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Pace Yourself at The Career Fair

Career Fairs are tough.  I learned today that if you can get the list of companies beforehand, that's your best bet.  Look up each organization's website.  Learn about the founder, the mission of the place, their number of employees and locations, their language and what the culture is like as much as you can learn that online.

Pick your top six companies and a few others you might want to meet as well.  Create a cheat sheet of key facts for each company.  For example, I liked one company's model of working with clients, and had a rich conversation with the company representative about that.  She said, "I really enjoyed talking with you."  In other words, demonstrating that you know a little about a company at the fair, can make you look good.  Normally, reps at these things have to explain what the company is about.  Half way through that, they're exhausted.  It's refreshing to have a new conversation when you're able to help them describe the company, giving them a break from non-stop talking.

Acknowledge how tough it is for them.  Make the person human.  In fact, I led mostly with personal conversation, rather than company information.  Company reps are people too.  People work with people.  In addition to looking for people with the QUALIFICATIONS necessary, interviews are about searching for the X-factor.  One company rep said to me that she spends so much time with colleagues, she wants to make sure new people are ones she'd be ok sharing a meal with, because she often does!

Pace yourself.  After a chat with a company, go to the lobby area, or the restroom.  Shake off the past conversation, find a spot and jot notes.  What's the follow up?  What was the person's name?  Did you get a card?  Too awkward to go get it?  What do you want to do differently with the next company?  Was there a key question you forgot to ask?  Did you dominate the conversation and forget to listen mostly?  Did you brag about your achievements?  Given the time you have left and the lines at each company table, which table do you want to make sure to go to next?

I found that I had to skip a few of the tables.  I made it to seven tables in two hours.  That was as much as I could do.  Part of the time was spent waiting in line.  I did spend some of that time chatting with fellow job-seekers.  I was completely on my game with companies where I'd done my homework.  The other company tables I "dropped" by without having researched ahead of time, felt like duds.  I had no idea where they were headquartered or what their HR team was called.  AND, I realized that I was just trying to "cover all bases" rather than engaging with a place I'd really love working. 

Summary:  do your homework, target 6 companies (if you have a couple hours), and GO EARLY.  By the time I left, the lines for each company were very long, much longer than when we started.

Happy Hunting.

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