As we're transitioning back into the school year, it's normal to begin thinking again about the next career steps to take. Preparing months ahead can bring on unnecessary stress, but students can start light by just thinking about potential companies they're heard about or classes they were interested in and skillsets they'd like to build upon.
Whichever department on your campus focuses on post graduate opportunities, internships, and professional development may even go as far to coordinate a career fair for students in the fall and/or spring semester, where companies come to recruit students for summer internships or even full-time positions after graduation. This is a great way to get a direct point of contact for a company, which can be helpful in scheduling informational interviews, or getting detailed information on what to expect throughout the application process. Even something as small as getting a business card to make a connection on LinkedIn can end up exposing you to an opportunity related to your field through the digital networking sphere.
The beginning of the semester is a great time to start thinking about preparing for the career fair, as you've had a break from your last set of classes, can reflect on what you've learned and what other gaps you might want to fill in the semester ahead to further prepare for a career in your field! Aside from reflection, there are a few key steps you'll want to take to best prepare for the campus career fair.
Resume
Your resume should be up to date before attending any career fair! This means any current jobs you have or had over the summer should be included (as the positions highlight relevant skillsets), as well as extracurricular leadership positions. Sometimes you may choose to share coursework on your resume. This can be helpful if you are pursuing a technical position, to highlight some of the skills acquired, or more generally to share some of the knowledge sets you've been introduced to. These should also be current to the semester which the career fair is taking place as your resume is presented.
Your resume should be only be one page long! This is assuming at 12 point font, but it's okay if you go down to 11 to fit all of your wondrous skillset! At the top of your resume should read clearly your name and pronouns if you choose to share, and should have an email address and phone number listed that you check regularly. Don't forget to clear your voicemail box and check it when you see missed calls, professionals will not text you after you miss their call. If they're nice and have the time, you may receive an email. It is not necessary to add an address or location to your resume, unless you are specifically looking for jobs in that region. If you are open to relocating for a position or are hoping to move after graduation, it may be best to leave this off a resume entirely. At this point in the resume, some folks may also choose to add a brief statement that highlights their current skillsets and shares the kind of position or field they're looking to work in. Next, your degree in progress should be listed with an estimated graduation date. This helps to affirm for the recruiter what skillsets you may be bringing into a company and also gives them a timeline for which you might be looking for a job based on graduation.
The following sections should be chosen based on what will best capture your time and energy spent in your past few years. Between work experience, leadership experience, extra curricular membership/volunteer experience, and projects, listing highlights and positions under these categories will help to paint a fuller picture of your capacity. These should be listed in reverse chronological order, having the most recent position at the top to make it easier to read. It's important to know that if a live person is reviewing your resume, they will likely be giving it a brief skim. Because of this, the most relevant and important information should be at the top of each section. Under each position or project, there should be a title, name of the affiliated organization, a time stamp, and a brief description in 1-2 bullets/sentences that captures what you offered to or built while in that role. Utilizing action words in your descriptions is a great way to bring life to your roles. If you have access to the job posting or description, this is an easy way to get a glimpse of how someone would describe your role, rather than having to think through what you day on a day to day basis and formulate it into a concise blurb to fit on your resume.
After you've highlighted your work across jobs, leadership, and other activities, there may be some extra room on your resume. You can show off by highlighting awards and honors received while in school! You may also want to list a few of your skills with some extra room. This can also be done in a margin space, if carved out on the page. Taken from resumes for design positions, this kind of visual representation can help communicate your skills in a new way. Take 4-5 skills that you have, whether it be something technical like Excel, Python, Rhino/CAD, Canvas, Adobe or other professional skills like public speaking & presenting, or event planning. Take any icon, make if fun if you'd like, and place five of each underneath the text of your named skill. From there, rank yourself on a scale of 5, by changing the color of the icons, so denote how comfortable you feel in your skillset! You'll want to mostly showcase skills that you feel confident in (4-5/5 icons), but if you're investing in a new skill, feel free to add it with a lower ranking.
As someone coming from a design background, a plain black and white resume was never too exciting to me. If it feels like it will be received well in your desired field, I'd encourage having a color theme for your resume (a main color and accent color at most, if not black/white) and maybe even a set of icons to bring some personality to the page.
Elevator Pitch
Imagine you have an amazing business idea and you enter an elevator with a major funder you've been hearing about. They invite you up to the top floor but only give you the elevator ride to decide if they'll give you funding or not. How are you going to pitch that idea in under a minute, in a way that makes it shine?
Now think about yourself as that business idea, a young professional with a unique skillset that a company should invest in! How are you going to introduce yourself, say a little about your skillset, and make the ask for a job in under a minute when you approach a recruiter? Using that three part script is a great first step. You'll want to remember that any give recruiter may be hearing the same kind of pitch continuously throughout the day, and think about how you might want to stand out! Adding greetings, a fun fact, or briefly highlighting a project that captures your skills is a great way to integrate something fresh into the mix! If the lines are short enough, this is also a great time to curate a specific question for the company's representative joining the fair. When I was feeling bold (and also not searching for a position at the time), I would ask companies about their diversity and sustainability policies! Recruiters may be more prepared to talk about these aspects now, but I usually threw them off their game and it was a way for me to be remembered in a potentially large applicant pool down the line. Other questions you can ask are how the individual likes working at the company, what drew them to work there, or how they got into their specific position (/how easy it is to change positions, transfer across departments and locations, etc.).
Depending on present COVID protocols at the event or career fair, as well as your personal level of comfortability, a firm handshake can also make a good impression! Have a firm grip, shake 2-3 times, and don't forget to smile!
Business Attire
At my campus career fair, the student-led one had a much stricter dress code. They would check and turn folks away at the door if they weren't up to par, and also had many flyers and posters sharing what was deemed appropriate to enter. Some may argue that restricting access isn't fair to students, but student staff had to balance this with the need to come across as professional as possible so that all recruiters respected the expectations of the career fair at large. Business casual was acceptable attire for the career fair, and this essentially meant no t-shirts, jeans, shorts, or sneakers, applying across genders. Beforehand, our Center for Career and Professional also hosted an open closet, where folks donated business attire and other students could borrow or keep it to be best dressed for the career fair! A gender-neutral look might look like a fitted shirt with an optional blazer, khakis or dress pants that fall by the ankle, and a pair of dress shoes or boots. Attendees are more than welcome to dress in business casual, which would invite in the use of ties, suit jackets/blazers, and dressier shoe options, but this is not typically expected at career fairs or even in job interviews. While ensuring that the attire is to business casual standards, you'll also want to make sure that it's comfortable! With such little time for interaction, personality really shines at these kinds of events and it can be harder for that to come through if you're uncomfortable in what you're wearing! And for the folks who plan to come in heels, please make sure you can walk in them first! Tripping in front of a recruiter may not leave the kind of first-impression that you're hoping for.
After the Career Fair
There is power in the follow up! Many jobs positions or professional connections are made in follow-up communication from an initial in-person interaction. If you receive a business card from a recruiter at a career fair, you should be sending follow-up thank you emails within 24-48 hours after meeting them! This email can be as easy as saying thank you for your time, it was great meeting you, and asking for next steps for applying for a job. If you've already submitted an application or were directed to apply online, this is a great way to share that you've completed this step. You can even reattach you resume to the email. This is another way to stay fresh in a recruiter's mind after meeting so many people at a career fair. Many people will skip this step, and so this is a great way to stand out.
