Joseph Bloom was confused and disappointed. As IT director for a medium-sized technology firm, he knew that he had to recruit and select 3 junior analysts as the people filling these roles had all quit within the past week. Joseph couldn't believe that each person doing this job had left the company at the same time. This caused a huge gap in the workforce, and employees on this team were complaining that they would not be able to meet customer demands. Joseph knew he had to fix the problem and fix it fast!

As such, Joseph had convinced senior management that attending the local career fair was a strategic approach to generating interest in the company and acquiring resums from students who would be graduating soon. The costs (registration fee, booth materials, salaries of employees who attended) were substantial, yet the response from students was dismal. Only about 20 people stopped by the booth, and of those who did, only 4 handed over a resum.

The city's 1 university and employers from all sectors had hosted the fair. Joseph did note that representation from employers was lower than in previous years but thought that this might be due to the poor economy and that there would be fewer employment opportunities for new graduates. However, Joseph had spread word through his contacts and network in the industry and thought that students would know that his company was actively seeking to hire junior analysts and would therefore be keen to stop by his company's booth.

Joseph noticed that some companies were giving away items (pens, cellphone holders) at their booths, and this seemed to attract more students. "Well, this is just silly promotion and a waste of money", thought Joseph, but at the same time, he did wonder why the booths with items to be given to students seemed more popular. "Technology is such an exciting and dynamic profession, so we shouldn't need to entice people to stop by and hand over a resum. Who wouldn't want to work for such a great company as ours?" Joseph knew that senior management would not be pleased when he reported the outcome from the career fair and wondered what he should do next.

1. Going forward, what method of HR planning should Joseph use to ensure that he is not surprised when people suddenly quit, thereby causing problems due to significant gaps in the workforce?

2. Should Joseph consider internal employees to fill the current junior analyst vacancies? Why or why not?

3. Why didn't many students stop by the booth at the career fair? List 3 key reasons that can be determined based upon information provided in the case.

4. Based upon the 3 reasons you have selected, what might Joseph do differently to address each issue if the company were to attend a career fair again?