How To Succeed At Job Fairs

Introduction to the Job Fair
Like the companies hosting job fairs, you, too, should have a well thought-out purpose for committing your resources to attending a job fair. To determine your objectives and understand how you can stand out from the crowd, you must first consider why companies conduct job fairs.
Job fairs exist to bring companies and candidates together. Typically, they are in large convention centers or halls, though the can also sometimes be somewhat smaller affairs. Companies usually erect booths to showcase their companies as great places to work, usually trying to outdo their competitors to win the attention of job seekers.
There you will find, sitting behind or standing next to desks or booths covered with corporate marketing materials and beneath strikingly designed banners, one or more corporate recruiters. Standing in front and milling around booths can also be hundreds, even thousands of eager job candidates. The more successful the company, the longer the line between you and the company’s representatives.
Purposes of the Job Fair
Companies use job fairs to:

• Attract talent
• Screen talent
• Publicize their products and/or services

Your Goals for a Job Fair
For you, the job fair is a great place for you to:

• Learn about the job market
• Look for new job and career opportunities
• Get data on what competing companies are offering prospective employees
• See what employers are looking for
• See which companies other candidates are considering
• Research and gather large amounts of detailed corporate information in a short amount of time
• Stand out from the crowd and get an interview

Types of Job Fair
There are three general types of job fairs:
Standard Job Fair
Companies congregate in one place on specific dates and use these fairs to gather and screen résumés and candidates. This type of job fair occurs regularly and frequently. Check the Internet, your school career office or your local paper to find the dates and locations of such job fairs.
On-Campus Job Fairs
Find out from your career office or placement officer when these fairs occur and do not miss them. They are very similar to regular job fairs, but with the added benefit of potential employers coming to you.
Career Days
These are a typical pre-cursor to a job fair. However, you should still treat them as a job fair even though their stated purpose is to just give you a chance to get acquainted with companies. Making a positive impression at a Career Day event is a wonderful way to lay the foundation for future job search exploits.
Preparing for a Job Fair
As you know by know, standing out from the crowd is about preparation, homework and the resulting confidence it gives you. At the same time, you need to develop and execute a strategy to get noticed in the job fair: you need to prepare and plan to make an impact with a recruiter. Remember, recruiters are screeners who will meet with over 100 people during any given job fair. At a job fair, you will get to interact with them for only ten to fifteen minutes. You must use this time wisely, for if you do, you will surely stand out.
The key to standing out from the crowd at a job fair is preparing ahead of time and doing your research.
To properly prepare for a job fair:
Survey the Companies Attending
Get a list of companies that will be at the job fair. Try looking on the event’s promotional materials or the event’s website, or call the event’s organizers.
Research the Companies
Do your research and understand each company in which you’re interested, its products, business and culture.
Narrow the List of Companies
There will be too many companies attending for you to visit everyone. Remember, you may have to wait in queue for 30 minutes to talk to someone for ten minutes or five minutes. Narrow your list of companies to around ten companies you are certain you’d like to approach and five additional companies that you will approach if you have the extra time after meeting with your ten or so first choices. Also, reserve some time to look at any unanticipatedly interesting companies that catch your eye while you’re reconnoitering the job fair.
Research the Job Requirements
Do your research and be certain of the minimum requirements for getting hired by each individual company. If a company requires that you are MCSE certified, and you are not, do not waste the time waiting in queue to find out you simply do not meet their requirements. If you really want a job at that particular company, you must first make sure you satisfy their requirements, then approach them.
Event Day Preparation
By the evening before the job fair, you should have have chosen up to ten companies you will approach and up to five companies you will then approach if time permits. Now, you simply need to prepare for the job fair itself. To do so, focus on the following:
Rest
Get a good night’s sleep before the job fair. You need to be at your best and ready for a full, and most likely, exhausting, day.
Résumé
Bring about 30 copies of your résumé, make sure your you have printed it on high-quality paper.
Organization

1. Portfolio. Bring a portfolio in which to store your résumés and with which to store any notes you may take while at the event.
2. File. Bring a separate file folder containing your research on your targeted companies to review while you wait in queues.
3. Briefcase. Bring a briefcase in which to store the reams of company information and marketing material you will be given by company representatives at the job fair.
4. Pen. Bring two or three pens for taking notes.
5. Dress. Follow the advice contained in How to Guide to Dress for Success and dress exactly as you would for an interview. Make sure you are not just professionally dressed but also comfortably dressed. Your job fair visit will be a long day consisting of a lot of walking and even more standing; wear comfortable, dark-colored professional shoes.

