized by the Ministry.

Job Fair Action Plan - The first step towards planning for a successful job fair is to
create an action plan that lists out all major action areas required to successfully
execute the Job Fair, e.g., logistics, focus sectors, candidate mobilization in
catchment area, event budgeting, branding and publicity, activity deadlines etc.

a) Portal Usage and Workflows – It is essential that the Career Centre/Employment

Exchange (CC/EE) hosting the Job Fair should log-in to the NCS portal using their
credentials and use the Job Fair functionality to create and manage their Job Fairs.
This functionality is being enhanced basis experience from previous Job Fairs held by
MoLE and will go a long way in increasing the efficiency and decreasing work load for
the CC/EE. This functionality will take care of various Job Fair related needs of the
CC/EE including inviting candidates and employers in the appropriate catchment area.
Please refer to the User Manual enclosed herewith in Annexure 1, to familiarise on
how to use this functionality.

The pre registrations for the job fair will be done using NCS portal. Registrations on
the day of the job fair for the walk-in candidates will have to be managed through
NCS Portal’s offline forms or through paper registrations.

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 Please refer to Annexure 2 for the job fair registration form. This can be used at the
venue in paper registration format. Resume template for candidates not carrying
their resumes has been enclosed in Annexure 3.

While collating information from participating companies, it is advisable to create a

reference sheet/tracker which maps the participating employers to the vacancies
being offered. The template for this can be found in Annexure 4

b) Outreach and Marketing - The CC/EE will have to employ traditional media and
online media to create the right awareness and ensure optimum participation in the
Job fair. The CC/EE should also employ on-ground resources to invite employers
through a combination of invitations (via internal and external databases) and
through cold-calling and walk-ins. This activity should begin at least two months prior
to the Job Fair. All relevant form of outreach including Print, Radio and Social Media
should be employed to create awareness for the Job Fair. Please refer to sample
poster attached in Annexure 5.

In addition to pre-event posters, other creatives like banners, pamphlets, brochures,

standees, welcome banners, company details boards, registration desk signs,
company door tags, stage backdrops for podium (samples attached) etc. should also
be prepared in advance. Refer to Annexure 6 for tag and sign templates.

Bulk messages and mailers can also be sent out to pre-registered candidates through
the NCS portal. These messages/mailers should have basic information about the
venue of the job fair, timings. If the concerned EE/CC wishes to send the mailer/SMS
one or two days before the event, then information regarding the participating
companies, number of vacancies on offer and popular job roles should be included
to capture maximum participation. Refer Annexure 7(a) for a sample of the emailer.

In addition to all the above traditional forms of outreach, reaching out to job seekers
and employers through social media has also proved effective. The concerned CC/EE
can create a Job fair event page through their social media channels
(Facebook/Twitter etc.) This will help in reaching out to the target audiences by
providing them information on participating companies, number of vacancies etc.
and addressing their queries, if any.

While sending SMSes to the job seekers it is recommended that the SMS character
count contain only necessary information regarding the event so as to capture the
SMS in less than 160 characters. Indicative sample SMS format attached in Annexure
7(b).

c) Arrangements for VIPs and other Dignitaries – It is recommended that the CC/EE
hosting the event invite important dignitaries for the fair. This goes a long way in
creating visibility/publicity for the event. Some important points to be considered
when VIPs/dignitaries are invited:

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  Adequate resources should be allocated for requisite arrangements for the
dignitaries at the Job Fair (Stage, Backdrop, Podium, sound system, seating
arrangement, refreshments etc.)
 On the day of the Job Fair - Core resources should not be employed for the
dignitary functions. Separate resources should be deployed to manage the
same.
 To avoid any issues in crowd management it is advisable that public
speeches and activities be done before or after the peak hour rush of the
Job Fair.

d) Venue – The venue chosen for the Job fair should be able to accommodate all pre-
registered candidates and around 40 – 50 % space consideration should be made for
walk-ins over and above the original estimated numbers.

Below are some other considerations when choosing the venue.

 Adequate allocation of space for waiting area, registration area should be

made when preparing the venue for the job fair.
 It is recommended that only one point of exit and entry be used for the
Job Fair to allow for better crowd control.
 Entry/Exit and other provisions for people with disabilities should also be
made for the event.
 List of all participating employers and the corresponding vacancies on
offer should be clearly displayed on a large hoarding/flex at the key
point(s) at the main entrance of the Job Fair. (Refer to ‘Outreach &
Marketing’ for samples)
 If the venue for the Job Fair is in an open area, it is recommended that
waterproof tents be used.
 Participating companies should be allotted rooms and attached
volunteers, prior to the event for better coordination. Banners/Display
with company name and room number should be displayed for candidates
and a reference sheet be created for the same for coordinators. Refer
Annexure 8 for the template.

e) Food and refreshments – Sufficient arrangements should be made for refreshments,

lunch/snacks for the employers and the job seekers at the venue.

 Lunch and snacks should be arranged and paid for by the CC/EE for all
members of participating employers.
 A separate area should be allocated for sale of lunch and other snacks to
the job seekers. This could be arranged directly by the CC/EE or could be
sourced through external food vendors.
 It is essential that the CC/EE make adequate drinking water available at
various key points on the venue for the job seekers free of cost.

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 Please Refer to Annexure 9 for the coupon templates that would be
required to be distributed to various participating stakeholders.

f) Crowd management / Law and order – Job Fair events involve managing a large
crowd. Although pre-registrations can give the CC/EE hosting the event a fair idea
regarding personnel requirement on the day of the event, it is recommended that
ample provisions be made for crowd control, especially when predicting the number
of walk-ins at the job fair. This planning becomes even more critical if important
dignitaries are invited at the event.

It is advisable to inform all necessary local authorities like local and traffic police
etc. and seek their help in order to manage crowds properly.

g) Post-Event Follow-ups - As the event comes to a close, it is advisable to collect

necessary information from the participating employers. Assigned volunteers should
collect employer forms with details of shortlisted/selected candidates. This will help
in collating information on the number of shortlisted/selected candidates on the day
of the job fair that can be shared with the media or concerned authorities.

It is also advisable to do regular follow-ups with employers regularly post-event, in

order to get an accurate idea about Job Fair performance. This will also help the
CC/EE to do a gap analysis and to constructively assess both employer and job seeker
feedback.

Please Refer Annexure 10 for relevant templates.

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