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Career Fair Tips
Although I’m not too big on career fairs because of the scarcity of companies that interested me at MIT’s career fairs when I was an undergrad, here are three things I’d suggest doing next time you go to one. (Thanks to Melissa Beam of NVR for getting me thinking about “How To Work A Career Fair” in her presentation at Baldwin-Wallace College today.)
1. If you like, visit twice.
If studies have shown that it takes effective marketing campaigns an average of 7 ad impressions to influence significant brand recognition and purchasing decisions, then repetition certainly won’t hurt your very own employment marketing campaign. When you’ve done hit up all your career fair targets, swing by the booths of your top choice employers once more. The second bit of face time and chance to tell them why you’d prefer to work for them instead of the other employers you met will only help your case.
2. Have way too many questions.
Write them down beforehand or take notes while walking the career fair if you have to, but be sure to have way too many questions for the recruiters of employers you like most. Then at the end of your couple-minute conversation, you can say, “Well, it’s been great talking with you. I don’t want to take too much of your time, but I do have more questions. Would you mind if I followed up with you to set a time to talk more in a few days or next week?” And be sure to get their contact information so you can initiate the follow-up conversations.
3. Help others, not just yourself.
Suggest to your friends, and even people who aren’t so much your friends if you have reason, which employers they should talk to. Most people don’t do the research on employers they know they should do before career fairs, so if you talk to an employer that seems like they offer something your friends once mentioned liking or similar to something you overheard in a stranger’s conversation, help a brother out. Your friend or new friend will be grateful for you pointing them in the right direction.
Same goes with employers. They’re on campus to find the best people for their organizations. If during an employer’s spiel you think of someone who would be absolutely great for them, offer to make the introduction. Or, if you’re standing in line, waiting for employer A, while simultaneously being with earshot of employer B, whose booth is devoid of students, strike up a conversation with lonely employer B. Find out who they’re looking for and how you can help. You’ll be loved for making a recruiter’s job easier.
Of course, to do this, you’ve got to ditch the individualistic, almost militaristic approach to a career fair that gets you thinking you’re out for yourself and no one else. There’s more than one job out there, so help others meet their matches, too. (This whole mindset shift works well at conferences, too. Subscribe to my boss’s Tip of the Week, and you’ll get his new PDF ebook “15 Tips from Keith Ferrazzi, Conference Commando" for free.)
Posted by Ian Ybarra on 1 November 2005
