| How to Stick out at a Career Faire |
| 01.28.10 | |
Standing out at a Job Faire can make a difference in your job hunting. Career Fairs are starting to pick up, and Dice is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a Bay Area Job Faire in January, 10 companies as showing up, and Dice has 82 career fairs scheduled for this year across the United States.
How do you get to the real interviews at a Career Faire? The contention can be substantial, but you can help yourself stand out from the crowd with advance planning. At AA-Careers, we have a straight-forward 6-step process to get ready. Plan to go? Here’s how to prepare:
First, investigate the companies that are going and pick your targets. Use the web to research the companies that are there ahead of time. Go to their websites and see if they have their openings posted. Pick a reasonable number to target, and get ready to spend about an hour researching each one. It’s hard to do more than eight in a day, and four or five is a much more reasonable target. For each hiring organization, 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 postings on the web, read them to see what the company is looking for. Create a mapping of your accomplishments and skills to the demands of the job. Make the terminology match. If the hiring organization calls customers "clients", your resume should do the same thing. The achievements should be written in the style of the hiring company.
Third, create a ‘brief sales pitch’ for each likely organization/position combination. Write down a ninety second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat verbally showing why you are a good prospect 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 want. 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 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 obvious to see that you’re a fit based on your resume.
Fifth, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress nicely and be well 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, practice 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 intelligibly labeled folder. Keep them in a light briefcase or folio.
Remember to smile, and good hunting!
