:Cyberspace Cardz

Standing out at a Career Fair can make a difference in your job search. Career Faires are starting to pick up, and Dice is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a SF Bay Area Job Faire in January, 10 companies as showing up, and a major job search company has 82 job fairs scheduled for 2010 across the United States.

How do you compete at a Career Fair? The competition can be substantial, but you can help yourself stand out from the gang with advance preparation. At AA-Careers, we have a simplified 6-step process to get ready. Plan to go? Here’s how to prepare:

First, investigate the companies that are going and pick your objectives. Use the World Wide Web to check out the companies that are there beforehand. Go to their sites and see if they have their job openings listed. Pick a reasonable number to go after, and get ready to spend an hour or more researching each one. It’s hard to do more than nine in a day, and three to five is a much more reasonable target. For each hiring company, you want to know: recent news, key product lines, and contacts you know. 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 postings on the web, read them to see what the company is looking for. Create a mapping of your accomplishments and skills to the requirements of the job. Make the nomenclature match. If the hiring organization 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 ‘mini sales pitch’ for each potential company/job combination. Write down a 90 second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat out loud showing why you are a good prospect for that job. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet people at the job kiosk.

Fourth, modify your resume for each opportunity. The objective on your resume should exactly match the position you’re going after. 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 requirements. Especially at a Career Faire, 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 fit based on your resume.

Fifth, rehearse 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 distinctly tagged folder. Keep them in a lightweight 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 perfume sparingly, if at all.

Remember to smile, and good hunting!

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