Job Fair Assessment - Brief Report

1. Introduction
Job Fair in Dhangadhi was organized from December 7 to 17, 2016 by Federation of Nepalese Chamber
of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with Kailali Chamber of Commerce and Industry and
Employment Service Center, Dhangadhi. This event along with industrial human resource need
assessment was conducted within the scope of LIfE Project. The major objective of this event was to
facilitate interaction between job seekers and employers so as to initiate process of job matching.
Further, the event was also expected to promote ESCs among large number of people of the Far West.
This Job Fair was organized as part of regular Trade Fair of Kailali Chamber of Commerce and Industry
with title 'Far Western Fair 2073'. However, the intended trade fair saw large number of participation
from local business owners and industries and more importantly from industries from Western and
Eastern parts of Nepal. There were estimated attendance of 200,000 visitors to the fair who were
catered services through 350 stalls of mostly occupied by industries and traders. It was also estimated
that around 20 percent stalls were of industries and trades from outside Far Western region.
Job Fair was provided special focus by the Kailali Chamber of Commerce and Industry with provision of
the very 1st stall right at the entrance to the Trade Fair. The highly visible Job Fair attracted attention of
1200 visitors that had interaction with staff members at the stall. It was able to facilitate interview
processes and also provide job to some job seekers. Nonetheless, it was successful in terms of analyzing
interests of job seekers and employers.
2. Key Achievements at a glance
 1200 people visited Job Fair stall and received information about the Employment Service
Center and its services.
 More than 500 job seekers registered and their areas of interest along with their skills and
qualifications were identified.
 More than 60 employers registered and their human resource needs was identified.
 15 job seekers were interviewed by employers.
 2 job seekers were selected for job as Security Guards and offered training from 19 December
2016.
3. Analysis
Key Areas On field information Areas for Improvement
Publicity 1. Newspaper advertisement 1. Frequency of radio jingle should be
2. Radio jingle increased.
3. On stage announcements
2. Newspaper advertisement be able to
promote job fair more visibly.

3. Local medium of advertisement such as

micking can be done to promote Job Fair.

4. A pamphlet about job fair including

Visibility 1. Coverage by Kantipur Television
2. Information flex at the entrance
3. Job Fair stall was placed right at the
entrance
4. People like security personnel and some
staff of other stalls could tell about Job Fair
stall and Employment Service Center.
services of ESC can be printed and
distributed to wider group.
1. Some of the industries in the fair were
not aware of job fair. Hence, all industries
and traders in the fair should have basic
information about the Job Fair and its use
to employers.
2. Information flex at the entrance lacked
information about the organizers and

Operation Registration
1. Job seekers registration forms
2. Job seekers registration register
3. Employers registration register
4. Job Interviews registration register
5. Visitors registration register
Interviews and Counselling
1. Interview and counselling desks were
provisioned at the stall.
Staff
1. Only 1 staff member from ESC was
present at the stall.
Procedure
1. Information about Job Fair and its
objectives
2. Information about Employment Service
Center
3. Information about interest of employers
to job seekers and vice versa
4. Counselling on need basis
5. Interview and referral as and when
possible
Management Pre event meeting
1. Meeting at Labour Office Dhangadhi for
understanding of concept and goals of job
fair in presence of ESC staff.
2. Meeting with Kailali CCI for conceptual
clarity and regular coordination with ESC
for implementation.
During event meeting
1. No formal or informal meeting could be
organized. Only short conversations among
ESC and Kailali CCI happened.
Post event meeting
1. Review meeting at Labour Office along
with ESC staff.
basic function of Job Fair. In addition it
could be designed to portray location of
Job Fair stall in the fair for convenience of
job seekers and employers.
3. Due the positioning of the stall, though
accessible, it was very noisy environment
and hard for beneficiaries and Job Fair
staff to have good conversation.
4. Information flex placed inside and
around the Job Fair stall were hung with
strings or ropes. Information stands could
make it more organized.
1. Instead of register for visitors, a log
book to get their feedback could be
placed.
2. There were no record of referral
services at the job fair.
3. Interview desk was open and visible, as
was counselling desk. A separate space
can help conversations to be more
interactive.
4. Staff as provisioned by the project shall
be present at the stall. Further, a staff
from local CCI should be present and
other ESC staff should participate.
5. Better management of space and
provision of more human resource could
have made delivery of these services
more effective. Partition of space could
be one way to do this.
1. Pre event meetings after conceptual
clarity needs to be scheduled regularly to
decide on staff provisions, procedures
and operational guideline should be
organized frequently.
2. During event meetings to deal with
challenges faced shall be organized.
3. Post event meeting shall be organized
to generate learning and documented for
future reference.
4. Recommendations
 A guideline to manage the Job Fair according to budget provisions shall be made clear during
pre event meeting to discuss Job Fair.
 Designated staff members from both ESC and respective CCI shall be stationed to share the
workload at the Job Fair stall.
 Other ESC staff shall be encouraged to participate in the Job Fair.
 Promotional materials shall be shared with FNCCI and ILO for feedback before publishing.
 Job Fair shall be highlighted in all promotional materials.
 Local tools of promotion shall be utilized.
 Separate areas for general information, counselling, interview process etc. as per requirement.
 Pre event meeting for planning, during event meeting for on spot management and post event
review meeting with event report shall be general procedure for management of the event. All
issues discussed shall be minuted for records.

5. Case Story of job seeker visiting Job Fair stall

Ram Bilas Chaudhary is a local resident of
Hasuliya, Kailali. He is working as a Electronics
Sales Person at the local market in Dhangadhi. He
has 10 members in his family who are all based
on agriculture for their livelihood. He came to
Dhangadhi to study higher secondary level
education. Right after completion of his studies in
Management, he had dreamt of going abroad to
gulf countries for work like his friends did. He
thinks, it is a better option for youths like him
because of the financial benefits it has. However,
the family insisted he stayed back and worked in
Interaction with job seekers at Job Fair
his own district. Ram Bilas says, had it not been
for the family pressure, he would have been in
working abroad. However, he is skeptic that resource will get scare with time as his family grows. This
factor has influenced his decision to stay back in the district and keep working.
At his work, Ram Bilas earns Rs. 10,000/- a month and saves Rs. 5000 a month out of which he sends
some to his family. He is involved in wide range of work more than what his position title suggests. He
not only sales electronics goods at the shop but also supports in store management, purchase of goods
and record keeping. After giving up on his dream to go for foreign employment, he assumes himself to
be working in higher positions as Salesperson. Upon asking about higher education, he says he has not
thought about it much.
Now, he wants to change his job after experience of 2 years in the shop. He says, he will change the job
if can get salary up to Rs. 15,000/- and feels that he deserves it due to his experience and skills
developed during this period. After the family pressure, he would want to work in Kailali district staying
close to his family. He expects Employment Service Center to help him find better job opportunities as
per his expectation.
 Annex
A. Pictures of Job Fair