Arrival
Try to arrive at the job fair as early as possible to get there ahead of long registration queues and allow yourself plenty of time to get in. You are going to the job fair to meet with companies, so maximize your time by trying your best to beat the rush. You might even get a chance to talk to a recruiter enjoying the less hectic period before the fair officially begins.
Research the Layout
Spend your first hour walking around. By doing this:

1. You will have an overview of all the companies attending.
2. You will know where your targeted companies are located.
3. You will see that you are probably one of the best-prepared candidates there, and by knowing this, you will relax and project the sort of confident attitude to which recruiters respond.
4. You can collect information from any company that interests you, allowing you to access information you may not have been able to acquire beforehand. Be professional and courteous when you are collecting materials and gathering information. Remember, you may very well be collecting material from a person with whom you may later interview.

Be Confident
With all of your research and event day preparation, you are ready for this job fair – be confident. Recruiters will notice and you will seem more mature, competent and credible.
Standing out from the Crowd at the Job Fair
You should plan to be at the job fair all day. While it is going to be hard, it can also be fun. Put together a plan of action and get noticed to maximize your benefits from the event.
Watch recruiters talk to other candidates, and listen if you can.

1. As recruiters talk to other candidates, you will learn what they are asking them and more about what they’re looking for in a candidate.
2. You can discover who is the most senior person at the company’s booth. That is the person you want to speak with if you get the chance.
3. You can gain an impression of the questioning style of your interviewer and have time to prepare. We will discuss interview types and how to deal with them in Interviewing at the Job Fair.

Try to talk to the hiring manager or senior member of the team whenever you can. Recruiters can be helpful, and can certainly eliminate you, but the hiring manager is the person to impress.
Get a name or business card from each person you speak with, so you can refer to that person by name and title when you follow up.
Always stay upbeat and energized. It will show you are enthusiastic about the company and the work.
If you find yourself losing energy, take a break. Usually the best time to do this is right before lunch. The last thing you want is a recruiter who cuts the typical ten-minute interview to two minutes because they are eager to leave you for their meal.
Interviewing at the Job Fair
The minute you step into the job fair, your interview has begun. You never know whom you might encounter and with whom you might interact at registration. You need to make sure you are in top form at all times whether you are standing in line, getting a drink, approaching a company’s booth or introducing yourself – this is all part of the interview and opportunities to get noticed.
Be careful what you say, even when you are away from the booths, you never know if a recruiter will overhear you.
Interviews at job fairs typically take three different forms:

• A screening interview
• A mini interview
• A full interview

The Screening Interview
Plan on having, at most, three minutes if you are in a Screening Interview. The primary goal of recruiters conducting these interviews is, primarily, to collect résumés. It is up to you to make a great first impression to interest them enough to move you along to the next stage, a standard job fair interview. To make a great first impression:

• Quickly and succinctly allude to or summarize the key areas in your résumé that show you fit the company’s needs. You have learned for what the company is looking during your pre-job fair preparation and from monitoring recruiters’ interviews with other candidates.
• Ask your interviewer for a business card so you can follow up.
• Ask the recruiter what the next step will be and thank them for their time.
• Do not try to extend the interview unless the recruiter indicates they wish to do so.

The Mini Interview
In an Interview you will usually have approximately five minutes in which to talk with the recruiter at the employer’s booth. This is a great opportunity to stand out from the crowd. All you need to do is:

• Give the recruiter your full attention.
• Treat the experience exactly as you would a proper job interview, except bear in mind you have less time in which to respond to each question.
• Position yourself as someone that meets the employer’s needs by volunteering specific examples highlighting your relevant skills and qualifications.
• Elaborate on key information contained in your résumé. You must remember every detail of your résumé without needing to look at it. Be ready to talk about any item on the résumé in even greater detail than appears in the document.
• Be prepared to answer:
• “Why did you come to this job fair?”
• “Why are you interested in this corporation in particular?”
• Ask for the interviewer’s business card so you can follow up with them, and be sure to write some notes on the back of the card so you remember who the person is and any topic you should mention in your next communication.
• Ask what the next steps are in the process.
• Thank the interviewer graciously for their time.

The Full Interview
In the event of a full interview at a job fair, the interviewer will typically take you to a pre-designated group area or a semi-private interviewing area such as behind a curtain near the booth. You will be invited to this interview after you have gone through a screening interview, a mini-interview, or both. Plan for the full interview to take 20 to 30 minutes and treat it the same as you would any full-length interview. To succeed in the interview:

• Focus on the employer. Forget about how long it is going to take and any opportunities you could be missing at this time. This is the opportunity you so dearly want, so take maximum advantage of it. Often, the commotion of a job fair can be distracting no matter how set aside the area is. Recognize that this is true for everyone there and do your utmost to remain focused on the interviewer.
• Be prepared to answer technical questions and keep in mind that you may be working for or with this person some day – hopefully soon.
• The interviewer will ask a lot of qualitative and open-ended questions. You should expect to need to elaborate on your answers. No brief answers here. Provide details and experiences/anecdotes as proof points as you demonstrate your suitability for the job position.
• At the end of the interview, if you are truly interested, let the interviewer know that is the case and ask what next step to expect. You should assume that the interviewer is also interested in hiring you.
• Remember to follow all of the comprehensive guidelines outlined in Interview Tips From The Pros.

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