Unrelating

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

How do you stand out at a Career Fair? The contention can be significant, but you can help yourself stand out from the bunch with early preparation. At AA-Careers, we have a simplified six-step process to get ready. Planning to go? Here’s how to prepare:

First, investigate the organizations that are going and pick your targets. Use the internet to check out the organizations that are there beforehand. Go to their internet sites and see if they have their job openings listed. Pick a moderate number to go after, and get ready to spend an hour researching each one. It’s hard to do more than 10 in a day, and three or four is a much more reasonable target. For each 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’ll 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 hiring manager is looking for. Create a mapping of your achievements and skills to the requirements 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 company.

Third, create a ‘short sales pitch’ for each likely company/position combination. Write down a 60 second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat out loud showing why you are a key candidate for that job. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet people at the job booth.

Fourth, modify your resume for each opportunity. The objective on your resume should exactly match the job 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 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 obvious to see that you’re a fit based on your resume.

Fifth, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress nicely and be well groomed. Don’t over do-it (this isn’t a date!) and don’t underdress (no jeans or t-shirts, no matter how much you paid for them). Avoid strong cologne or perfume.

Finally, rehearse 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 marked folder. Keep them in a light briefcase or folio.

Remember to smile, and good hunting!