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Here’s what went down at Brooklyn’s first NET/WORK career fair

More than 150 people met 14 companies at Downtown Brooklyn’s CoLab-Factory last night. “I feel like I actually came away knowing people I’d like to hang out with, not just work with,” said one job seeker.

Free resume reviews, one of the perks at Technical.ly's NET/WORK job fair. (Photo by Brian James Kirk)

More than 150 people and 14 companies, including Etsy, JPMorgan Chase and Dev Bootcamp met at coworking space CoLab-Factory Wednesday night for the Technical.ly-organized NET/WORK job fair.

Billed as “a job fair that doesn’t suck,” the evening contained a photo booth for headshots, a resume review station, workshops on networking in a natural way, a homemade lead-gen video game, pizza and beer.

“It was great to be able to be in the space with businesses and organizations that were open about what they were looking for and make a personal connection instead of it being transactional,” Kyla Massey said. Massey is nearing graduation from a General Assembly web development course and looking for her next job. “I feel like I actually came away knowing people I’d like to hang out with, not just work with.”

Companies with booths at the event included, in addition to those mentioned above, Food52, VirtualAPT, Small Planet, Brooklyn Robot Foundry, C4Q, DownToDash, Humblee, Per Scholas, The Yard, Cox Automotive and CoLab-Factory itself.

Tony Gaston, who manned the booth for Per Scholas shared Massey’s sentiment.

“I thought it would be an awesome event but it was better than I thought,” he said. “All these participants and candidates were really engaged. A lot of the people who approached us, it didn’t feel like they were trying to sell us or pitch us, they were trying to find out what we’re about and that was cool to see.”

And, plus, the freebies were on point, as evidenced by our Snapchat Swag Report:

We asked Shane Barbanel, the founder and CEO of CoLab-Factory whether he thought hosting an event like this would help his business.

“I think it helps us partner up with the kind of job seekers who would be perfect fits as members, as would the companies they’re here for,” he said. “It helps us on several levels and gets our name out there. It really helps me become what I want to be, which is a resource that helps people in this ecosystem succeed, and that’s really part of our vision.”

Attendees approach the registration table at NET/WORK Brooklyn.

Attendees approach the registration table at NET/WORK Brooklyn. (Photo by Brian James Kirk)

Companies: CoLab-Factory / Etsy

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