Getting Noticed at Job Faires
Standing out at a Job Fair 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 Fair in early 2010, 10 companies as showing up, and a major job search company has 82 career fairs scheduled for this year across the US.
How do you compete at a Job Fair? The competition can be noteworthy, but you can help yourself stick out from the crowd with advance preparation. At AA-Careers, we have a simple 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 beforehand. Go to their websites 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 10 in a day, and five or six is a much more reasonable target. For each company, you want to know: recent news, key product lines, and exectuve names. Try to see if you know anyone at the target companies. You will end up with 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 ‘short sales pitch’ for each potential organization/position combination. Write down a 60 second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat verbally describing why you are a great candidate for that position. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet the company at the job booth.
Fourth, modify your resume for each position. 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 Career Faire, 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, 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 clearly tagged folder. Keep them in a lightweight briefcase or folio.
Finally, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress well and be fittingly groomed. Avoid strong cologne or perfume…use any cologne or scent meagerly, if at all.
Remember to smile, and good hunting!
