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College Career Fairs

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How to Make Them Work for YOU

AboutUsBentonBy J. Benton Howie

Career Fairs are a golden opportunity. They are an excellent way to jump start your career exploration.

Career fairs are a great place to:

  • Do one-stop shopping for career information.

  • Assess companies as potential employers

  • Find an internship or co-op opportunity

  • Exercise and refine your interviewing ‘chops’. It’s also a great way to get rid of interviewing stage fright.

However, in order to make it work for you, you need to do a few simple things:

  • Be organized, methodical, and professional

  • Know your reason for why you are there.

  • You may find yourself overwhelmed with information so you need to be prepared to take plenty of notes.

  • Do you research and learn about any companies that you know will be represented AND that you are interested in

  • Do your homework by preparing questions for the employers you meet.

  • Make plenty of copies of your resume and personal business card.

  • And don’t be shy. The companies attending are there to meet students and talk to them. Simply walk up, look them in the eye, smile, hold out your hand and say “Hi, I am XXXX and I am an XXXX major, graduating in XXXX (you are exploring a career in XXXX), do you mind if I ask you a few questions about your company?” That’s it. It’s easy. And it just may be the best opportunity you have to start your career or job search.

Here’s the inside information from the Company’s point of view. Companies participate in career fairs for one or all of the following reasons.

  • They may be looking for candidates to hire in the near term.

  • They may be building an inventory of future hires for two, three, or even four years out. Some companies use career fairs as their primary college recruiting method, preferring them to on-campus interviews.

  • They may be looking for interns or co-op students

  • They may be using the career fair to build their image and visibility on college and university campuses.

  • Some may just be there to satisfy what I call a “place-holder” opportunity to meet their obligations to the career center and are not actually recruiting at the session.

Just as companies utilize career fairs to serve an essential purpose, students can find them helpful in many ways too.

Define your purpose for attending a Career Fair

The “Pre-College Career Search”: First, there is no reason you can’t go to a career fair if you are a college freshman or sophomore, or even if you are an upper classman in high school. If the university will allow non-college-level students in, and most will, then take advantage of this opportunity. High school students have nothing to lose by simply showing up at a local university career fair. After all, they are students. If you look and act professionally, you will usually be welcome at the event.

The “College Student Career Search”: There is no reason you can’t go to a career fair if you are not looking for a job or an internship, even though many of the companies are there looking for employees and interns. You never know - you just might be a future employee. Even though your agenda may not be on the company’s agenda, you are there for you, not the companies. You need to make the most of these opportunities; they are seriously valuable.

Convenient Job Hunting opportunity!: The most obvious reason why you would attend is to find a job, co-op or internship. Job Fairs make job hunting very convenient because it is a unique chance to circulate a room filled with interested employers. It’s kind of like going to the mall. Of course, meeting as many of the company reps as you can and doing everything we suggest in this article will help you make essential connections which will, hopefully, lead to job interviews.

Here are a few tips to make the most of the Career Fair:

Define your purpose for being there: Have a clear agenda and understanding why you are going to the career fair. How you present yourself and how you prepare will depend on why you are going.

Arrive Early: It’s smart to get there before the company representatives have been mobbed by thousands of your fellow classmates. Get there when the doors open. Meeting company representatives early means they’ve just had a cup of coffee and are fresh. If they are still putting up their booths, you might want to offer to help. It’s a great way to get some quality chat time to get to know them better. If they are actually still putting up their booths they can use the help. Some of those booths are like jigsaw puzzles. Some inside information about the people you’ll meet: Some companies are experienced and well organized with their preparation. They send trained personnel to represent them. They have an impressive booth, company material and cool giveaways. Other companies are not as structured. They grab the first available employee they have to send to the fair. They may just have a table and some product and promotional material they got from their marketing departments. Many may also bring recent hires from the university or younger professionals in the key areas they recruit for. You need to find out who you are talking with at each booth…i.e. is it a member of their Human Resources group, a hiring manager, or a professional from one of their line organizations? Who you speak with will determine the type of information you can receive.

Dress to Impress: Dress as though you were going on a job interview….business casual, at the least. If you are running around between classes and can’t pull off the business casual look, be neat and presentable.

Get rid of distractions! Before you step into the room, turn off your mobile phone. Taking a call, texting, or reading a text message during an interview or meeting will very likely cost you the chance to be further considered for a job.

Come Prepared:

  • Bring a note pad and pen.

  • Bring plenty of copies of your resume and cover letter.

