Nerdistan

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

How do you get to the real interviews at a Job Fair? The competition can be substantial, but you can help yourself stand out from the bunch with early homework. At AA-Careers, we have a straight-forward step-by-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 internet to check out the organizations that are there before you go. Go to their web sites and see if they have their job openings listed. Pick a sound number to target, and get ready to spend 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 organization, you want to know: key product lines, recent news, and executive names. 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 organization 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 potential company/job combination. Write down a 60 second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat verbally describing why you are a good candidate 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 going after. 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 requirements. 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 very easy to see that you’re a fit based on your resume.

Fifth, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress nicely and be well groomed. Don’t overdress (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 position - bring a couple of copies for each – and put each in a clearly labeled folder. Keep them in a light briefcase or folio.

Remember to smile, and good hunting!