Updated April 19, 2023
What are Job Fairs?
If you are a student, you must have often come across some job fairs in your college or even when you are working in a firm or a company already; there are a number of opportunities where you get to attend such fairs. However, you may not think of going to one. But wait! Have you ever considered what big opportunities you are losing? Do you even know the huge information that lies inside those fairs? The job fairs are a great opportunity for job seekers, freshers, and those with prior work experience. They open up vast and distinct fields of interest you may want to explore. They provide tremendous employment opportunities to many students or job seekers. There is no better place than a job fair to find out everything about a huge number of companies that may interest you.
You may think that job fairs are a thing of the past, but it is not. These fairs still provide immensely attractive job opportunities; more importantly, the jobs are provided in bulk. This helps you do away with a lot of traveling here and there, and it also saves you time and energy, which you’d otherwise deliver in looking for jobs everywhere. In addition, these job fairs provide you with a platform where you can connect to a number of prospective employers. You can get to know them, their needs and requirements, the companies, the work culture, and everything else that you may find important for your career growth. You can meet and interact with recruiters, make personal connections, and form a network of possibilities for yourself in the market.
Tips For Job Fairs
So now that you have decided, you will look at job fairs at your college. But before you go, there are certain things that you need to remember to make the most out of it.
Keep the below-given 11 tips for job fairs in mind:
1. Get your hands on some research
It is fairly important to remember that you should always go through the fair guide. First, you must know about the companies coming to the fair. You can take down the list of companies and chalk out the preference you may want to work with. Once there, it gets easier for you to narrow down your search and concentrate on the next step, which is presenting your resume to the employer and the things that follow.
2. Pre-register for the fair
Most of the fairs usually put up big hoardings to advertise. There are ads about these fairs online on social networking sites as well. They give you the opportunity to re-register yourself for the job fairs. Don’t hesitate to register yourself since registering would secure you a more vivid opportunity to come into the eyes of the employers and the fair organizers. And also, you’ll get updated on all the latest advancements about these fairs.
3. Check out information about the fair job options
With prior knowledge of the type of jobs available at job fairs, you can understand what you can expect from these jobs. You will also learn the kind of people and degrees being looked for. This will also give you an insight into the skills the employers and the companies are interested in. A page on these websites is available where you can get all the necessary information about the fair. This will ease your task of enquiring about things at the job fairs.
4. Develop your set of questions
You can always develop a set of questions you may want to ask the employer. But it does not have to be the superficial questions, the answers to which are readily available on the internet. Therefore take some time ad frame the questions that you think are appropriate to ask your employer. You can ask the employers to elaborate on the information they have provided online or in the fair guides.
You can even ask them about certain new products or schemes they have launched recently, and then you can brief them about the selective skills you think will benefit their company. This is just a way to start it off. It is almost like exploring the avenues that are available to you. Therefore, you should be prepared well in advance with a set of queries that might get you to the crux of the companies hiring for jobs in these fairs. After all, it is always smart to be prepared for a job beforehand.
5. Keep your resume ready
It is always a good idea to keep your resume updated. Before you go to the job fairs, be sure to proofread your resume. The more interesting your resume is, the better your chances of selection. Your resume is like a blueprint of your skills and can get recruiters and employers interested in you. So make every attempt to make your resume do the talking. You can proofread your resume and put it together for the job fairs.
Now that you have just remembered all the important things that need to be taken care of just before the job fair, it is time to tell you about the things that you should remember while at the job fair. So here we have compiled a list, a long one for that matter, to get you going. Because, after all, a job fair is everything like a job interview.
6. Be dressed just right for the occasion
You are what you wear. Don’t negate this perception because it’s with every job interview; how you dress up will leave a mark on your interviewers or recruiters. While you may choose to wear your daily college attire, this may not be good while you are at a job fair. You should dress just like you would dress for an interview.
The way you carry yourself gives out an important message about your professionalism. For instance, if your shirt isn’t properly ironed or your shoes look dull and lack shine, your interviewer might make this a hurdle for you in the fair. Also, remember not to wear too much makeup or jewelry because this is just not right. Your clothes must not be too short either. You don’t, however, need to suit up for the job fairs, but you can always dress casually for the job fairs to make it work for you. They may even relate it to your seriousness towards the work, and well, we all know that first impressions are very significant in an interview, so why take a chance? Dress to the occasion and dress just the right.
7. Introductions should be a notch better
Introduce yourself so well that the employer may not forget you when approaching them outside the fair. You can go up and say a nice professional ‘hello’ and begin introducing yourself in an appalling manner. Exchange those professional glances with your employer and be ready to talk about all your career interests, your skillset, and, of course, your academic and co-curricular excellence. You must show them your strengths and abilities, so make sure you put your best foot forward. Certainly, you are trying to market yourself in job fairs; therefore, you must do so well that the recruiters readily present you with the offer letter.
8. Always be courteous
It never harms you to be courteous. So gather up and be courteous enough at the job fairs because you are not only representing yourself, but you are also representing your institution, your college, or your university. You shouldn’t be just crowding the space. Make it comfortable for yourself, your fellow students, and the recruiters. No one likes a crowded place, and well when the place gets crowded, you are a mess. And good things do not come out of a mess. So when you are up in the line, be courteous enough to give some space to everybody. You can schedule your meeting sometime later at the fair. This will show your positive attitude and gentle behavior, which will count as your strength in the market, making you a more attractive choice for employers at the fair.
9. Communicate well
It is equally important for the recruiter as well as the student and any job seeker at the fair, to be able to communicate; however, the recruiters are already good at it. It is you who has to work on getting out just the right communication in order to succeed. How you frame your answers and put your experiences and statements in front of the employer says a lot about who you are and what skills you possess. Verbal communication is a very important tool to get the best out of a job fair. You must also give detailed attention to your non-verbal communication, actions, eye contact, body language, etc.
10. Take notes and take the cards
You have already chalked out your preferences online. You know exactly who you are approaching at the fair. You also know about the positions that have been advertised. So precisely, you have all the required information. And now, at the fair, you are doing pretty well with the introductions, resume, interviewing, and everything else. It is pertinent to mention here that when you are at the fair, you must make sure that you take down notes for future reference.
This may include taking the contact numbers of the recruiting team, confirming the hiring dates, and other such information which you find important. This is just for your record so that when you return home, you can get your hands on the information you have gathered and make sense of it to help you with further steps. Also, you can always ask for the cards of the representatives and thank them for their endeavors. And also, you must respect the giveaway content material the companies may have brought.
11. Don’t forget to follow up
Now that all the deed at the fair is done, you only need to go home and do the rest. But before that, you must make sure that you apply online for the same companies that you have paid a visit to during the entire day at the fair. This gives you more accountability to be counted as a desirable employee, and job fair success rates your candidature well for future hiring. All you have to do is register, apply online, and never forget to mention you’re earlier meeting at the job fair. This will secure you a good position at the firm or the organization. Also, you must take care to take some time and write a follow-up email to the company. This will help you gain a better chance of being hired in the near future.
Although job fairs are not much in fashion these days because of the availability of all this information online, it is still important to take these job fairs more seriously and professionally. You never know what you may find your dream job at the fair. There are, of course, innumerable options at the fair to choose from. It gives you an option not only to choose from amongst the multiple companies but also to choose a profession that gives you the best satisfaction. So buckle up and grab the most of the job fairs.
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This is a guide to Job Fairs. Here we discuss the introduction and 11 tips for job fairs, respectively. You may also have a look at the following articles to learn more –
