The Bramblewick careers fair, held annually in the town hall since 1994, will this year contain no vacancies. In their place, a raised platform, three cameras and a sign reading "No Stage".

Organisers made the change after reviewing last year's footage. A young man told he lacked the necessary background, filmed by his mother from the queue, reached more viewers in one evening than the fair's entire programme of employer stalls had attracted in its history. The vacancy boards, which once ran along the north wall, have been put in storage.

"The numbers spoke for themselves," said fair director Mrs Deborah Culshaw. "People do not want to hear about opportunities. They want to watch a door close on a specific person. We are simply the door."

The new format

Employers pay the standard stall fee to attend, but are asked not to bring roles. Each is given a two-minute slot and a script card reading, in part, "I'm afraid we're looking for someone with more of everything you have."

Applicants register in advance and are called to the platform one at a time. They may choose between standing or sitting for their rejection. A lamp operator is on hand to adjust the mood.

"It's about authenticity," said regional recruitment manager Mr Tony Pell, whose firm attended as a rejection provider last year and has since dropped its hiring function entirely. "The candidates get real closure. We get real closure. The cameras get real closure."

Applicants who cry on camera are given a wristband and moved to a seating area, where they are asked not to touch their phones for a full minute.

Feedback

The town's job club has raised concerns. Its founder, Mrs Alice Nkemelu, said the fair used to produce a modest number of placements each autumn, and that this year's members had been told to attend anyway, because being turned down on camera now counts as a form of experience.

The fair disputes this. "Everything counts as experience," said Mrs Culshaw. "That is the whole of what we are offering. In a sense it is the only thing anyone has ever offered."

Plans for next year include a live final in which the most-viewed rejected applicant is rejected again by a panel of former employers, none of whom will be hiring. Organisers confirmed the panel has already filled up, and that a waiting list of employers wishing to say no on camera is now longer than the list of applicants.

The fair has applied for regional funding to extend the platform. It expects to hear back within the month, and has booked a camera regardless.