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Photo: Mary Zager

It’s Job Fair Season and the CareerZing.com Advisory Board shares their experiences as they joined their stiff competition in an effort to stand out and make the best impression attending Job Fairs on their campuses.  

 

What job fair tactics have worked best for you?

Brett (FSU Grad – Sport Management):

Quite simply, make the employers at the job fair remember you. Be unique and be different without being weird. It's a fine line, yes, but that's what you have to do.

Marielle (UF 2014 – Aerospace Engineering):

Leaving my resume in my portfolio while I’m approaching the employer’s booth… I know many think it is bad to do, but the act of taking it out of my portfolio while I am doing my elevator speech calms my nerves SO much (I can’t stress this enough). It may seem silly but that is what works for me.

Kelly (UF 2014 – Chemical Engineering):

That's a piece of what I learned from the last fair, along with recommendations from older students, and I've gotten lots of interviews and calls back!

Andrew (Georgia Tech Grad – Civil Engineer at Bechtel):

Another comment on the business card idea: It shows initiative, it’s a nice surprise for the recruiter to get one from you and it shows that you’re thinking ahead. And don’t forget to ask them for their name and contact information. If they don’t have a business card, write it down. I have had experiences where I can’t find the person’s contact information online the next day.

On Kelly’s comment about knowing what courses or credentials a company wants, here’s an example: If the company wants you to have taken a qualifying test and you didn’t take it yet, mention it on your resume as XXX test “pending”, so they know you are working on it.

After the Job Fair, the company rep’s will have a meeting to discuss the candidates. They have their laptops and stacks of resumes. They decide who to interview right there and call you in that night or the next day so you only have one chance (or two if you go to the information session) to make a good impression.

Kevin: (University of Pennsylvania 2014 – Biology/Economics)

I think Kelly hit on some great strategic points, so as to not be repetitive, I'll add some more tactical points:

Jesse (CalTech 2014 – Math/Computer Science):

Essentially, the Career Fairs that Caltech have are usually more than 75% companies looking for Computer Science majors, and a lot of the big ones are always there (Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Apple, etc.), and so smaller ones usually go out of their way to try to find people.  Once they pull us in, however, I usually use the same kind of things that Kevin and Kelly have mentioned.

The way it seemed to work at Caltech was that I wear a nametag saying "Computer Science", and companies would just reach out and drag me to their booth... I feel like that's probably not a general rule, though.

Kelly:

Jesse had a great point with the name tag suggestion - I'm working on getting a name tag!

About Kevin's response: Definitely good point about speaking with confidence and clarity. It is so important to show that you're calm (even if you don't feel it inside). You know how painful it is to watch someone looking OBVIOUSLY uncomfortable. Start speaking slower so that your words don't come out rushed. If you're that one student who is personable enough, feels secure, and actually makes the recruiter feel at ease, you're doing something right. That is truly refreshing to an adult who's been standing at  a Career Showcase for hours shaking dozens of students' hands.

Benton:

Good stuff. I like the name tag idea.  I would add “home town” to “name, major, and graduation date”.  It will give the recruiter a nice conversation starter..sort of an instant ice breaker.  

Carol:

I’ve heard that students will hold sessions prior to the fair to critique other students’ resumes. This is a good idea to get a very up-to-date view on key words that employers are looking for right now. Older students who have presented themselves and then experienced the success of being called back for an interview can be helpful to find out what employers are asking right now!  Check with your advisor or specific school withint the university to connect with older students.  They will likely have a session already scheduled to help students get prepared.

BTW, about the name tag, you could use your personal business card if your name is large enough on it.

Benton:

Remember to add your photo to your personal business card. It is a no-fail way for the recruiter to remember who you are and connect you with your resume.

Andrew:

I think a really important thing is to know which companies are going to be at the fair/interview, look up their official website/Wikipedia/other Google results, and pick out a few juicy points (notable projects/innovations, office locations, selling points of company) so that you can start a conversation cold/continue a meandering conversation. This really helped me in my senior year job fairs/co-op interviews.