College Recruiting Fair
Advice for Almost Grads
If you are graduating this
spring and have no plans to attend campus job fairs, you are missing your best
chance at landing a job. Campus
recruiting events are the single most important way to launch your career. Companies know the value of these events and
recruit heavily from them. It’s “one
stop shopping” as they can immediately get a sense of personality and worth
from a quick conversation. It’s time and
money saving for them – you should take every advantage.
Treat it like a job
interview. Dress appropriately—no jeans,
cutoffs, tank tops. Wear a nice pair of
slacks or skirt and tailored shirt.
Girls, modest make up. Bring
multiple copies of your resume in a backpack or better yet, hip new messenger
bag. Do some research ahead of
time. Find out which companies will be
participating and check their websites.
That way you’ll have something specific to talk about (ie, product line,
services etc.) with each company’s recruiting team. THIS WILL MAKE YOU STAND OUT from your
peers.
Be warm, friendly and
approachable. SHOW ENTHUSIASM! Collect business cards and send follow up
“thank yous” within 24 hours. Here are
some conversation starters:
What to say after HELLO!
Be confident
·
Fake it! (pretend) and reality will follow
·
REMEMBER a time
when you felt completely confident
·
Firm handshake,
eye contact, watch your body language
·
SMILE!! Be gracious and POSITIVE
·
Be positive and
no negative comments allowed!
Focus on them, not you
·
Be interested vs interesting. What can I
learn from this person?
·
Listen without
trying to figure out what to say next—follow up questions.
·
Be sincere
·
No scoping out
the room to see who else is there
·
No ONE WORD
ANSWERS
Sharing what you have
·
Offer help with
something (phone charging?)
·
Do favors
·
Share
information – advice (Know the layout of
the hall
Conversation
starters:
·
What brings you
here?
·
Where are you
from?
·
What do you
think of Florida? Weather? A lot different than Minot, ND isn’t it? (or
wherever the person is from..)
·
What company are
you with? How long have you been with
Widget Makers?
·
What do you do
with the company?
·
How long have
you been working (managing, whatever) with widgets?
·
What do you hope
to get out of this conference?
Keep
it going- building conversation:
·
How did you get
started in the widget field?
·
What do you most
enjoy about your profession, interest, location or ??
·
How does your
company differ from XYZ?
·
What products do
you make?
·
Is this your
first trip to NPE? Annual event?
·
How has the NPE
been helpful to your career?
·
How did you get
started in_______?
·
What trends do
you see in______plastics in med devices?
·
You
mentioned________. What got you
interested in this area?
Gracefully
moving on…..
·
It’s been good
talking with you. I appreciate you taking
the time to talk with me. I’m going to
walk around and meet some new people.
·
Here comes
Kristen. Have you two met? (exit left…)
·
Let me take you
over to Kristen. I’ll introduce
her. (exit right)
·
It’s been
interesting talking with you. Do you
have a card?
·
The questions
should be focused on the other person, instead of you. Getting the focus off you dilutes the anxiety
of networking. Remember, networking is
learning about the other person to see how YOU can be helpful to him or
her.
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