Getting Real Interviews at a Job Fair
Friday, January 22nd, 2010Standing out at a Job Faire can make a difference in your job hunting. Job Fairs are starting to pick up, and Dice is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a Silicon Valley Career Faire in January, 10 companies as showing up, and a major job search company has 82 job fairs scheduled for 2010 across the States.
How do you compete at a Career Faire? The competition can be substantial, but you can help yourself surpass from the herd with early homework. At AA-Careers, we have a simplified step-by-step process to get ready. Planning to go? Here’s how to prepare:
First, research the organizations that are going and pick your objectives. Use the web to research the organizations that are there ahead of time. Go to their web sites and see if they have their openings listed. Pick a limited number to go after, and get ready to spend an hour researching each one. It’s hard to do more than 8 in a day, and five or six 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 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 hiring department is looking for. Create a mapping of your achievements and skills to the requirements of the job. Make the nomenclature 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 organization/position combination. Write down a sixty second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat out loud describing why you are a good candidate for that job. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet people at the job booth.
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 accomplishments and skills that most clearly match the job prerequisites. Especially at a Job Faire, 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 well 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 tagged folder. Keep them in a light briefcase or folio.
Remember to smile, and good hunting!
