Career Fair Do’s and Dont’s: Research Tips
I’m sitting there with a group of girlfriends all dressed up and we’re talking about what a bust the career fair was. We clean up our area in the SAC, say our farewell exchanges, and I walk away upset that I wasted three good squirts of Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue, trot back to my dorm. As I am walking I over hear another group talking about how many offers they got from the exact same career fairs. So what went wrong?
Trial, error, and more expertise, have helped me discover the things I wish I would have known when attending career fairs.
We will cover this series over the next few articles: Researching Companies at Career Fairs, Questions to Ask at Career Fairs, Five Quick Ways to lose at a Career Fairs, and the last topic of series, The Career Fair is over, now what?
So how to do I begin my research? Below are six good tips to starts a strong foundation of research and preparation for a career fair at any level: to the college student or tenured persons looking for a new career path.
- Make your own mission statement. Simply write down my name is John Smith and I want to represent ____, _____, and _____.
- Go through the list of the companies attending the fair and highlight your top 5-8 companies that fit your mission statement.
- Create a relationship with the coordinator of the fair. Send a quick email at least 7-10 days prior to the fair to a contact of the fair and tell them how you heard about their fair, the companies of your interest, and a copy of your resume . Thank them for the fair and request any information they can provide for you about each of these companies.
- Memorize at least 3 facts about each of these companies (topics can be company mission, history, company initiatives) put these facts on a cheat sheet (such as an index card)
- Have an idea of value you can add to a company. Know the open positions that are posted within your regional area and know how you fit.
- If possible find a person(s) that has attended the fair before so they may shed some insight to you on the culture of the fair. (Some fairs are intense, laid back, outside, a lot of walking, a lot of multimedia, etc.)
Notice of these companies who is creating more presence on the campus and/or in the community: interview one on one, resume writing help, dress for success workshops, etc. Companies making this type of dedication to an organization or universities are not just attending fairs to fulfill an item on their company to do list. These are companies that are looking to offer internships, careers, and are willing to invest in their future employee. Demonstrate to these employers that you are worth that investment. Knowledge is power. So empower yourself, seek the wisdom: A mocker seeks wisdom and never finds it, but knowledge comes easily to those with understanding Proverbs 14:6 (NLT).
(c) Tiffani Chase
