Standing out at Job Fairs
Standing out at a Job Fair can make a difference in your search. Career Fairs are starting to pick up, and a major job search company is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a Bay 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 United States.
How do you compete at a Career Faire? The competition can be substantial, but you can help yourself stand out from the gang with early preparation. At AA-Careers, we have a straight-forward 6-step process to prepare. Planning to go? Here’s how to prepare:
First, investigate the organizations that are going and pick your targets. Use the web to check out the organizations that are there before you even decide to go. Go to their sites and see if they have their jobs listed. Pick a small number to go after, 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 hiring 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 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 company is looking for. Create a mapping of your accomplishments and skills to the requirements of the job. Make the nomenclature 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 ‘mini sales pitch’ for each potential company/position combination. Write down a sixty second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat out loud showing why you are a good prospect for that position. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet people at the job booth.
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 prerequisites. 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 quick 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 marked folder. Keep them in a lightweight briefcase or folio.
Remember to smile, and good hunting!
