An Insider’s Guide to Acing the Job Fair

I really enjoy representing a company at a job fair. Job fairs are great places to connect with businesses that are in hiring mode. Seize the opportunity to efficiently meet with several firms.

Here are a few tips to make the most of job fairs:

Be curious -  Do your best to find out what companies are attending and the roles for which they are recruiting.

If roles aren’t listed for the companies attending, check the visiting companies’ websites, public job boards, and whatever database your college uses to post jobs (e.g., their proprietary site, Handshake, etc.)

Research the companies by visiting their websites, Googling, and checking them out on Glassdoor and LinkedIn. You may be surprised that you know some people at the company.

Make a good first impression - Dress appropriately. Make sure your breath is fresh. Go in with confidence. You’ve got this!

Be prepared - Bring plenty of copies of your resume. This makes it easy for reps to take notes for follow up if they are interested. Bring paper for taking notes.

On the flip side, make sure to get business cards from people of interest with whom you speak. If you do, take notes on the back so you can send a tailored followup email. If they’ve run out of cards, write down their names and email addresses and what you talked about.

Move in - This isn’t the time to be a shrinking violet. It’s fine to hang around conversations reps are holding near their tables as you wait for an opportunity to speak with them. You’ll get your chance to introduce yourself. Smile, be engaging, interested, and ask good questions. Body language counts for a lot.

Follow up - Reach out to people you met. Express your interest in the company and desire to speak with them about a position. Ask them how you can best connect with the company. If you get no response, it’s fine to try again a couple of more times, spread out by several business days.

Job search takes a lot of time and effort. If you’d like to talk about honing your job search skills (or helping your young adult do so), reach out to me. Click DanzgerGroup.com/contact-us to send me a message.