Cine Circle Job Fairs - lots of attendees, not many jobs…

As every freelancer in the industry is well aware, jobs are pretty scarce on the ground at the moment. Even the most experienced professionals are finding it hard to get enough work to get by and the many new entrants to the business are feeling the pain at least as much, if not more.

No wonder then that jobseekers will look for any opportunity to meetup with an employer and get their CV out there as they search for any work around with “job fairs” becoming a very attractive option to pursue, with the chance to meet numerous employers in the same room.

Much caution is needed with these things however, as the publicity and description of such events often well exceeds what is actually on offer. This is what many freelancers discovered when they visited the last Film & TV job fair run by a company called Cine Circle.

The event, in September 2023, was marketed as a great opportunity “if you're looking to find work, internships and other job opportunities in the Film & TV industry…including Production Companies looking to hire, Individual feature and short film productions looking to hire, Companies providing on set paid internships and Film & TV Recruitment Companies”.

The reality of the event however proved far different from that, as many people testified. Leaving aside the very cramped conditions in the room (many complained they struggled to get round as there were so many people crammed in), the main bone of contention was that there were very few employers there who actually had anything meaningful in terms of actual work.

While there were some good speakers who gave good advice at various sessions throughout the day, attendees spoke of stands where the only option was to sign up on the company’s website (which could have been done at home) and CVs handed in which were never responded to, with no contact ever made. Actual jobs, not so much it seems.

The company is running another event in February 2024, which it is marketing in exactly the same way. It will be interesting to hear if it is any different from the last one but given that the jobs market is even more parlous than it was in September, the chances of anyone actually getting paid employment as a result of attending an event like this is likely to be slim at best.

In reality, the best way to get work in the business is to keep an eye on the numerous social media sites which offer it (without having to pay). And hopefully the market will pick up soon.