Job fair etiquette
October 6, 2014 9:34 AM
I've spent a fair bit of time in the working world, and a fair bit of time at academic conferences, but never been to a job fair before. I'm going to this thing this afternoon, as a job seeker. Explain to me like I'm five what I should do once I'm there.
Complication #1: My academic background is in (non-computational) linguistics and my most recent work experience is in copyediting and a very limited amount of tech writing, so it's not safe to assume that every company there will be looking for someone like me.
Complication #2: I suck at mingling socially with strangers in large groups. "Just go and chat with people" would not be advice I would be able to follow.
Complication #1: My academic background is in (non-computational) linguistics and my most recent work experience is in copyediting and a very limited amount of tech writing, so it's not safe to assume that every company there will be looking for someone like me.
Complication #2: I suck at mingling socially with strangers in large groups. "Just go and chat with people" would not be advice I would be able to follow.
Look up elevator pitch. Decide what you want from the fair and structure your elevator pitch around that. Practice in the mirror. Dress professionally. Go practice your elevator pitch on some people you aren't interested in. Then go practice in on people you are interested in.
Your goal is to secure a non-general phone number for you to follow up with the day after.
posted by bbqturtle at 9:42 AM on October 6, 2014
Your goal is to secure a non-general phone number for you to follow up with the day after.
posted by bbqturtle at 9:42 AM on October 6, 2014
Your goal is to secure a non-general phone number for you to follow up with the day after.
I'm trying not to threadsit here, but can you say more about how to do that? I'm wondering, for instance, at what point do I ask someone for a contact number, what do I ask for the next day when I call, etc.
posted by nebulawindphone at 9:45 AM on October 6, 2014
I'm trying not to threadsit here, but can you say more about how to do that? I'm wondering, for instance, at what point do I ask someone for a contact number, what do I ask for the next day when I call, etc.
posted by nebulawindphone at 9:45 AM on October 6, 2014
Yeah, get a short statement about yourself,
"I'm a Ruby on Rails programmer, with X years of experience in an Agile environment. I'm Cisco CCNA and Six Sigma certified."
Not to shit on the experience, but I suspect that very few high level jobs will be available here, it'll mostly be help desk or something like that.
If anyone asks for your resume, ask them for their email address and be able to email it to them on the spot. Bonus, you now have the email address of a human.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:46 AM on October 6, 2014
"I'm a Ruby on Rails programmer, with X years of experience in an Agile environment. I'm Cisco CCNA and Six Sigma certified."
Not to shit on the experience, but I suspect that very few high level jobs will be available here, it'll mostly be help desk or something like that.
If anyone asks for your resume, ask them for their email address and be able to email it to them on the spot. Bonus, you now have the email address of a human.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:46 AM on October 6, 2014
Bring a stack of resumes. How many will depend on how large the job fair is and how many employers you're actually interested in, but 10-15 is an okay number. Keep them in a folder or something so they're still flat and neat-looking.
Research the employers who are going to be at the fair, and have some targeted questions ready for ones that look appealing to you and/or have listed job openings that sound like things you could do. Once you've given the aforementioned elevator pitch to someone at that employer table and asked them some of your questions, hand off your resume and get a business card from them. E-mail a thank you note in to whoever you spoke to as soon as you can.
If anyone asks for your resume, even if they're not one of the companies you were specifically targeting, hand it over because you never know.
(My qualifications: introvert who hates mingling in large groups, going on an interview secured from a job fair later this week, albeit in a completely different field.)
posted by ActionPopulated at 9:51 AM on October 6, 2014
Research the employers who are going to be at the fair, and have some targeted questions ready for ones that look appealing to you and/or have listed job openings that sound like things you could do. Once you've given the aforementioned elevator pitch to someone at that employer table and asked them some of your questions, hand off your resume and get a business card from them. E-mail a thank you note in to whoever you spoke to as soon as you can.
If anyone asks for your resume, even if they're not one of the companies you were specifically targeting, hand it over because you never know.
(My qualifications: introvert who hates mingling in large groups, going on an interview secured from a job fair later this week, albeit in a completely different field.)
posted by ActionPopulated at 9:51 AM on October 6, 2014
I hate networking and am bad at it myself, so something like you're going to would be a groddsend! There's a list of the companies going there, many of them recognizable (to me anyway) names. So here's a great case for Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance!
