Faint At Heart

Standing out at a Job Faire can make a difference in your job hunting. Job Fairs are starting to pick up, and a major job search company is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a SF Bay Area Career Faire in January, 10 companies as showing up, and a major job search company has 82 career fairs scheduled for 2010 across the States.

How do you stand out at a Career Fair? The rivalry can be sizeable, but you can help yourself jump out from the herd with early homework. At AA-Careers, we have a simplified step-by-step process to prepare. Plan to go? Here’s how to prepare:

First, investigate the organizations that are going and pick your objectives. Use the internet to research the companies that are there beforehand. Go to their sites and see if they have their jobs posted. Pick a tenable number to go after, and get ready to spend about an hour researching each one. It’s hard to do more than eight in a day, and three to five is a much more reasonable target. For each hiring organization, 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 organization is looking for. Create a mapping of your accomplishments and skills to the prerequisites of the job. Make the terminology 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 organization.

Third, create a ‘short sales pitch’ for each likely company/position combination. Write down a ninety second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat verbally showing why you are a key prospect for that job. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet the team from the company at the job booth.

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 achievements 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 quick 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 opportunity – bring a couple of copies for each – and put each in a understandably tagged folder. Keep them in a light 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 cologne or fragrance meagerly, if at all.

Remember to smile, and good hunting!