Week #6, Free Post: How to succeed in a career fair

When I started college in the US I noticed that career fairs are very common in a college life and also very important. These events go on a couple times during a semester, there are different types of fairs, some specially for internships, specifically for some majors and also the general ones. When you decide to go to a career fair and want to take something from it, you should prepare in advance. Is nothing hard, but you should take some time before the fair to adjust things in order to do well there.

The environment that you will find in a fair can be pretty competitive sometimes, because people are there basically for the same reason as you. This way you should have some companies in mind and also have some knowledge about them.

Here I can list some hints that I found out myself, going to career fairs, and also that I researched before starting to go to fairs.

Before the fair

• Study the fair: it is not a very long study, but you should know the companies that are going to be there, and select the ones that you are most interested in. After this you should see what positions they have available and read more about them, this way you are going to have questions and knowledge about the them.

• Prepare what to bring: you should definitely bring some copies of your resume, even when you have already uploaded it online. Many employers prefer to read the fiscal copy of your resume while they are talking with you and also while they are analyzing it. You will also want to have a good folder to put your resume in, one that will look professional and serious.

• Dress code: this is a basic thing, but is always good to remember because the fairs that I went there were a lot of people not well dressed for a career fair. At that moment you are looking for a job or something else, so you will want to look as professional as possible and also you want to be dressed in a clean way for the employer to analyze mainly what you say and not something weird that could call his attention. The best way to do this is: imagine a dress code that you see in a movie when it does to a company: blazers, suits, long skirts, no necklines, not too much accessories and also more sober colors.

• Prepare your social medias: do a LinkedIn profile if you do not have it already, this is a professional social media that employers will certainly look when they are deciding about you. Also clean your other social medias, if you have some embarrassing or compromising things posted there, you do not want them to see it.

During the fair

• Be ready to ask and answer questions: you must show interest and knowledge about what you are looking for. This way during the conversation ask questions, do not just listen or answer. And about answering, they can ask you some tricky questions about your academic life, availability or any other aspect, so be prepared if something weird show up.

• Net work: always, when you talk with someone, get a business card or information about the person, it can be employee or other person. This person can give you some good hints and also tell some experience that he might have.

• Polite: be very polite always introduce yourself and say a nice thing before leaving, and for sure thank for the attention and for the conversation.

After the fair

• Check you emails: most of the times they are going to contact you through email, so stay tuned in your email.

• Have a nice voice mail box: they might call you and you are not available, so having a nice voice mail will avoid you from giving a bad impression.

• Send an email: if you have a big interest in a specific employer or company, send an email after the fair thanking them about the time and highlight your interest. But focus on being polite and nice.

My first fair was very scary, because I had no idea about what it looked like and I was in the beginning of college so did not have much to look for. But going to a fair is valuable, no matter what year are you in and if you are looking for something or not, you can go just to add experience on it that will make you better prepared for the future.