Getting Noticed at Career Faires
Standing out at a Career Faire can make a difference in your job search. Job Faires are starting to pick up, and a major job search company is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a San Jose Area Job Faire in January, 10 companies as showing up, and a major job search company has 82 job fairs scheduled for this year across the States.
How do you rise above the crowd at a Career Fair? The rivalry can be sizeable, but you can help yourself leap out from the bunch with early homework. At AA-Careers, we have a simple step-by-step process to get ready. Plan to go? Here’s how to prepare:
First, research the organizations that are going and pick your objectives. Use the internet to research the organizations that are there before you go. Go to their web sites and see if they have their job openings listed. Pick a rational number to target, and get ready to spend an hour or more researching each one. It’s hard to do more than nine in a day, and five or six 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’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 hiring manager is looking for. Create a mapping of your achievements and skills to the requirements of the job. Make the nomenclature 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 potential organization/job combination. Write down a sixty second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat verbally depicting why you are a good prospect for that job. 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 position 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 requirements. Especially at a Job Fair, the purpose of your resume is a sales tool for you – to get you on-site job interviews. It should be quick to see that you’re a match based on your resume.
Fifth, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress well and be properly groomed. Don’t over do-it (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 position - bring a couple of copies for each – and put each in a intelligibly marked folder. Keep them in a lightweight briefcase or folio.
Remember to smile, and good hunting!