Why Are Careers Fairs Still Worth Your Time as an Employer?
22 June 2026
Gwenno Roberts
It’s a fair question… You’ve got a careers page, a LinkedIn presence, maybe even an Indeed budget. So why spend a day at a careers fair when candidates can just apply online?
Because the employers getting the best graduate hires aren’t relying on job boards alone.
At Darogan, we run events like Find Your Future and GradCon Cymru specifically to connect employers across Wales with graduate and student talent. What we see at every one of them is that the organisations with a stand aren’t just filling vacancies – they’re building something longer term: recognition, relationships, and a pipeline of candidates who already know and like them before they ever apply.
If you’re weighing up whether it’s worth attending, here are six reasons why it is!
—
1. You meet people, not just CVs
Online recruitment filters people out before you’ve had any real sense of them. A careers fair does the opposite: in a ten-minute conversation you can get a feel for someone’s enthusiasm, their curiosity, the questions they ask. That’s information no application form gives you.
It also works the other way. Candidates who meet your team in person come away with a much clearer sense of who you are, which means the ones who do apply are more likely to be a genuine fit.
—
2. Smaller and local organisations benefit most
If your organisation isn’t a household name, a careers fair is one of the most effective ways to get on people’s radar. Graduates tend to apply to the employers they’ve heard of. A stand at the right event puts you in the room with talent that would never have searched for you otherwise.
For employers based in Wales especially, this kind of visibility matters. You’re competing for graduates who have options elsewhere, and showing up in person does more for your employer brand than almost anything you can do online.
—
3. You can talk about the full range of what you offer
A job listing is narrow by nature. A careers fair lets you talk about everything: live vacancies, graduate schemes, internships, placements, apprenticeships, and roles that might open up in the future. You can paint a fuller picture of your organisation and the different ways someone might join it.
That breadth of conversation is particularly useful for organisations with varied entry routes, or those still developing a formal graduate offering and wanting to test the water.
—
4. You’re building a pipeline, not just filling a post
Even the candidates who aren’t ready to apply yet are worth talking to. A student in their second year who has a great conversation with you at a fair is a strong candidate two years down the line, and one who already feels a connection to your organisation.
Collecting contact details, following up, staying in touch: the employers who do this consistently find that recruitment becomes less reactive over time. You’re not scrambling to fill a role; you’re choosing from people who already know you.
—
5. Culture comes across in person
A job description can say your organisation has a great culture. A careers fair lets people experience a version of it for themselves.
The way your team presents themselves, the energy at your stand, how you treat a nervous student who doesn’t quite know what to say – all of that leaves an impression. The organisations that are genuinely good to work for tend to find that careers fairs reflect that back to them in the quality of candidates who follow up.
—
6. You’re part of something bigger for Wales
This one goes beyond recruitment. Wales loses a significant number of its graduates every year, particularly the high-achieving ones who studied away from home and don’t come back. Employers attending events like GradCon Cymru are part of changing that picture.
When graduates see a range of ambitious, interesting organisations based in Wales all in one room, it shifts their sense of what’s possible here. That’s good for them, and it’s good for the employers who benefit from a stronger local talent pool over time.
—
If you’d like to find out about upcoming Darogan events and how to get involved, visit https://darogan.wales or get in touch with the team directly.
