Getting Real Interviews at Career Fairs
Standing out at a Career Fair can make a difference in your job hunt. Career Fairs are starting to pick up, and Dice is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a Silicon Valley Job Faire in early 2010, 10 companies as showing up, and a major job search company has 82 career faires scheduled for 2010 across the States.
How do you stand out at a Job Fair? The rivalry can be substantial, but you can help yourself surpass from the herd with advance preparation. At AA-Careers, we have a simplified 6-step process to get ready. Planning to go? Here’s how to prepare:
First, research the organizations that are going and pick your targets. Use the web to check out the organizations that are there before you even decide to go. Go to their sites and see if they have their job openings listed. Pick a sound number to go after, and get ready to spend an hour researching each one. It’s hard to do more than 10 in a day, and three or four is a much more reasonable target. For each hiring organization, you want to know: recent news, key product lines, and contacts you know. 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 openings on the web, read them to see what the organization is looking for. Create a mapping of your achievements and skills to the demands of the job. Make the nomenclature match. If the hiring organization 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/job combination. Write down a sixty second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat verbally describing why you are a fantastic candidate for that job. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet the company at the job booth.
Fourth, modify your resume for each opportunity. The objective on your resume should exactly match the job 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 Career Faire, the purpose of your resume is a sales tool for you – to get you on-site job interviews. It should be a no-brainer to see that you’re a match based on your resume.
Fifth, 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 intelligibly marked folder. Keep them in a lightweight briefcase or folio.
Finally, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress nicely and be fittingly groomed. Avoid strong cologne or perfume…use any cologne or perfume meagerly, if at all.
Remember to smile, and good hunting!
