Getting Noticed at Career Faires
Standing out at a Career Fair can make a difference in your job hunt. Job Faires are starting to pick up, and a major job search company is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a SF Bay Area Job Faire in early 2010, 10 companies as showing up, and Dice has 82 career fairs scheduled for this year across the US.
How do you get to the real interviews at a Career Fair? The contention can be substantial, but you can help yourself leap out from the gang with early preparation. At AA-Careers, we have a straight-forward six-step process to get ready. Plan to go? Here’s how to prepare:
First, investigate the organizations that are going and pick your objectives. Use the web to research the companies that are there before you even decide to go. Go to their sites and see if they have their openings listed. Pick a small number to target, and get ready to spend about an hour researching each one. It’s hard to do more than ten in a day, and three to five is a much more reasonable target. For each company, you want to know: key product lines, recent news, and executive names. Try to see if you know anyone at the target companies. You should end up with a page or two of research for each company/job.
Second, if there are job postings on the web, read them to see what the organization is looking for. Create a mapping of your achievements and skills to the demands of the job. Make the language match. If the hiring organization calls customers "clients", your resume should do the same thing. The accomplishments should be written in the style of the hiring company.
Third, create a ‘thumbnail sales pitch’ for each likely company/position combination. Write down a sixty second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat verbally depicting why you are a good candidate for that position. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet the team from the company at the job stall.
Fourth, modify your resume for each job type. The objective on your resume should exactly match the job you’re aiming for. The executive summary should be a written form of your “mini sales pitch” for the job. Then choose the achievements and skills that most clearly match the job description. Especially at a Job Faire, the purpose of your resume is a sales tool for you – to get you on-site job interviews. It should be a no-brainer to see that you’re a match based on your resume.
Fifth, practice your ‘mini-sales-pitch’. Collect your research and the resume for each spot - bring a couple of copies for each – and put each in a clearly marked folder. Keep them in a light briefcase or folio.
Finally, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress nicely and be well groomed. Avoid strong cologne or perfume…use any eau de cologne or scent sparingly, if at all.
Remember to smile, and good hunting!