Tuesday’s Tip: 3 Ideas on How to Get Value Out of Job Fairs

Overall, I do not think you should attend many job fairs throughout the year, but I also do not want to wipe them clean from your job search plan. Instead of going to every single one that pops up, go to the one or two in your industry or one or two that you see your "target" companies will be attending.

Some ideas on how to make the job fair work for you:

1) Plan your route: Do not do what most job seekers do - go from booth to booth in order of the lineup. Instead, pick out 4-7 companies that you have researched or you know is a potential company that you would consider employment. Then, start at the far end of the row, and walk down the aisle (skipping over all other companies), and stopping at your destination. Recruiters watch out of the corner of their eyes for people that they hope stop by their booth, or people that they will try to stop and talk to. Thus, when a recruiter sees that he or she is your intended target, you have made a great first impression without even saying a word!

2) Prior to going to the booths that you want to visit, stand back and watch how long the recruiter speaks to the candidate in line and what they do with the resume when they leave. A lot of times, there will be a short pile (which is where you want to land), and a tall pile of "everyone else".  Also, see if they write anything on the back of the resume (this is a good sign)! If after your discussion with with them, you do not see any of these positive actions, then go back later.

3) If you feel the person that you talked to is not going to "represent" yourself well, then go to the other companies on your list and come back to that booth and talk to a different person. Walk up to them and say, "I already talked to John, but since this is one of my targeted companies, I wanted to ask you what you like about Company A?" This is provide you with a second chance to impress them (in case you struck out (like the NY Yankees did) with recruiter number 1.

Anyway, I am not the biggest fan of job fairs, but I wanted to toss out a few pointers and suggest that you consider trying a few out. After all, it can also be a networking opportunity not only with companies in attendance, but also consider talking to and meeting other job seekers that are there as well!