Making the Most of Your Next
Career Fair
By
Bradley Richardson,
Author of JobSmarts for
TwentySomethings
Finding a job
today is unusually tough. With
college recruiting off over
fifty percent by some reports,
you have limited chances to get
in front of recruiters. That's
why it is critical that you make
the most of the few
opportunities you have. Career
Fairs are a great opportunity,
but only if you know how to take
advantage of them. Here are a
few tips to help you at your
next Career Fair.
Have a Plan
This is the most important
thing. Plan your attack long
before you step foot into the
Career Fair. Your first step is
to learn which companies will be
attending. Contact your Career
Services Center or the Career
Fair sponsors to ask for a list
of exhibitors. They generally
have this information several
days before the event and often
make it available to the public
via the web or in print.
Study the list of companies that
will be attending and mark your
top prospects. If you aren't
sure what a company does, go
online the night before and look
at their web site. After you
identify the companies that you
absolutely want to see, go
through the list again and mark
the companies that might not be
your top prospects but sound
interesting. This should also
include companies that you would
like to know more about. Note
the booth number and location of
each company. Most career fairs
offer a map or layout of the
room. Study the layout so you
can work your way around the
room more effectively.
On the day of the career fair,
come prepared with your list of
companies that you want to
visit. But before you make a
bee-line straight to their
booth, take a moment to "walk"
the fair. By this I mean walk up
and down each aisle and look at
all of the booths before you
start talking to people. This
will give you an idea of exactly
where specific employers are
located, how many recruiters are
in attendance and how many
people are lined up waiting to
talk with them. Why is this
important? Because career fairs
are often set up like the aisles
of a grocery store and the last
thing you want to do is to
cluelessly wander the fair like
you are trying to find the
Oreos. "Walking" the fair gives
you an idea of the layout and
how you want to approach each
booth. That way when you are
ready to strike you can do so
with purpose and confidence.
Go Early
The earlier in the day you can
attend the better. As the day
drags on more and more people
show up and everyone starts to
sound and look the same. I've
seen some career fairs stop
letting people in the doors
hours before it was scheduled to
close because they couldn't
handle the amount of candidates.
I was recently at a Career Fair
in Dallas where 3,000 people had
lined up by 2:00 PM. The
organizers had to turn people
away, even though the event was
supposed to last until 6:00 PM.
Ok, so you might not have that
many people at your career fair,
but you still want to be there
when recruiters are fresh, alert
and attentive. I can tell you
from experience, by the fourth
or fifth hour of saying the same
thing over and over again, you
begin to lose focus. If you want
to make an impact and really get
their attention, go early.
Have A Great
Twenty Second Pitch
Don't count on
having a long meaningful
conversation with the
recruiters. You don't have much
time at all. For recruiters,
career fairs are about volume.
If they find a diamond in the
coal heap, that's great, but
they want to see and be seen by
as many people as possible. For
that reason you should keep your
initial pitch as brief as
possible. Come up with a clear
specific description of
yourself, your area of study or
experience and what you want to
do. You won't have time to give
them the extended dance mix
version of how you changed your
major three times, but during an
internship after your sophomore
year you decided that marketing
was really the career for you.
As their eyes begin to glaze
over they will lose interest and
politely take your resume, pat
you on the head and wish you
luck as they welcome the next
person in line. Keep it quick,
fresh and interesting.
Get the Scoop
From People As They Are Leaving
the Booth
Before you get
in line or step right up to the
booth, stand off to the side and
grab someone who is just leaving
the booth. Ask her how it went.
What are the recruiters looking
for today? What questions did
the recruiter ask? This insight
will help you to prepare and
give you and idea of how to
approach the recruiter. If you
know that the recruiters are
representing an engineering
division, but you want to go
into marketing, then you can
quickly steer the conversation
so that you can get a marketing
lead. You won't have much time
when you speak to a recruiter so
use it wisely by watching your
peers.
Get a Card
You should get a
card from everyone you have a
conversation with. Have a pen
and write interesting facts,
notes, or additional contact
names on the back of the card.
Use this information in your
follow up with the recruiter. By
the way, this is another reason
you want to go early. Inevitably
recruiters will run out of
cards, so get them early in the
day before they run out.
Suck It Up
and Look the Part
I know that you
are on a campus and that the
student lifestyle grants you the
opportunity to roll out of bed
and throw on a sweatshirt, rack
hat and sandals. But please do
yourself a favor and dress the
part of an aspiring young person
who would like to be employed
somewhere other than the brewpub
or your local Tower Records. If
you find it morally
reprehensible to actually wear a
suit at least put on something
clean and could pass for
business casual in most
organizations. Hint...jeans
don't count. (This is bound to
be a future topic, but in the
meantime ask your career center
for details on how to dress)
This is Not a
Group Activity
You can
certainly attend the Career Fair
with a friend, but when it comes
time to talk to employers, there
is NOT strength in numbers.
Talking to an employer while you
are genetically attached at the
hip with your best friend is not
a good move. Employers are
interested in hiring you, not a
duo.
Want
Attention? Don't Follow the
Crowds
At every career
fair there are certain companies
that have candidates waiting in
lines seven people deep. These
are often the employers that
everyone has heard of, the
"brand name" employers. They
draw lots of candidates for a
reason, which is great...but
don't make the common mistake of
neglecting companies because you
haven't heard them before or
they don't have a line of
candidates swarming the booth.
These employers might not be a
household name, but they may
offer more lucrative
opportunities than the companies
everyone is lined up to talk to.
You might also get more
attention from the recruiters at
these companies because they
don't have everyone vying for
their attention.
Understand
Why Companies Participate in
Career Fairs.
Obviously companies attend
career fairs looking for
candidates. But if you have
attended a career fair in the
past you may have noticed that
some of the companies there
might only have a couple of
openings...if any. So, why would
a company attend a career fair
if they don't have any positions
available right then? The key
phrase is "right then." They may
not have an opening at that
exact moment, but that can
easily change in six weeks or
six months. Companies want to be
prepared by having a talent pool
to choose from when the time
comes. They might also be
gathering resumes for a
particular division or
department that couldn't attend.
In addition to screening
candidates and collecting
resumes, one of the primary
goals is to promote the company
as a great place to work. It can
be a branding mission, pure and
simple.
Take note, that companies put a
lot of effort and expense into
attending a career fair. It is a
business. They take it seriously
and expect you to as well. Ok,
you might have the occasional
bozo that appears like he
doesn't want to be there or who
is more interested talking with
his co-workers than you. But
don't get mad. Simply ask
yourself if this is the type of
company you want to work for?
Remember that first impressions
work both ways, and if a company
chose this clown as their
representative, what does that
say?
Follow Up
If you really want to make an
impression at a career fair, pay
attention to what happens
afterward. A Career Fair is
simply the first step in the
hiring process. Help speed that
process along by making the
extra effort to follow up with
the recruiters you met with
immediately after the Career
Fair. A short e-mail is perfect
for this. Take the initiative
and surprising things will begin
to happen for you. Remember what
Thomas Jefferson said, "The
harder I work, the luckier I
get."
Until next time...Be Smart
Bradley Richardson
Author, JobSmarts for
TwentySomethings
Copyright 2003
bradley richardson
By Bradley Richardson, Author of
the National Best-seller
JobSmarts for TwentySomethings.
www.jobsmarts.com
or 1.800.JOBSMARTS.
Contact me with comments or
questions at
Bradley@jobsmarts.com
