How effective are the job fairs?

Day 22

Recently I had gone to a job fair conducted in Virginia. The fair was conducted between 10am to 3pm. The parking lot of the center conducting the job fair was full, and I understand the desperation cause due to high unemployment rate. I walked into the center, signed my name and walked in to the hall for my first job fair. There were approximately 30 companies present for the job fair, but over 200 people present for this fair. People were dressed professional and walking from one company to another with their resumes in their hand.

My question: How effective are the job fairs?

The members representing the companies were in a rush to complete the job fair. The representation was they were on a punishment and had to represent the company not on their own will. Some people were accepting resumes, and some recommended the participants to apply online at their website.

What is the purpose of a job fair? Who are the members present at the job fairs representing the company? How much of a recruiting background do the members representing the company posses? What happens to the resumes that are accepted by the different companies? Why are companies present at the job fair, if the whole purpose is to direct the people to their website? Do the companies receive a tax break to be present at the job fairs?

I question the effectively of the job fairs, because how does the job fair even select one ideal candidate without a brief interview? The average time spend with participants are not more than a minute? What is the percentage of success people have received from the job fairs?

"Prospecting your career level to the next advancement level salutes all avenues of opportunities regardless of the success ratio."

~Lenji Jacob