By Danielle Ouellette
I don’t like career fairs – they tend to be overcrowded (especially on college campuses) and full of people being overly fake. However, there are definitely benefits. In a place full of some many random people you never know what connections you could make. After attending Northeastern’s Mega Career Fair yesterday I thought I might share some of my tips and tricks for standing out in the sea of “Hi, I’ll be graduating in May, take my resume!”
1. Have a conversation with the recruiter, find a way to connect. I ended up talking to one guy yesterday about an ad campaign his company had worked one that is one of my favorites. After a few minutes of honest conversation, he asked me for my resume and to follow-up with him with some of my portfolio clips.
2. Be a real person, not a robot. Another recruiter and I were having a conversation about his house painting franchise business (College Pro), which had a really cool business model. Mid-conversation we got to talking about the crowd waiting to speak with recruiters at a nearby table and how so many of the students at the fair seemed to simply be repeating a memorized speech: “Hi, I’m a Northeastern student. I’m looking for xyz in a job, will you take my resume?” Here’s a hint: they’re just going to throw it away when they get back to the office unless they remember who you are!
3. Be selective about who you give your resume to. You might be desperate, but you don’t want to seem that way. Keep in mind you’re interviewing the recruiter about the company just as much as they’re interviewing you. You show good judgment and you save some trees!
4. Go with a plan, then ignore it. Know who’s going to be there and who you want to talk to, but don’t limit yourself. Fighting the crowd sucks – let it push you around and take advantage of unforseen opportunities. But don’t leave unless you’ve seen everyone on your list.
Danielle is currently working part-time as a communications intern at a healthcare policy institute after graduating from Northeastern University in December. In her free time she works on updating her blog, finding freelance gigs and volunteering with Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts. You can find her on Twitter at @ouelletteda, and she has two blogs, Being A Beginner and The Happy List.
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6 Comments
While there is some good that comes out of career fairs, I tend to believe that for the overwhelming majority such functions are really inefficient. I agree though with the idea of trying to make yourself not seem like the typical cookie cutter model that tends to appear if you decide to go.
However, every time I think of my experience at a career fair, I tend to think that there has to be a better way. I think the problem comes from the fact that recruiters tend to be generalists. They can answer broad questions about a company, but rarely can they discuss experiences regarding specific jobs at the company. In this age of social networking, real time communications, and efficient technology we should develop a better way to source talent.
Additionally, the conversations in both interviews and career fairs tend to go one way, with the potential employee trying to show why they would be a good fit. Unfortunately (because of the setting), career fairs do not allow employers to showcase their employer brand, and what differentiates them from the competition. I know that they always have packets with generic employees having fun at work with short snippets of text explaining the company's mission and vision statements, but I want more. First of all, most company's mission statement are incredibly boring and meaningless. I do not care about developing synergistic systems to customer. Instead I want to know what makes them tick so that I can make an informed decision about whether I can work with them.
Corporations should develop a system much like that of colleges today: where any prospect can come, take a tour, and see if the campus is right for them. In this way, companies can provide a direct experience to prospects, reduce travel costs, and accomplish the same goals as the career fair without all the unnecessary stuff.
While there is some good that comes out of career fairs, I tend to believe that for the overwhelming majority such functions are really inefficient. I agree though with the idea of trying to make yourself not seem like the typical cookie cutter model that tends to appear if you decide to go.
However, every time I think of my experience at a career fair, I tend to think that there has to be a better way. I think the problem comes from the fact that recruiters tend to be generalists. They can answer broad questions about a company, but rarely can they discuss experiences regarding specific jobs at the company. In this age of social networking, real time communications, and efficient technology we should develop a better way to source talent.
Additionally, the conversations in both interviews and career fairs tend to go one way, with the potential employee trying to show why they would be a good fit. Unfortunately (because of the setting), career fairs do not allow employers to showcase their employer brand, and what differentiates them from the competition. I know that they always have packets with generic employees having fun at work with short snippets of text explaining the company's mission and vision statements, but I want more. First of all, most company's mission statement are incredibly boring and meaningless. I do not care about developing synergistic systems to customer. Instead I want to know what makes them tick so that I can make an informed decision about whether I can work with them.
Corporations should develop a system much like that of colleges today: where any prospect can come, take a tour, and see if the campus is right for them. In this way, companies can provide a direct experience to prospects, reduce travel costs, and accomplish the same goals as the career fair without all the unnecessary stuff.
While there is some good that comes out of career fairs, I tend to believe that for the overwhelming majority such functions are really inefficient. I agree though with the idea of trying to make yourself not seem like the typical cookie cutter model that tends to appear if you decide to go.
However, every time I think of my experience at a career fair, I tend to think that there has to be a better way. I think the problem comes from the fact that recruiters tend to be generalists. They can answer broad questions about a company, but rarely can they discuss experiences regarding specific jobs at the company. In this age of social networking, real time communications, and efficient technology we should develop a better way to source talent.
Additionally, the conversations in both interviews and career fairs tend to go one way, with the potential employee trying to show why they would be a good fit. Unfortunately (because of the setting), career fairs do not allow employers to showcase their employer brand, and what differentiates them from the competition. I know that they always have packets with generic employees having fun at work with short snippets of text explaining the company's mission and vision statements, but I want more. First of all, most company's mission statement are incredibly boring and meaningless. I do not care about developing synergistic systems to customer. Instead I want to know what makes them tick so that I can make an informed decision about whether I can work with them.
Corporations should develop a system much like that of colleges today: where any prospect can come, take a tour, and see if the campus is right for them. In this way, companies can provide a direct experience to prospects, reduce travel costs, and accomplish the same goals as the career fair without all the unnecessary stuff.
Thanks for the great advice Danielle, I'm planning on attending a Career fair in March and could use your helpful tips. I agree, it's all about making a connection. I think getting a list of companies attending and doing some research on the ones your interested in could also help.
Danielle has some really good advise about career fairs in this article. I have yet to make it to a career fair at my school because I feel like it’s a waste of my time and the recruiters. In addition to that the crowds are overwhelming and I don’t know how to sell myself in such a short amount of time.
I’m going to use the advise she gives in this article and attend the next career fair with an open mind and try to make some connections with the recruiters and see if any opportunities open up for me.
The issue with current career fairs is that that ARE overcrowded. I wouldn't even attempt to go to one now! Sure, I've been to many in the past but not one had a job I was interested in having. But now it's like herding cattle – move 'em in, move 'em out! Many of the career fairs (or cattle round-ups) take most of the day, people arrive at 4am to stand in line – in the cold weather, and the companies have little time to spare.
Many of the job fairs are turning the crowds away abd employers are overwhelmed by the crowd that they just end up hanging them a business card and tell them to apply on-line. I have read that some state that they might as well stay home and apply instead of making a showing – only to be told to apply on-line!
What I would suggest is that people find out WHO (companies) are going to be ther, apply for positions then (on-line) and beat the people traffic!