717Getting Noticed at a Career Event
posted on January 30th, 2010
Standing out at a Career Faire can make a difference in your career search. Career Fairs are starting to pick up, and a major job search company is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a Bay Area Career Fair in January, 10 companies as showing up, and Dice has 82 career faires scheduled for 2010 across the United States.
How do you rise above the crowd at a Career Faire? The rivalry can be noteworthy, but you can help yourself leap out from the herd with early preparation. At AA-Careers, we have a simple six-step process to prepare. Planning to go? Here’s how to prepare:
First, research the organizations that are going and pick your objectives. Use the World Wide Web to research the companies that are there before you even decide to go. Go to their websites and see if they have their jobs posted. Pick a reasonable number to go after, and get ready to spend an hour or more researching each one. It’s hard to do more than 8 in a day, and three or four is a much more reasonable target. For each hiring 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 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 manager is looking for. Create a mapping of your achievements and skills to the requirements of the job. Make the terminology 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 potential company/position combination. Write down a ninety second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat verbally describing why you are a great 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 opportunity. The objective on your resume should exactly match the job 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 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 very easy to see that you’re a match based on your resume.
Fifth, practice your ‘mini-sales-pitch’. Collect your research and the resume for each opportunity - 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 eau de cologne or perfume meagerly, if at all.
Remember to smile, and good hunting!