Architexters

Standing out at a Job Faire can make a difference in your job hunting. Job Faires are starting to pick up, and Dice is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a Bay Area Job Faire in early 2010, 10 companies as showing up, and Dice has 82 career fairs scheduled for this year across the US.

How do you get to the real interviews at a Job Faire? The contention can be considerable, but you can help yourself jump out from the crowd with advance planning. At AA-Careers, we have a simplified 6-step process to prepare. 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 organizations that are there ahead of time. Go to their web sites and see if they have their openings listed. Pick a limited number to target, and get ready to spend about an hour researching each one. It’s hard to do more than 9 in a day, and three to five is a much more reasonable target. For each hiring 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 company is looking for. Create a mapping of your accomplishments and skills to the demands 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 ‘brief sales pitch’ for each likely organization/job combination. Write down a 90 second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat verbally showing why you are a great prospect for that job. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet the company at the job booth.

Fourth, modify your resume for each opportunity. 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 a no-brainer to see that you’re a fit based on your resume.

Fifth, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress well and be fittingly groomed. Don’t over do-it (this isn’t a date!) and don’t underdress (no jeans or t-shirts, no matter how much you paid for them). Avoid strong cologne or perfume.

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

Remember to smile, and good hunting!