Getting Real Interviews at Career Fairs
Standing out at a Job Fair can make a difference in your job search. Career Fairs are starting to pick up, and Dice is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a San Jose Area Career Fair in January, 10 companies as showing up, and a major job search company has 82 career fairs scheduled for this year across the States.
How do you stand out at a Job Fair? The contention can be substantial, but you can help yourself stand out from the bunch with advance homework. At AA-Careers, we have a simple step-by-step process to prepare. Planning to go? Here’s how to prepare:
First, investigate the companies that are going and pick your objectives. Use the web to check out the organizations that are there before you go. Go to their internet sites and see if they have their 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 9 in a day, and three to five is a much more reasonable target. For each hiring organization, you want to know: key product lines, recent news, and executive 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 company is looking for. Create a mapping of your achievements 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 accomplishments should be written in the style of the hiring company.
Third, create a ‘short sales pitch’ for each likely company/job combination. Write down a 90 second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat out loud depicting why you are a fantastic prospect for that position. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet people 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 accomplishments and skills that most clearly match the job prerequisites. 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 fit 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 distinctly 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 fittingly groomed. Avoid strong cologne or perfume…use any eau de cologne or scent meagerly, if at all.
Remember to smile, and good hunting!
