Flirgan Elf

Standing out at a Career Faire can make a difference in your career search. Career Fairs are starting to pick up, and Dice is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a Bay Area Career Faire in January, 10 companies as showing up, and a major job search company has 82 career fairs scheduled for this year across the US.

How do you stand out at a Job Faire? The competition can be noteworthy, but you can help yourself stand out from the herd with advance preparation. At AA-Careers, we have a simple 6-step process to get ready. Planning to go? Here’s how to prepare:

First, research the companies that are going and pick your targets. Use the internet to check out the companies that are there beforehand. Go to their sites and see if they have their jobs posted. Pick a tenable number to target, and get ready to spend about an hour researching each one. It’s hard to do more than 9 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 exectuve 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 openings on the web, read them to see what the organization is looking for. Create a mapping of your accomplishments and skills to the requirements of the job. Make the language match. If the hiring company 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 ‘thumbnail sales pitch’ for each likely company/position combination. Write down a ninety second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat out loud describing why you are a key prospect for that job. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet the company at the job stall.

Fourth, modify your resume for each job type. The objective on your resume should exactly match the position you’re want. 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 Fair, the purpose of your resume is a sales tool for you – to get you on-site job interviews. It should be quick 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 spot – bring a couple of copies for each – and put each in a intelligibly labeled folder. Keep them in a lightweight briefcase or folio.

Finally, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress well and be fittingly groomed. Avoid strong cologne or perfume…use any eau de cologne or fragrance sparingly, if at all.

Remember to smile, and good hunting!