Come to Keene!

I am amazed at the impressive heap of resumes on my desk. The resumes, collected at the Monadnock Region Job and Information Fair held this week, showcase a wide variety of skills and experiences. My colleague, Ali, and I could barely keep up with the line of people standing in front of our booth, and we truly appreciate that so many were interested in employment at C&S Wholesale Grocers. As hopeful candidates filed through the ballroom of the Best Western, presenting themselves to employer after employer, I saw a great number of tactics that worked (…and some that didn’t). Let’s talk about the winning job fair strategies:

Come Prepared

In advertisements and publications for each job fair, there is generally a list of the companies who will be participating. Look over this list, go to the companies’ websites, and review the positions currently available. Those people who approached me, job descriptions in hand, asking about specific positions showed that they were truly interested in bringing value to my company. They had researched our needs and wanted to show me how they could meet those needs.

Dress for Work

Dress as though you will be coming back to the office with me to begin your new job. You will want to be comfortable (heels are not recommended), but be sure to dress professionally. There will be a wide variety of dress codes represented, ranging from casual to conservative to uniform-required. For this reason, I feel, some are tempted to wear whatever they choose. As always, I recommend that you match the most conservative dress code in the room.

Make the Quick Sell

A job fair is similar to speed dating: you have a very short window of time to make a positive impression, and you will be making the same “pitch” as you make your way through the maze of booths. The night before the event, write down one or two sentences that describe your work experience. Memorize these lines and use them in your introduction at each booth. Example: “Hello, I’m Kristen. [shake the recruiter’s hand, provide them with your resume, and wait for them to introduce themselves] I have six years of experience working in HR, including field HR and corporate recruiting.” Then, mention an open position you saw on their website or, if you did not find an applicable open position, talk about how your experience would relate to their business.

Gather Information

Job Fairs are made for the candidates. We are there to tell everyone how fabulous it is to work for our company. We want to tell you about our business and our industry, our strengths and our recent growth, the things that make our workplace unique. We have prepared for this, so put us to the test. Think of interesting questions ahead of time so that you don’t freeze and blurt out “So, what does your company do?” As an added benefit, you will give us something new to talk about. It’s tiresome to repeat our application process several hundred times in one day, so variety is appreciated (and we will remember you for that). Most importantly, however, you will leave with meaningful information about the companies represented at the job fair.

As I pour over the stack of resumes on my desk, I will be remembering the way that the people represented on these pieces of paper approached me. I’ll be honest, I won’t remember each person: some will have left a positive impression, some will have left a negative impression, and some will have left no impression at all. Which would you rather be?