The Cold Turnkey

Standing out at a Career Faire can make a difference in your career search. Job Faires 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 a major job search company has 82 job fairs scheduled for this year across the US.

How do you rise above the crowd at a Career Fair? The contention can be substantial, but you can help yourself jump out from the gang with early homework. At AA-Careers, we have a simple step-by-step process to get ready. Planning to go? Here’s how to prepare:

First, investigate the companies that are going and pick your targets. Use the World Wide Web to research the companies that are there before you go. Go to their websites and see if they have their jobs posted. Pick a sound number to go after, and get ready to spend an hour or more researching each one. It’s hard to do more than seven in a day, and three to five is a much more reasonable target. For each hiring organization, you want to know: executive names, recent news, and key product lines. Try to see if you know anyone at the target companies. You will end up with 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 company is looking for. Create a mapping of your achievements and skills to the requirements 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 organization.

Third, create a ‘thumbnail sales pitch’ for each likely company/position combination. Write down a 90 second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat out loud depicting why you are a great candidate for that position. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet the team from the company at the job kiosk.

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 accomplishments and skills that most clearly match the job prerequisites. Especially at a Job Fair, the purpose of your resume is a sales tool for you – to get you on-site job interviews. It should be quick to see that you’re a match based on your resume.

Fifth, rehearse your ‘mini-sales-pitch’. Collect your research and the resume for each opportunity - bring a couple of copies for each – and put each in a clearly labeled folder. Keep them in a light briefcase or folio.

Finally, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress well and be fittingly groomed. Avoid strong cologne or perfume…use any cologne or fragrance meagerly, if at all.

Remember to smile, and good hunting!