Competing Successfully at Job Fairs
24 January 2010Standing out at a Career Fair can make a difference in your job hunting. Job Faires are starting to pick up, and a major job search company is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a Silicon Valley Career Fair in January, 10 companies as showing up, and Dice has 82 career fairs scheduled for this year across the US.
How do you compete at a Job Fair? The rivalry can be substantial, but you can help yourself jump out from the herd with advance homework. At AA-Careers, we have a simplified six-step process to get ready. Plan to go? Here’s how to prepare:
First, research the companies that are going and pick your targets. Use the World Wide Web to check out the organizations that are there ahead of time. Go to their internet sites and see if they have their openings posted. Pick a rational number to go after, and get ready to spend an hour or more researching each one. It’s hard to do more than nine in a day, and three to five 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’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 demands 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 organization.
Third, create a ‘short sales pitch’ for each potential company/job combination. Write down a ninety second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat out loud showing why you are a fantastic prospect for that position. 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 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 simple to see that you’re a match based on your resume.
Fifth, practice your ‘mini-sales-pitch’. Collect your research and the resume for each spot – bring a couple of copies for each – and put each in a understandably tagged folder. Keep them in a light 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 cologne or scent meagerly, if at all.
Remember to smile, and good hunting!
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