Are you searching for a job—sending out hundreds of resumes and completing numerous online applications? Are you getting the results you hoped for? If not, what options do you have to get yourself noticed and in front of a recruiter? How do you personalize the impersonal job search?
Illinois State alumni should attend career fairs to go beyond “faceless” Web searches and online applications and to get real answers from real people in the know about hiring. Interacting with employers at a career fair allows you to connect and to speak with hiring agents from a variety of industries. Where else can you see many employers in one location or be seen by them?
Why candidates should attend fairs:
- Impress the recruiter and allow him or her to put a name to a face and resume.
- Get your foot in the door with decision makers. Select the company you want to talk with and meet hiring decision makers from some of the area’s top employers.
- Learn next steps in the hiring process and persuade the recruiter to grant you an interview or at least a referral to someone else in the company who needs a candidate with your qualifications.
- Explore employers and career opportunities that you never may have thought about and learn about companies that could be viable places of employment.
- Strengthen professional networks and build your list of contacts.
- Get to be known and remembered!
Career Center Senior Assistant Director Maureen Roach advises job seekers that before attending a career fair, it is important they understand why recruiters attend fairs. Generally, employers want to quickly screen a high volume of candidates, to sell the company, andto make fast judgments on candidates based on first impressions. Recruiters also attend fairs to screen candidates to decide whether they will contact a candidate in the future. Recruiters use fairs to develop a resume bank from which to pull job candidates when future growth occurs.
All of these reasons are similar to the online process, but with a personal touch. The value of a career fair is relative to the amount of effort candidates put into preparing for it and “working it.”
Here are tips to prepare and make the fairs work for you. Following these tips will improve your chances of finding a job.
- Identify your target audience to market your value to employers.
- Polish your resume.
- Practice a 30-second infomercial selling your skills and personal qualities.
- Practice interviewing.
- Apply online BEFORE the fair.
- Create your own business card for employers who may not be taking resumes.
- Prepare questions to ask employers.
The Career Center provides assistance with resumes and mock interviews. Attend the upcoming resume critiques by employers and mock interviews by employers. Use InterviewStream online to practice interviewing skills at your convenience. Check the list of attending employers.
Employers are much more likely to hire somebody they have met in person. Attending a career fair is an excellent way to take control of your job search and boost your career!
Learn more by visiting the Career Center at CareerCenter.IllinoisState.edu or by calling (309) 438-2200.
