Standing out at Job Fairs
Standing out at a Job Faire can make a difference in your job hunt. Career Faires are starting to pick up, and a major job search company is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a San Jose Area Job Fair in January, 10 companies as showing up, and Dice has 82 job fairs scheduled for 2010 across the States.
How do you compete at a Career Faire? The contention can be substantial, but you can help yourself jump out from the gang with early preparation. At AA-Careers, we have a simplified six-step process to prepare. Planning to go? Here’s how to prepare:
First, research the companies that are going and pick your objectives. Use the World Wide Web to research the organizations that are there before you go. Go to their sites and see if they have their jobs listed. Pick a sound number to go after, and get ready to spend about an hour researching each one. It’s hard to do more than seven in a day, and three to five is a much more reasonable target. For each 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 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 hiring manager is looking for. Create a mapping of your achievements 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 ‘brief sales pitch’ for each potential company/job combination. Write down a 60 second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat out loud showing why you are a key prospect 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 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 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 simple 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 position – bring a couple of copies for each – and put each in a distinctly labeled 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 fittingly groomed. Avoid strong cologne or perfume…use any eau de cologne or fragrance meagerly, if at all.
Remember to smile, and good hunting!
