A recruiter business card for job fairs: meet hundreds of candidates, keep every one

A recruiter business card needs your contact details, the roles you're hiring for and a simple way for candidates to share their details. Keep the card short; put the roles on your profile.

Core elements

• Photo, name, title and company, so candidates remember who they spoke to.
• Email and one messaging option. Many recruiters prefer not to show a personal phone number at fairs.
• "See open roles" button linking to a roles section or your careers page.
• "Share your details" form for candidates who want you to contact them.
• LinkedIn link, which candidates often use to check who you are.

Roles section tips

List five to ten featured roles with title, location, work arrangement and a link to apply. Group them by team if you hire across functions. Update the list before every event so candidates don't apply for roles that have closed.

Example

A sample in-house recruiter, "Sam Rivera, Talent Partner at Brightwell", shows photo, title, email, a LinkedIn button and two primary buttons: "See open roles" and "Leave your details". The roles live on his digital business card profile, so a candidate can browse while waiting in line at the booth.

Because the card opens in any phone browser, candidates don't need to install anything, and the save-contact button works on iPhone and Android.

Put one dynamic QR code on your banner, table card and slides. Candidates scan it to save your contact, see open roles and share their details, so the line moves faster and nobody leaves without a way to follow up.

Booth setup checklist

1. Create a dynamic QR code just for this event, pointing to your card.
2. Print it large on the banner. Codes read from a few meters away need to be roughly one-tenth of that distance, so a banner read from 3 m needs a code around 30 cm.
3. Add a smaller copy on the table with a label: "Scan to see roles and leave your details".
4. Show it on screen if you're giving a talk or running a campus session.
5. Test-scan everything when you set up, in the venue's lighting.

During the fair

When the line is long, point waiting candidates to the code. They can browse roles and submit their details before they reach you. When you do speak, you can spend the time on the conversation instead of spelling your email address.

After the fair

Because the code is dynamic, you can re-point it after the event, for example to a "Thanks for visiting" page with application deadlines. Use a new code for each event so your scan counts and contact tags stay separate.

Keep the roles on your card's profile and update them from your dashboard. The QR code on your banner never changes, so the same printed material works all season.

Printed role lists are out of date almost as soon as they're printed. A role closes, a new one opens, a location changes. With a live roles section, candidates always see the current list.

Weekly routine

• Remove closed roles first, so nobody applies to a dead listing.
• Add new roles with title, location and an apply link.
• Move urgent roles to the top.
• Check every apply link still works.

Seasonal use

Campus recruiting often runs in seasons. At the start of a season, refresh the roles section with graduate and intern positions. At the end, swap it for a talent-community message such as "Leave your details for next year's program". The same banner code works for both.

Using dynamic codes

A dynamic QR code adds a second layer of flexibility: you can point a code to a specific campaign page for one event, then back to your card. Pro includes 50 dynamic codes, enough for a full season of fairs and campus visits with a separate code for each.

Turn on contact exchange so candidates can share their name, email and a link to their CV or profile. The form records consent and a timestamp, and each candidate is tagged with the event or code they used.

Contact management replaces paper sign-up sheets. Candidates type their own details, so you don't have to decode handwriting, and nothing gets left behind at the venue.

What to ask for

• Name and email.
• A link to their CV, portfolio or LinkedIn profile. The form takes links rather than file uploads.
• Optionally, the role or area they're interested in.

Ask only for what you'll use. Shorter forms get more submissions.

Privacy and candidate data

• The form is optional; candidates choose whether to share.
• Consent and a timestamp are recorded with each contact.
• Delete a candidate's details when they ask, and follow your company's retention policy.
• Don't collect sensitive information such as age or health through the form.

Recruitment often falls under data protection rules such as GDPR in the EU and UK. Check what your organization requires for candidate data and how long you can keep it.

Exporting to your tools

Pro stores up to 1,000 contacts and exports them as CSV, which you can import into your applicant tracking system or spreadsheet. On a Team workspace, CRM export is included and contacts belong to the company rather than an individual recruiter.

Measure scans, candidates captured and qualified candidates per event. Those three numbers show which fairs and campuses are worth returning to.

Metrics per event

• Scans on that event's QR code.
• Candidates captured through the contact form.
• Capture rate: candidates captured divided by scans.
• Qualified candidates: those you move to a screening call.
• Hires traced back to the event over the following months.

Basic analytics on Pro show views and scans by day and channel. Use separate codes for each event so comparisons are fair.

Improving results

• Low scans: make the code bigger, add a clear label and mention it out loud.
• High scans, low captures: shorten the form or move "Leave your details" higher.
• Many captures, few qualified: refine which roles you feature at that event.

Agencies and teams

If several recruiters work the same events, a Team workspace gives everyone a card on one locked template, combines contacts in one place and adds team analytics. That makes it easy to see which recruiters and events produce candidates. For organizers running the event itself, see how CardDeck supports conferences and job fairs.