02.17.10
Getting Real Interviews at Job Faires
Standing out at a Job Faire can make a difference in your search. Career Fairs are starting to pick up, and Dice is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a Silicon Valley Career Fair in January, 10 companies as showing up, and Dice has 82 job fairs scheduled for this year across the United States.
How do you get to the real interviews at a Job Faire? The contention can be significant, but you can help yourself stick out from the crowd with early planning. At AA-Careers, we have a simplified six-step process to prepare. Plan to go? Here’s how to prepare:
First, investigate the companies that are going and pick your targets. Use the web to research the organizations that are there before you go. Go to their internet sites and see if they have their jobs posted. Pick a tenable number to target, and get ready to spend about an hour researching each one. It’s hard to do more than 7 in a day, and three or four is a much more reasonable target. For each company, you want to know: key product lines, recent news, and executive names. Try to see if you know anyone at the target companies. You’ll end up with a page or two of research for each company/job.
Second, if there are job openings on the web, read them to see what the hiring manager is looking for. Create a mapping of your achievements and skills to the prerequisites of the job. Make the terminology match. If the hiring company calls customers "clients", your resume should do the same thing. The achievements should be written in the style of the hiring company.
Third, create a ‘short sales pitch’ for each likely company/job combination. Write down a 90 second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat out loud showing why you are a great prospect for that position. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet the company at the job stall.
Fourth, modify your resume for each job type. The objective on your resume should exactly match the position you’re want. The executive summary should be a written form of your “mini sales pitch” for the job. Then choose the achievements and skills that most clearly match the job description. Especially at a Job Faire, the purpose of your resume is a sales tool for you – to get you on-site job interviews. It should be obvious to see that you’re a match based on your resume.
Fifth, practice your ‘mini-sales-pitch’. Collect your research and the resume for each position – bring a couple of copies for each – and put each in a intelligibly tagged folder. Keep them in a light briefcase or folio.
Finally, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress nicely and be properly groomed. Avoid strong cologne or perfume…use any eau de cologne or perfume sparingly, if at all.
Remember to smile, and good hunting!
Permalink Comments off