Bringing Home a Job from a Job Fair

Once upon a time, job fairs were a regular affair, now they are few and far between. However, a job fair provides an incredible opportunity to expose one's self to a consolidated employers' market at a single go. Lack of preparation, unclear concepts about job fairs and utilizing them, and lack of persistent follow-up, often result in misuse of time. On the other hand, a determined candidate making a professional visit to a job fair frequently brings home a job.

Regrettably, and too often, we find candidates who are of the opinion that attending job fairs are time wasters. That is entirely wrong. To make the most of any event or process, one needs to know how to get the job done. This article covers the correct approach to make the most of a visit to the now rare event of a job fair.

What is a Job fair?



A job fair is a trade event for employers. Employers with pressing needs to find good candidates come together in a job fair to attract candidates en masse. Since employers primarily come to job fairs with the intention of finding potential candidates and do primary screening, a job fair provides a great opportunity to aspiring candidates to optimize their time and efforts.

A job fair also provides candidates the opportunity to evaluate potential employers outside their established environment and gather insights into company cultures. Locations and sizes of stalls in a trade fair is an important indicator of company culture as well as stall decoration. However, the rank of company employees present at the stalls exhibits the final importance placed by an employer on pressing employment needs.

How to make the most of a job fair

The tips provided here can help you to bring back a job from a job fair. The key is to prepare yourself thoroughly and plan forward the utilization of your time. The following are essential to make the most of a job fair:

• Research the employers before visiting: Almost every job fair will have websites announcing the event and the list of participants. It is easy to learn beforehand of the employers who would be present, and visiting their websites can give you the information you need to approach those employers. Check the career openings already present on their websites and the descriptions of job requirements. It is also fruitful to search internet job sites with the name of the company to go through their previous job requirements so that you have a fair idea of what each employer is looking for.
  
  
• Prepare customized resumes: Once you know the requirement trends of the employers and have fixed the set of employers you are most certain to visit. On the next step, prepare customized resumes for those on your list.
  
  
• Visit early: Visit early in the day and check on the physical list of employers present at the event. Almost always there can be late comers who jump on board at the last moment or on the last few days. It is not surprising to find that the list of participants on the website and the actual list vary considerably. If there are employers to your liking in the list of last-minute additions, visiting early can give you the breathing space to prepare a few more customized resumes and do some more homework.
  
  
• Visit those on your list first but don't neglect anybody: A job fair is a place of initial screenings and industry networking. So visit the employers on your list first, but don't neglect those not on your list. Carry multiple copies of a generalized resume to drop at employers for whom you haven't prepared any customized resume.
  
  
• Network: Socially interact with as many people as possible. Collect and exchange visiting cards and pick up brochures. Learn names and ranks of people and tell them that you would like to get back to them.
  
  
• Follow-up: The real benefits of attending a job fair come from networking and follow up. Follow up contacts and leads methodically to make the most of your visit to the job fair. Even if opportunities do not present themselves immediately, following up on contacts and consolidating on networking will stand you in good stead throughout your career.

The important thing about job fairs is that they provide opportunities to directly interact with company representatives and network with them. Almost no employer comes to a job fair with a mindset of hiring employees on the spot, but they come to do the initial screening. Outstanding candidates do stand a chance of being instantly hired, but for the regular job seeker this is an opportunity to present one's self and build contacts to follow-up later. If the right kind of impressions can be made, networking at a job fair presents enormous dividends, since a candidate can build and maintain contacts with industry representatives, throughout his or her career. A job fair also provides an opportunity to a candidate to learn about the latest trends, demands in his or her industry sector, and gives valuable information indispensable for career planning.