Getting Real Interviews at a Career Faire

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 Fair 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 get to the real interviews at a Career Fair? The rivalry can be sizeable, but you can help yourself surpass from the bunch with early planning. At AA-Careers, we have a straight-forward 6-step process to prepare. Planning to go? Here’s how to prepare:

First, research the organizations that are going and pick your targets. Use the web to research the companies that are there ahead of time. Go to their internet sites and see if they have their jobs listed. Pick a sane number to go after, and get ready to spend an hour or more researching each one. It’s hard to do more than ten in a day, and five or six is a much more reasonable target. For each hiring company, 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 will end up with 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 organization is looking for. Create a mapping of your accomplishments and skills to the prerequisites of the job. Make the language match. If the hiring organization calls customers "clients", your resume should do the same thing. The accomplishments should be written in the style of the hiring company.

Third, create a ‘short sales pitch’ for each potential organization/position combination. Write down a ninety second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat verbally showing why you are a key candidate for that job. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet people at the job stall.

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

Fifth, practice 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 intelligibly labeled folder. Keep them in a light 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 scent sparingly, if at all.

Remember to smile, and good hunting!