I would....
When you have a conversation with someone who is hiring for a company and you clearly have some damned idea about the company that's an edge. They might well think you're a brown-nosing chump who just googled that up, but you know what? You cared enough to do that and someone else won't have. More importantly for just today, it gives you something to talk about.
I'm like you - groups of strangers are hard for me. So giving me some commonality ahead of time is a win. You can always just walk up on the edge of conversations and possibly chime in, or hear something to be a springboard. "I heard you tell another person about PDQ project; that makes me think of the linguistics work I did on this thing - is that right or am I not understanding what's going on there?" Etc.
The best possible thing you do is have unforced, natural conversations with people where you're both interested in the topic. Failing that, you do what we all do at work - discuss the mutual topic to the best of your competency, and ask questions when you don't know stuff. There is nothing wrong necessarily wrong with a conversation with these people where you are the one doing more questioning. The whole setup where they are the ones with a table and people are coming to them reflects the fact that they're there to provide information more than receive it.
Just like a date, if you're just interrogating them then that's a problem. But for a startup it is critical to make a good hire - they can't absorb lost time & money as easily as IBM. (Why eBay is there at a startup thing is beyond me but whatever) So you getting to know them is important stuff. Don't be afraid of it.
posted by phearlez at 10:49 AM on October 6, 2014
I would....
- Copy and paste that list into my word processor.
- Remove everything but the company names, leaving some space between them.
- Put the names that actually make me think "oooh!" at the top so I make sure to hit them. Or maybe even put those on their own pages, one each.
- Jot down anything under them that sticks out to me, particularly if it impacts my area of expertise. Maybe for you and Ebay that has to do with their foreign language support, or how they handle search items.
- Jot down anything I wonder about the place that could be the basis of some conversation. Oh Ebay, they're talking about spinning off Paypal; what will that mean for company's locations here?
When you have a conversation with someone who is hiring for a company and you clearly have some damned idea about the company that's an edge. They might well think you're a brown-nosing chump who just googled that up, but you know what? You cared enough to do that and someone else won't have. More importantly for just today, it gives you something to talk about.
I'm like you - groups of strangers are hard for me. So giving me some commonality ahead of time is a win. You can always just walk up on the edge of conversations and possibly chime in, or hear something to be a springboard. "I heard you tell another person about PDQ project; that makes me think of the linguistics work I did on this thing - is that right or am I not understanding what's going on there?" Etc.
The best possible thing you do is have unforced, natural conversations with people where you're both interested in the topic. Failing that, you do what we all do at work - discuss the mutual topic to the best of your competency, and ask questions when you don't know stuff. There is nothing wrong necessarily wrong with a conversation with these people where you are the one doing more questioning. The whole setup where they are the ones with a table and people are coming to them reflects the fact that they're there to provide information more than receive it.
Just like a date, if you're just interrogating them then that's a problem. But for a startup it is critical to make a good hire - they can't absorb lost time & money as easily as IBM. (Why eBay is there at a startup thing is beyond me but whatever) So you getting to know them is important stuff. Don't be afraid of it.
posted by phearlez at 10:49 AM on October 6, 2014
From the POV of an employer who goes to these things:
Bring copies of your resume. Lots and lots of copies. More than you think you need.
Your main goals here are 1) to learn about companies and the jobs they have available 2) to give companies your resume 3) to try to come off better than you do on paper, in order to lift your chance of getting an interview above what it would have been if you had applied from the website.
Don't waste the time of companies by talking to folks where you're not qualified for a job or where you're not really interested in working. Don't monopolize the representatives' time by asking them a million questions or relaying your entire life story. Don't ask stupid questions or questions that are designed just to make you look smart. If the representative is giving you subtle signals that they are desperately trying to leave the conversation, let them.
Just talk to the representative for a couple of minutes, come off as bright and engaging and friendly, give them your resume, maybe get a business card, and then leave.
posted by phoenixy at 1:17 PM on October 6, 2014
Bring copies of your resume. Lots and lots of copies. More than you think you need.
