Career Fairs

Career fairs are an essential aspect to your college career. It is important that you get exposed to career fairs as early as your freshman year. Career Fairs can be intimidating, but I believe that with the information in this blog will help you feel more comfortable.

---

Step 1: Plan

Planning may mean something different for each person. Planning consists of first finding out which companies will be in attendance at the career fair. After finding the list of companies, identify which companies will hire your major. You will be surprised how your major will be applicable to a specific company.[A friend, Chloe Tucker, was hired into a Aerospace company and she obtained a Biomedical Engineering Degree in college.] But how do you know if the company is hiring your major?

This is through your research on the company. When visiting the company's website read through their about me. Learn about what they stand for, their motto, their pride. For most companies, this is how they run their everyday business. What was their latest innovation? Do they have any community initiatives? Next, navigate to their careers page. You will find the different positions available. When viewing the job description for the position, you will find a bit more detail on the company and the qualifications necessary for the role. As you identify this information write it somewhere. Personally, I kept an excel file with all this information.

By now, you may have identified some positions or companies that really resonate with you. You may think that you are ready to apply. This is great, but we need to make sure everything else is ready before starting the application.

Step 2: Resume

Most people have created some type of resume at some point of their lives. College applications often ask for a list of extra curricular activities. That is a great start, but it takes a bit more than that. A resume is the first selling point for you. It is blind representation of who you are and your experiences. Time to create your resume:

1. Finding a template that works for you. Keep it simple! No pictures, No logos, No colors. There are thousand of templates that you can find online, but I have included one here.

2. Identify your experiences. College freshman (maybe sophomores) can include their high school experiences in their resume. Experiences can be jobs, extra-curricular activities, community service, projects and research. Know when these experiences occurred and your position title.

3. Identify your skills. Skills will be mostly technical and any language proficiency. Being hardworking is a great skill, however as a recruiter I want you to demonstrate that to me through your experiences.

4. Identify your headings. This may be Objective, Education, Work Experience, Leadership Experience, Projects, Research, Skills, just to name a few.

5. Start writing your resume. Quantify your experiences since it demonstrates more details for the recruiters.

6. Have at least 3 people review your resume. Why 3? It is just a number, but you should have more than 1 person with a good resume review your resume. Every person has a different definition of what a resume should look like, so it is important to get multiple people's perspective. As you get critiques about your resume remember that it is YOUR resume so use the critiques as a guidance not as a requirement.

Step 3: Cover Letter

Some people like to skip this aspect of the application, yet it is crucial for a complete application. I can sit here and write a detailed way to write a cover letter. However, I think Princeton University did it better. Cover Letter Template

Step 4: Complete Application

Using your resume and cover letter, you may now complete your application. WOO HOO!

Step 5: Elevator Pitch

So now you have completed your research, resume, cover letter and application. Now you are ready to prepare your elevator pitch. An elevator pitch? Yes, imagine that you are on an elevator and a recruiter gets on the elevator with you. You now have less than 1 minute to sell yourself and your qualifications. How are you going to do it?

An elevator pitch should be a brief 30 to 60 second persuasive statement where you demonstrate who you are and why you are interested in the specific company and role. It is a commercial about yourself. When writing your elevator pitch consider the following questions:

1. Who you are? Introduce yourself. Mention your name major

2. What you do? Mention any leadership positions you currently hold or any other relevant experience.

3. What position did you apply for? This is where you mention the position that you applied for.

4. Why do you want to work for that company or in that position? This is where the research you found on step 1 will become handy.

Example: Good morning, My name is Jaritza Rodriguez and I am sophomore majoring in Mechanical Engineering at Rutgers University. During my time at Rutgers I have been involved in the Society of Hispanic Engineers where I currently hold the position of Historian. In this role, I have been able to support my fellow executive board members in capturing the history. Through my research on [Company Name] I have learned how one of your company's values is community service. I was fascinated how you encourage your employees to give back to their community by giving them a day off a year to complete any community service of their choice. That resonates with me since I complete at least one community service a month and I would love to work for a company that has my core values. Hence, I have applied to a position as a Design Engineer in the ______ department. Would you like to take a look at my resume?

Step 6: Attire

It is now time to get dressed for the career fair. Business Professional is the appropriate attire for this event.

For Men: A business suit in the colors of navy, dark gray, or black is preferable with a dress shirt and tie. Your dress shirt and tie should also be of conservative colors, try to stay away from shades of red. Ensure that your suit, dress shirt and tie is free of wrinkles. Dress shoes and socks should accompany your attire. Your belt should match your shoes. A clean shave and tamed hair is very important. Avoid wearing any body jewelry including earrings. Watches is a great upgrade to your outfit.

For Women: A business pant or skirt suit in the colors of navy, dark gray, or black is preferable with a conservative blouse or dress shirt. If wearing a skirt suit, ensure that your skirt is knee length, lose fitting and wear stocking matching your skin color. Your dress shirt or blouse should not show any cleavage or a lot of skin. Any body jewelry should be removed, if wearing earrings, it should be studs. Simple necklaces are okay, but statement necklaces are a no-no. Flats or a small heel are great shoe choices. Ensure your hair away from your face and is well put together. Avoid wearing heaving makeup and bright colors.

Step 7: Accessories

To be fully prepared for a career fair you should also get yourself a padfolio. On this link you can find a very inexpensive one on Amazon. A padfolio is important since you can store everything you will be taking to the career fair in one spot and take notes when necessary.

Step 8: Attend the Career Fair!

The night before: Print about 20 resume copies, ensure your suit is free of wrinkles and have your padfolio ready.

Day of: Wake up early and get to the career fair early. Why? Because recruiters get tired, just like you do. When you speak to them in the morning they have more energy and are more likely to want to learn more about you. During your conversation with the recruiter make sure to ask for their contact information and write it in your padfolio. This is extremely important because you now can reach out to them to say thank you for the conversation you had and any other follow ups.

Keep an eye for more blog posts regarding days after the career and interview preps so subscribe to my blog!