  • Bring a personal business card with your name, major field of study, and whether you are a freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, or grad student. Also put your school name and your contact information. If you want to put a picture on the card, do so. I know what you’re thinking…“but I gave them a resume, isn’t that enough? Well, here is the inside scoop: Company representatives will meet literally hundreds of students during one career fair. And the fair at your school may just be one of many they will attend on that particular road trip. The personal business card will be a way for them to remember you. And you want to be memorable….in a good way. If they like you, they will make a few quick notes on the back of the card. The picture also helps them remember you. Many companies will stack up the resumes and cover letters and send them to be scanned into an automated recruiting system. However, they will take the personal business card with them.

Here are a few things to expect at the Career Fair:

  • Don’t be surprised if you are asked to fill out an electronic registration at the booth. Smile sweetly and do so.

  • Be armed with good questions. If you are looking for after-graduation job opportunities, you need to treat each interaction with a company representative as a job interview. This means you need to prepare a list of questions you want to ask the companies. This is important; be prepared and practice the questions before hand. You should prepare different questions depending on whether you are talking to a recruiter (from the human resources department), a hiring manager or department representative. For instance if it is a hiring manager you might want to ask what types of work they do and what would be an example of an entry level job. Or you may want to ask about the company’s or his department’s latest projects. If it’s a recruiter, you could ask him what it’s like to work for the company and more about their interviewing process. You may want to ask if this their new hire recruiting mechanism or will they also do on-campus interviewing.

  • Make a good impression: When you meet the representative, smile and give a firm hand shake. Then find out who you are talking to…hiring manager, recruiter…etc., and get their business card. Don’t be afraid to ask for one. Always, always, try to get a business card. One great way to get a business card is to give them one and then ask for theirs. It’s impolite for them to not give one in return. Give every person you meet a personal business card…after asking them if they would mind if you gave them a card. It helps to write on the back of the company representative’s business card where you met him and something specific to help you remember talking to him.

  • Find out what their purpose is at the career fair, especially if they are looking for new hires, and if so, in what disciplines. If they are looking for new hires (and you are ready to seriously interview for a job) give them a copy of your resume. Give them a very brief overview of who you are, what you are studying, what you are looking for after graduation, and what you know about their company. This is something you need to practice before hand. It’s called an elevator speech. You need to practice it so you don’t hesitate or stumble. Most importantly, keep your speech brief (a few sentences, only), concise and packed with the information you want to get across. You are only going to have a few minutes with the representative.

  • Then ask your questions. Take notes. And summarize your meeting before you step away from the booth. You are going to talk to a lot of people in the course of an hour or two and you need to keep your information organized. If the interviewer takes you aside to a quiet place, that is a very good thing. It means you’ve made a good impression and are someone he or she really likes as a prospective employee. However, don’t get too excited, this is a very, very early step in the process. And, do ask them directly what the next steps are.

  • If you are looking for an internship or co-op opportunity, follow the same process you would if you are looking for a job. First, find out if it is a structured co-op opportunity which will commit you to a certain number of work rotations, or if it an internship opportunity. Whether it is an internship or co-op you should ask what type of work you will be performing and what department the position is for. You can also ask if it is a paid or unpaid internship. If there is someone there from the department this is an excellent opportunity to get some serious details about the job. And I recommend you do so to find out if the work is directly related to your career interests and will be something that can offer you a genuine learning experience and the chance to build some practical work experience. Take notes. If you are interested in the internship find out what the next steps are in the interview process and if you are seriously interested, clearly let the person you are speaking with know that you are. They can’t assist you in getting the opportunity unless they know what you want!

  • If you are using the career fair for career exploration this is an excellent place to find out what people in those careers actually do. The process is similar to the ones above with a few exceptions. First, be up front with the individuals with whom you are speaking about your purpose for attending the Fair. In other words, tell them you are exploring career options. Ask them if they employ individuals in the career you are interested in and then let them know that you are considering pursuing a major in that career. Ask them if they would mind answering a few brief questions about that career. This is where your early arrival pays off. If the booth is jammed and other students are waiting in line for an interview, the company representative might not want to take the time to answer career questions. Try to find a booth that is not so hectic and an individual who doesn’t look too busy. Most people like talking about their company and themselves and won’t mind answering your questions. You might want to use the career information questionnaire that we use on CareerZing to collect career stories. It will give you a standardized way to collect your information. This should be a standard part of your “Career Exploration Toolkit.”

 

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