Job Fair Success

Lynn Sarikas, Director of Northeastern University's MBA Career Center, provides some tips on some of the ways to be the most successful when attending a job fair.

Preparation, preparation, preparation - critical to making a job fair a success
Prepare to sell yourself - have an "elevator" pitch ready to introduce yourself positively to employers and to quickly give them the headlines of who you are, what you are looking for and what makes you unique.

Prepare to present the best first impression - wear your best business attire, professional, conservative business suit is appropriate, good personal hygiene, no heavy fragrances, avoid flashy attire.

Prepare by educating yourself on the companies - review the list of participating companies, research each company, know what they do, who their customers are, what types of positions they are hiring for and any recent issues that have been in the press, differentiate yourself from others by being knowledgeable about the company.

Prepare by having an event strategy, don't start at the first table by the door and work your way around the room, you may spend more time waiting in line and miss the companies you most need to see, prioritize the companies you need to see and focus on meeting with those on the top of your list, quickly scope the room to see if a top priority company has no line or a very short one, but be willing to wait for those most important to you.

Have an ample supply of your resume - make sure it is perfect - no typos, etc. handout your business card as wellFollow-up is critical - Help them remember you by sending a polite, professional thank you note within 24 hours of the event, thank them for their time, let them what interested you from your conversation, they met many students that day so help them remember you, my personal preference is sending a handwritten note so you don't get lost in their long list of emails.

Your goal is to have the employers remember you but you want to be remembered for positive reasons - not the inappropriate attire, the heavy fragrance, the resume with typos or the mumbled introduction. You also don't want to be a clone. Every MBA could use the same set of cliched phrases to describe themselves - you want to let them know what is unique about you.

Remember who the customer is - you are selling yourself to the employer, don't focus exclusively on you - focus on what you can do for them, how do your skills and experience help them address a business need, relate a prior experience and accomplishment to what you could do for them, know what is important to them and show them how you can help.

At Northeastern University's MBA program, first year MBA students are required to participate in Career Management Class. We work with them to prepare them for their job search with workshops on resumes, cover letters, interviewing skills, job search strategy, networking skills and more. We also utilize HR professionals from our business partners to conduct mock interviews with our students to provide actionable feedback prior to our career fair so the students can refine and enhance their interview skills.