Standing out at Job Fairs
Standing out at a Career Fair can make a difference in your 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 SF Bay Area Job Fair in January, 10 companies as showing up, and Dice has 82 job fairs scheduled for this year across the States.
How do you stand out at a Job Faire? The competition can be sizeable, but you can help yourself surpass from the crowd with early preparation. At AA-Careers, we have a simple 6-step process to get ready. Plan to go? Here’s how to prepare:
First, investigate the organizations that are going and pick your targets. Use the internet to research the companies that are there beforehand. Go to their websites and see if they have their job openings posted. Pick a limited number to go after, and get ready to spend an hour researching each one. It’s hard to do more than eight in a day, and five or six is a much more reasonable target. For each hiring organization, you want to know: executive names, recent news, and key product lines. 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 department is looking for. Create a mapping of your accomplishments and skills to the prerequisites 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/job combination. Write down a 90 second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat out loud showing why you are a special prospect for that job. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet the company at the job kiosk.
Fourth, modify your resume for each opportunity. The objective on your resume should exactly match the position you’re targeting. 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 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 marked 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 properly groomed. Avoid strong cologne or perfume…use any eau de cologne or fragrance sparingly, if at all.
Remember to smile, and good hunting!
