Attending a Career Fair

Preparation is the Key to Your Success

How Should You Prepare?

Put your resume together. Well before the career fair you should prepare or update your resume. Attend a resume workshop and have one of the Career Development Center staff critique your resume. Make sure your resume is attractive, has no errors, and markets your skills, experience, and education in a relevant manner to the employers you will meet at the career fair. Bring extra copies of your resume for the employers you will meet.  Also bring a black ink pen in case you will need to fill out forms or applications.

Dress professionally. Consider your meeting with career fair representatives as brief, but real, initial interviews. If you don't make a favorable initial impression, you probably will never be asked into the office for an interview. Choose a conservative, business-like outfit that looks good on you and is comfortable. Plan to wear practical shoes as you will be standing a good part of the day.

Practice your presentation. You may only have one or two minutes with each employer. There are some typical questions recruiters will ask you when you first meet them: "What kind of job are your looking for?" and "What do you know about our company/organization?". Decide ahead of time what your responses to these questions will be. What are you looking for in an employer, the type of work, the organizational climate? You do not want to come off sounding flippant, unprepared, or uninformed. Prepare a thoughtful, honest response that the employer can appreciate. Keep in mind that employers today want to know what you can do for them, and what you have to offer. Develop a brief verbal presentation of your qualifications. This will be your "sales pitch" promoting your strengths as a job candidate. Also, try to find out some information about the employers in advance. It is appropriate to let them know that you are attending the career fair to learn more about opportunities they have available and to research more about their organization.

Be ready to interview! Employers at a career fair hope to meet candidates that they will invite for interviews. Be prepared to discuss anything that might typically come up in an interview situation. You might be asked to describe your skills, experience, special training, and qualifications for a particular job. This can be difficult when you are just learning about the opportunities on the spot! If you are prepared to field questions, your tact and skill will demonstrate that you are a superior candidate.

Arrange for child care and don't bring friends. Despite the casual and festive nature of this event, it is still a serious opportunity and not to be taken lightly. If you have children, find a babysitter for the day. You will want to concentrate on meeting employers. In the same light, do not invite your friends to come along (unless they too are job searching and prepared to interview). Career fairs are opportunities to network and acquaint yourself with employers.

Go early. Recruiters at career fairs are freshest and most attentive at the beginning of the day, before the weather and crowds wear them down. At some career fairs, free job search seminars and workshops will be offered. Many times these are presented by employers another opportunity to meet employers as well as obtain relevant advice.