Your main goals here are 1) to learn about companies and the jobs they have available 2) to give companies your resume 3) to try to come off better than you do on paper, in order to lift your chance of getting an interview above what it would have been if you had applied from the website.
Don't waste the time of companies by talking to folks where you're not qualified for a job or where you're not really interested in working. Don't monopolize the representatives' time by asking them a million questions or relaying your entire life story. Don't ask stupid questions or questions that are designed just to make you look smart. If the representative is giving you subtle signals that they are desperately trying to leave the conversation, let them.
Just talk to the representative for a couple of minutes, come off as bright and engaging and friendly, give them your resume, maybe get a business card, and then leave.
posted by phoenixy at 1:17 PM on October 6, 2014
Most of what I know has been said above, but I help coordinate a volunteer group who organise job fair-type events. The things they tend to recommend are:
* go through the list of attending employers, and highlight the ones you think are most useful/interesting. Put them in a checklist for the fair. Note any specific details about the role or your suitability that you can bring up in your elevator pitch.
* Speaking of elevator pitches: be prepared to reframe your pitch slightly to suit the person you're talking to. Stick to what's relevant. Apparently people stop listening after five seconds; make sure your first words make an impression.
* go online and check their current job listings. The jobs at the fair may be the same ones (in which case you can speak knowledgeably about them) or not (in which case you can mention any job listings you saw online for bonus points).
* research companies before attending, and note any specific questions or points of interest that you might want to insert in a conversation.
* if you have a LinkedIn page (this is something my particular group really raves about; I think they have an affiliation deal, so it may not be useful in your case), make sure it's up to date. Some employers/recruiters do check your details online, so you can use this to give more detail about your job history/skills.
* I've heard from employers who have been impressed when someone contacts them prior to the job fair to introduce themselves, mention things they'd like to know more about, and impress how much they're looking forward to meeting. This may be doable for you depending on what contact info you have access to. If you are very keen for a role, this is a good way to get your name recognised as soon as you approach that employer.
posted by tracicle at 6:20 AM on October 7, 2014
* go through the list of attending employers, and highlight the ones you think are most useful/interesting. Put them in a checklist for the fair. Note any specific details about the role or your suitability that you can bring up in your elevator pitch.
* Speaking of elevator pitches: be prepared to reframe your pitch slightly to suit the person you're talking to. Stick to what's relevant. Apparently people stop listening after five seconds; make sure your first words make an impression.
* go online and check their current job listings. The jobs at the fair may be the same ones (in which case you can speak knowledgeably about them) or not (in which case you can mention any job listings you saw online for bonus points).
* research companies before attending, and note any specific questions or points of interest that you might want to insert in a conversation.
* if you have a LinkedIn page (this is something my particular group really raves about; I think they have an affiliation deal, so it may not be useful in your case), make sure it's up to date. Some employers/recruiters do check your details online, so you can use this to give more detail about your job history/skills.
* I've heard from employers who have been impressed when someone contacts them prior to the job fair to introduce themselves, mention things they'd like to know more about, and impress how much they're looking forward to meeting. This may be doable for you depending on what contact info you have access to. If you are very keen for a role, this is a good way to get your name recognised as soon as you approach that employer.
posted by tracicle at 6:20 AM on October 7, 2014
Oh, having just come back from one -- this won't help you, but for people in the future --
Again re: the wasting time point -- if all you want is swag, just ask for the swag. Don't pretend to want a job to get swag.
Give your resume to the rep before you start talking to them about yourself. I take notes about our conversation on your resume, and I don't have much time to take them, so it's annoying to have the candidate want to explain the resume to me before actually giving me a copy.
posted by phoenixy at 1:28 AM on October 9, 2014
Again re: the wasting time point -- if all you want is swag, just ask for the swag. Don't pretend to want a job to get swag.
Give your resume to the rep before you start talking to them about yourself. I take notes about our conversation on your resume, and I don't have much time to take them, so it's annoying to have the candidate want to explain the resume to me before actually giving me a copy.
posted by phoenixy at 1:28 AM on October 9, 2014
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posted by nebulawindphone at 9:35 AM on October 6, 2014