Last minute career fair tips – Jessica’s Career Tip of the Week

A student talks with a recruiter at a career fairWow, how time flies! Career Fair week is happening now. While many of you are already on your way to making a great first impression at the Career Fair, I would now like to promote last minute Career Fair Tips that will ensure your success when you arrive to your location. Before you step through those doors — here are a few last-minute tips that you will find invaluable:

  • Résumé – Have a nicely formatted résumé with no spelling errors or typos. This should include your GREAT technical skills and the knowledge you have gained in your academic projects!  Include multiple copies of your résumé in a portfolio so you can hand them out to employers.
  • Elevator pitch — Be prepared to execute your brief elevator pitch! Promote yourself and what you have to offer to prospective employers. You will want to give elaborate illustrations of your passions, interests, experiences and skillset to ensure that you stand out.
  • Dress appropriately — Have what you are going to wear picked out and ready to go so that you are not held up the day of the Career Fair. Business casual to a more formal attire is appropriate for the event.
  • Conduct preliminary research  This is very important! In order to ensure you are making a great first impression, it is of utmost importance that you conduct your research of the company before the Career Fair. This will include locating each company’s website and learning as much as you can about their corporate culture and the positions that they have available. Furthermore, conduct your research via Handshake of the companies and positions that interest you. The more you know, the more confident you will appear to the employers at the Career Fair!
  • Prioritize the employers — Before the Career Fair, generate your top list of companies that will be in attendance. You probably won’t be able to speak to all the employers that will be at career fair, so know which ones are most important to you. This is also a good time to reflect on your values, interests, skills and personality to ensure that the prospective company is a fit. Important questions that you should ask yourself are, “Is the organization’s culture going to be a fit with my personality?” and “Will I be able to apply the technical skills that I have acquired in my academic courses?”
  • Apply for the position(s) you are interested in — You can apply to the companies/job openings via Handshake, other job search websites or on the company’s individual website. Then print one or two descriptions, bring them to career fair and ask employers more about those.
  • Career Fair know when and the location — Know what days and times you can attend based on if you are an Undergraduate, Master’s or PhD student and the location of the Fair you are attending beforehand. You will be attending one of three locations this week – Graduate Day at the Tempe campus, Tuesday, February 18, 2020; Undergraduate Day at the Tempe campus, Wednesday, February 19, 2020; or Polytechnic Day, Thursday, February 20, 2020.  This can also be selected via Handshake by clicking on “Events”, then click on “Find Career Fairs”. Once you are on this page, you can use the “Keyword” and “Location” filters to select the specific Career Fairs and the specific location. Download the Career Fair Plus App (iOS or Android) on your phone and go to “Event Info”. Then you can click on “Change Events” to access the locations of each Fair this week.

Check out this PowerPoint presentation for more tips on preparing for a career fair.

Once you are at the venue, I encourage you to Network, Network, Network! This is your chance to start or continue the internship and job search process. The connections that you make while you are at the Fair may land you the PERFECT internship or job!