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Standing out at Career Fairs

February 6th, 2010

Standing out at a Career Faire can make a difference in your search. Job Fairs 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 Faire in early 2010, 10 companies as showing up, and Dice has 82 job fairs scheduled for 2010 across the States.

How do you stand out at a Career Faire? The competition can be substantial, but you can help yourself surpass from the crowd with early planning. At AA-Careers, we have a simple 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 internet to research the companies that are there ahead of time. Go to their web sites and see if they have their job openings posted. Pick a small number to go after, and get ready to spend up to an hour researching each one. It’s hard to do more than 8 in a day, and three to five is a much more reasonable target. For each hiring company, 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 openings on the web, read them to see what the organization is looking for. Create a mapping of your accomplishments and skills to the requirements 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 company.

Third, create a ‘mini sales pitch’ for each likely company/position combination. Write down a 90 second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat verbally depicting why you are a special candidate for that position. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet the company at the job stall.

Fourth, modify your resume for each position. The objective on your resume should exactly match the position you’re going after. 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 obvious to see that you’re a match based on your resume.

Fifth, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress nicely and be fittingly groomed. Don’t over do-it (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 tagged folder. Keep them in a light briefcase or folio.

Remember to smile, and good hunting!

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