Competing Successfully at a Job Fair
Standing out at a Career Fair can make a difference in your job hunt. Job Fairs 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 Career Faire in January, 10 companies as showing up, and a major job search company has 82 job faires scheduled for 2010 across the States.
How do you rise above the crowd at a Career Fair? The rivalry can be considerable, but you can help yourself surpass from the crowd with advance homework. At AA-Careers, we have a simplified step-by-step process to get ready. Planning to go? Here’s how to prepare:
First, research the companies that are going and pick your objectives. Use the internet to research the organizations that are there ahead of time. Go to their websites and see if they have their openings listed. Pick a reasonable number to target, and get ready to spend an hour or more researching each one. It’s hard to do more than 7 in a day, and three to five is a much more reasonable target. For each company, you want to know: recent news, key product lines, and contacts you know. Try to see if you know anyone at the target companies. You’ll end up with a page or two of research for each company/job.
Second, if there are job openings on the web, read them to see what the company is looking for. Create a mapping of your achievements and skills to the requirements of the job. Make the language match. If the hiring company calls customers "clients", your resume should do the same thing. The achievements should be written in the style of the hiring organization.
Third, create a ‘thumbnail sales pitch’ for each likely company/position combination. Write down a 60 second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat out loud depicting why you are a key candidate for that position. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet the team from the company at the job booth.
Fourth, modify your resume for each job type. The objective on your resume should exactly match the job you’re targeting. The executive summary should be a written form of your “mini sales pitch” for the job. Then choose the accomplishments and skills that most clearly match the job requirements. Especially at a Career Fair, the purpose of your resume is a sales tool for you – to get you on-site job interviews. It should be very easy to see that you’re a fit based on your resume.
Fifth, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress well and be fittingly groomed. Don’t overdress (this isn’t a date!) and don’t underdress (no jeans or t-shirts, no matter how much you paid for them). Avoid strong cologne or perfume.
Finally, rehearse your ‘mini-sales-pitch’. Collect your research and the resume for each opportunity – bring a couple of copies for each – and put each in a understandably marked folder. Keep them in a lightweight briefcase or folio.
Remember to smile, and good hunting!
