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Home » Business And Finance Articles » How To Get The Most Out Of Job Fairs

How to Get the Most Out of Job Fairs

Job fairs are a great way to meet potential employers. Unlike cold calling or surfing the Internet, job fairs offer the chance to chat with hiring managers in person and pass around your resume or business card. There are several ways to make the most of a job fair:

What To Do Before You Get There

Make a list

Before you even arrive at the job fair, get the list of participating employers. These can be found in the newspaper (usually in the classified job section or business section) or online. Make a list of employers you want to contact and be sure to visit them first. Some employers leave job fairs early and you don't want to miss your opportunity to interview with them.

Conduct research on the companies you are interested in

Without a doubt, you will want to know the current statistics for the companies you're looking at as well as what projects they are working on. This information can be found online at their web site, in their company materials, in the newspaper or at the library. If you attend the job fair without knowledge of the companies you like, you may find yourself in an interview at the booth, unable to answer questions such as "What do you know about our company?"

Update and print several copies of your resume

A few days before the job fair, spend some time updating and polishing your resume. Once you have made updates, have someone else look over the resume and make suggestions. After making changes, print several copies on good quality resume paper and keep them in a folder to prevent them from getting wrinkled, stained, or torn.

Create a sound bite

A sound bite is a brief introduction (30-90 seconds) about your knowledge, skills, and abilities. Developing a sound bite educates the listener about your qualifications, reminds you of your qualifications, and helps you keep your focus. It will also calm your job-fair jitters. It can be intimidating to approach employers, even in the job-fair environment.

Once You Are There

Be considerate of the employer's/recruiter's time

Don't monopolize their time. They want to meet as many applicants as possible. Look for signals that you have overstayed your welcome. Non-verbal cues may include the employer looking away, glancing at his watch, or shifting in his chair.

Network with other jobseekers

You can find out valuable information from other job seekers. Not all jobs are advertised and your peers may be aware of job openings that you had no knowledge of.

Free resume evaluations

Some fairs may offer resume critiques by a professional resume writer. Be sure to stop by and drop off your resume for free professional advice.

When You Get Home

Write thank-you notes

Before you leave the fair, be sure to ask employers for their business cards and then write a letter thanking them for their time. Most job seekers won't take the time to send a thoughtful note. If you do, you will stand out from the rest.

For Those You Couldn't Meet

If you didn't have time to get around to all the booths, send your resume and a personalized cover letter to those employers/recruiters you didn't meet.

Key Points to Remember

- You will not be hired at a job fair. This is an opportunity for you to meet employers and network. When you are approaching employers, be confident and casual. They can sense desperation.

- You may not be interviewed at a job fair. Job fairs can have a zoo-like atmosphere and may not be conducive to a formal interview.

- Remember that attending a job fair is one tool in getting a job. Keep networking, sending out resumes, and applying for jobs! Most of all, stay positive and know your new job could be right around the corner.

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

Consultants Say The Darndest Things!

Part of being in the presentation skills training business is keeping up with current findings and new literature in the field. As any modern day researcher (read: web surfer) knows, this can consume huge amounts of time as each interesting looking hyperlink leads to another, and another, and, well, you know how it works.

Sometimes, our travels are rewarded with gems like the ones that follow. Turns out that ever since Dale Carnegie discovered about a century ago that good public speaking was a process that could be learned rather than inherited, there's been little shortage of people out there with "good advice" to pass on. Some of these people even take money for it! Anyway, here's a sample of the wisdom we garnered for free, and its worth every penny!

T.B., a presentation skills consultant writing at http://www.allsands.com, advises:

"Many professional actors and public speakers find that doing light callisthenic exercises in their dressing rooms or a private area can relieve the excess energy. Try running in place, or shaking your arms and legs. Go out for a quick run somewhere, or punch a boxing bag. The trick is to release enough nervous energy to calm your anxieties, but not leave you so stress-free that your speech suffers."

Problem: When we're engaged to do public speaking, we often have to wear a suit and tie. It's been our experience that going out for a run just before we go on stage can often work up a good sweat! If you can help it, while presenting you really never want the audience see you sweat. And the punching bag idea is not always a convenient one. If you're giving your presentation out-of-town, a full-size Everlast bag does not easily fit in the overhead bins or under the seat in front of you, and can really slow you down when running to catch a flight.

PublicSpeakingSkills Solution: The excess energy people experience when speaking results from adrenaline pulsing through the body, brought on by the classic fight-or-flight syndrome that accompanies fear. The fear needs to be dealt with, not the energy. In our presentation skills seminars, we show participants how many of the techniques they learned in their public speaking "education" actually create, build, and compound normal levels of anxiety.

A.M., another public speaking consultant writing at www.allsands.com, advises:

"Some speakers are surprised to learn how limited their view of the audience really is when all the stage lights are turned on. What you might fear as a group of faces staring at you in judgment may just turn out to be an anonymous group of shadows."

Problem: Call us old-fashioned, but when speaking in public, we don't feel we're really relating to our audience best if we can think of them as an "anonymous group of shadows". If you think not looking at the audience is a good thing, how about just wearing a pair of Blues Brothers shades? Or maybe squinting your eyes really tight, so that the people all become one amorphous blob? Or, better yet, maybe closing your eyes completely!

PublicSpeakingSkills Solution: Actually, learning to adopt proper eye-contact techniques is the key to reducing the self-induced fear factor we spoke of above. More to this point, though, is that to be a truly professional public speaker, to be believed and get your audience behind you, it is essential that you firmly establish eye contact with the individuals in the group.

Ask yourself this: If you're buying a used car and have questions about its history, do you want the dealer to look you in the eye, or to treat you like an anonymous shadow?

But wait - there's more!

T. H., author of Essential Managers Series "Making Presentations", DK Publishing:

"[When public speaking] try to glance at the whole audience at the start so that they feel involved. Sweep your gaze across the entire audience."

Problem: Yeah, whenever we've got a group that we really need to convince, or whenever trust is an issue, the words "glance" and "gaze" come to mind first if we're thinking eye contact. We believe people feel a certain level of sincerity with a glance or gaze that you just can't get with that direct, look-me-in-the-eye thing. Also, when we first get up in front of a strange group, we like to get as much visual over-stimulation as possible, just to get that adrenaline pumping at full force!

Public Speaking Skills Solution: The great news here is that when you engage proper presentation skills, its a win-win for all. In all forms of speaking, proper eye contact works for both the audience and the presenter. We show participants the skills required to establish the right amount of contact for every presentation situation; our participants quickly discover for themselves just how comfortable and de-stimulating this can be. In addition, members of the audience feel greater trust, because its hard to believe someone is lying when they look you in the eye.

Finally, one of our favorites:

At www.e-trainingsystems.com, you can take away this useful public speaking tip:

"Without doubt the hardest kind of public speaking format to prepare for is speaking impromptu."

PublicSpeakingSkills: We don't think Yogi Berra could have said it any better!