Career Fair

[Kid Dakota]

There's a career fair at my school a couple of weeks from today and I was just wondering what to expect. Is it definetely beneficial to landing a job? How do you prepare for one, etc? Thanks

[edtost]

dress up a little, bring resumes to hand out, talk to people, leave with free stuff from companies.

[emmpee]

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dress up a little, bring resumes to hand out, talk to people, leave with free stuff from companies.

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Bingo bango bongo. Pretty much nailed it.

If your school provides a listing of the employers beforehand, look them over and see who's hiring in your field. Make a list of all of them, make sure you hit most of them up to drop off your resume and chat them up a little bit.

[Badger]

This is all from the perspective of recruiting for an engineering company:

What you say at a career fair generally is not going to help you land a job, it's possible it could help you get an interview. If your resume speaks for itself and you just want a bunch of interviews just go around dropping it off and don't waste time pretending to be interested in what the recruiters have to say. However, I recommend you use this opportunity to find out about a company, what they do, and what their company is like.

Unless you do something to stand out your resume will just end up in a pile that they will sort through later. Standing out could mean many things. For example: showing how great your interpersonal communication skills are, discussing a project that you worked on that would directly apply to the work a company does, or maybe expressing genuine enthusiasm for what a company does are all things that might get you a second look if you're borderline.

So how do you prepare for one?
Know what companies are going to be there and what they do. Think of reasons they might be interested in you. Think of questions you want to ask that might be a deal breaker for you. Be straightforward in the information you want to know.

[Badger]

I should have added my advice is if you are seriously looking for a job. Most of the career fairs I went to I just tried to talk to the people enough so it wasn't completely obvious that all I wanted their light up sound effect bouncy ball. My roommate was a pro. He'd just straight up ask for the crap they had and walk away.

[theben]

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There's a career fair at my school a couple of weeks from today and I was just wondering what to expect. Is it definetely beneficial to landing a job? How do you prepare for one, etc? Thanks

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Take this seriously. Go to a few pre-career expo training seminars. I know a great number of people who have gotten job offer(s) as a result of these things. (Myself included)

[OneChipWarrior]

Research the companies a bit, if they have a project that you'd be extemely interested in working on that'll go a long way towards landing yourself an interview.