Career fairs are effective means for students to convert connections into jobs, according to NACE’s 2024 Student Survey report.

More than half of students responding to the survey attended a career fair in the past 12 months. (See Figure 1.) Among them, more than 45% indicated they received an offer to interview with an organization after the fair and nearly one-quarter were offered a job post-fair.

In addition to career fairs, nearly one-third of responding students participated in a meet and greet in the past 12 months and one-fifth said they took part in an employer presentation or a webinar.

However, there is opportunity for growth as more than 29% of students said they hadn’t attended any of the recruiting events listed in the survey.

NACE’s 2024 Student Survey, sponsored by Indeed, was conducted March 13 through May 15, 2024; a total of 20,482 college students took part, including 2,281 graduating seniors earning bachelor’s degrees. Participants can access the report and dashboard through MyNACE. The report and dashboard are also available in the NACE Store.