Getting Real Interviews at Job Fairs
Standing out at a Career Fair can make a difference in your job hunt. Job Faires are starting to pick up, and Dice is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a Bay Area Career Faire 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 Faire? The rivalry can be significant, but you can help yourself stick out from the bunch 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, investigate the companies that are going and pick your targets. Use the web to research the companies that are there before you even decide to go. Go to their internet sites and see if they have their job openings posted. Pick a rational number to go after, and get ready to spend up to an hour researching each one. It’s hard to do more than seven in a day, and 3-5 is a much more reasonable target. For each hiring company, you want to know: key product lines, recent news, and executive names. 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 prerequisites 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 ‘brief sales pitch’ for each likely organization/job combination. Write down a sixty second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat verbally depicting why you are a special candidate for that job. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet the team from 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 description. 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 very easy to see that you’re a fit based on your resume.
Fifth, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress well and be properly 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, rehearse 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 marked folder. Keep them in a lightweight briefcase or folio.
Remember to smile, and good hunting!
