Preparing for and Participating in Career Fairs
The ESU Career Fair is designed to provide those entering (or already in) the professional world with an opportunity to interview with representatives who are looking to fill internship or full-time positions. The Career Fair can be a vital step in your search for a position. It will allow you to acquaint yourself with recruiters and their hiring needs, as well as provide an opportunity to fine tune your interviewing skills and confidence. However, unless you are adequately prepared for them, these events can be overwhelming.
The following are a number of tips to help you make the Career Fair a positive job search experience.
1. Register on Hire-a-Hornet - Visit the Career Services Office, 433 South Morse Hall, for help to complete (or update) your Hire-a-Hornet account.
2. Do Your Homework - on You - Really take a close look at your strengths and weaknesses. Learn to describe your skills in terms that the employers can relate to - competent, dependable, creative, enthusiastic, committed. Honest assessment of the areas in which you would like to improve will also help you prepare to answer questions during interviews.
3. Do Your Homework - on Them - Career Services will list and update the list of employers attending the Career Fair. Organize a list of the organizations (in your order of priority) with whom you would like to visit. Learn as much as you can about the organizations you have targeted by visiting the web sites to obtain information. The more data you have, the easier it will be to define and narrow your search.
4. Prepare a Resume - The resume should be an organized presentation of your skills, abilities and qualifications. It should be one to two pages in length, free of typos and printed on high-quality bond paper. Since employers will be reviewing a large number of resumes, it is vital that you do not disqualify yourself because of a typographical error. As a potential employee, typos can be a signal to an employer that you are not organized or don't pay attention to detail, so make sure you have others proof your final resume before uploading it to MonsterTRAK or printing extra copies to bring to the fair. Contact Career Services for more information or for an additional proofreader!
5. Practice Your Interviewing Skills - Keep in mind that employers look at these first interviews as a way of eliminating candidates who do not meet their qualifications. Your job at the Educator Career Fair is to impress the recruiter and gain an on-site follow-up interview or phone interview. Because interviews are often subjective, your enthusiasm, self confidence, eagerness and believability will affect the outcome. You can only make one first impression, so you need to practice until you feel confident and comfortable. Participating in mock interviews is a great way to prepare for real ones. Career Services offers the opportunity to conduct a practice interview and will evaluate your effectiveness.
6. Put it All into Action! - Now that you're prepared and ready to go, good luck! Be confident and dress and act like a professional - greet each employer with a smile, eye contact and a firm handshake. The rest is up to you!
Last Updated July 7, 2008