10 Tips to Rocking a Career Fair
Career fairs provide an excellent opportunity for students to meet and interact with employers and recruiters for part-time jobs, full-time jobs, and internships. Going to a career fair can benefit you because it gives students the opportunity to make connections with prospective employers. Submitting a resume to a company through the internet is one thing, but if you go to the fair and make a solid impression with recruiters they are more likely to remember your name and face.
Because of the amount of people and time limitations, it is important to leave recruiters with the best possible impression of yourself. What follows are ten things to remember when attending a career fair...
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1. Research the employers who are attending in order to figure out who you would most like to talk to.
Figuring this out ahead of time will make it much easier for you to plan out who you are going to talk to and when, thus helping you to better utilize your time at the fair. It also keeps you from wandering around aimlessly by providing you with a sense of purpose and confidence.
2. Once you have figured out who you would most like to speak with, take some time to look through their web site and figure out what they’re about. Know how to answer the question “Why do you want to work with our company?”
Being able to answer this question shows employers that you are not just showing up because you are bored or decided to apply on a whim. Saying “I want to work here” doesn’t carry as much weight as “I read through your web site, and I too am extremely passionate about (insert subject or objective here) so I think this job would be a good fit for me.”
3. Print off more copies of your resume than you think you will actually need.
Imagine, for a moment, that you get to the fair and all of the people you want to talk to are otherwise engaged. So you start looking around, talk to another recruiter, and realize that you want to apply for that position as well. However, you only brought enough resumes for the recruiters that you originally wanted to talk to. A general rule of thumb is to bring a couple more resumes than you actually think you will need, just in case something like this happens.
4. Prepare and rehearse an elevator pitch to use with prospective employers.
When talking with recruiters, you will maybe have 1-2 minutes. It is important to not monopolize all of their time and realize that there are others that might want to talk to the recruiter as well. It also helps you appear more confident and put-together when you walk up to them with a speech already prepared.
5. Prepare questions in advance.
If time permits, it never hurts to have prepared a couple questions of your own to ask the recruiter. They tend to appreciate your interest in the position more. However, it is important to remember not to ask about salary. Stay away from questions like “What does your company do?” Last but not least, do not ask questions that could have been easily answered by taking a look at the job description or web site.
6. Dress appropriately and understand the dress code for the career fair.
Under no circumstances should you ever wear blue jeans, sneakers, hats, sunglasses, or t-shirts to a career fair. Professional dress is advised. If you have any questions regarding the dress code, the staff at the University Career Center will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.
7. Remember to be professional.
Maintain eye contact, speak clearly but do not yell, and remember to smile. Always present yourself in a polite and professional manner. Never walk up to a booth and interrupt an ongoing conversation between a recruiter and one of your peers.
8. Stay away from using filler words such as “um,” “like,” or “you know.”
These words may have their place in, say, middle school, but when you are attempting to present yourself in a professional manner, these words do nothing for you.
9. Remember to follow up with recruiters after the fair is over.
This is important, because you want to ensure that they do remember your name and face. See if you can obtain some way to get into contact with them, be it a business card or even writing down the recruiter’s email address.
10. Update your resume and have it reviewed in at the University Career Center!
The career center is an excellent source, because it gives students the opportunity to receive free, speedy feedback on what is good and what is not so good about their resumes.
Put these tips to the test at our Career Expo on Friday, February 19 from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. in the SAC!
