There’s nothing worse than leaving a long day of classes, ditching your friends and tag football, so that you can put on a suit and schmooze with a bunch of strangers. Sound like your dad’s company dinner? Not quite, but close, it’s your on-campus career fair! Whether you view them as a friend or foe, career fairs are a vital resource for a successful internship search and you stand to gain many benefits – like networking with employers and learning about awesome internship programs – from attending.
But let’s face it, this isn’t the Real World (well, kinda) and standing in a room full of strangers can be both overwhelming and intimidating. What do I say? What do I bring? What do I wear? Who do I speak to first? Don’t worry, InternMatch has you covered! We’ve pooled all of our resources – even unleashing a few secrets from employers – and created a list of 5 tips to help you score big at your on-campus career fair!
Get Prepared
So you’ve heard that there’s a career fair coming up soon on campus, now what? Find out from your career counselor if there are any requisites for attending (such as pre-registration), which companies are attending and if they are accepting resumes or scheduling interviews in advance. Some employers like to pre-screen applicants, prior to visiting with them at the career fair. It’s a great way to scope out top-notch talent and often the first step in their internship recruitment process. Once you’re familiar with the career fair schedule, begin to think about your interests, as well as your strengths and weaknesses as an applicant. Make a list of your top preferences so that you will know which companies are a priority for you to visit on game day.
Now do your research. Check out each companies’ website, where you might find information about their on-campus recruitment schedule and internship program. Maybe you can find the name of the recruiter and shoot him or her a quick introductory-email – expressing excitement about their visit to your school and that you look forward to meeting with them. This can serve as a great icebreaker, as many recruiters will see hundreds of students in a day, but they are sure to remember the student who emailed them in advance. Does the company have a Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter account? Everyone loves a little love and this is another great method to express your enthusiasm about a companies’ visit to campus well in advance.
Bring Your Arsenal
Take multiple copies of your resume (think of them as your kryptonite). This point may sound like a no-brainer, but you don’t want to come up empty handed if someone requests a copy of your resume. It’s also a good idea to create 1-2 versions of your resume to reflect your diverse interests. For instance, perhaps you have an interest in both marketing internships and computer science internships – with a background in both – having different versions will give you the flexibility to scope out different types of internship positions. While employers appreciate candidates with diverse skills and interests, some internship programs are major-specific.
Don’t forget your business cards! Employers will meet with hundreds of impressive students at career fairs, but having a business card to hand out after you have chatted with a recruiter is a sure way to demonstrate professionalism and stand out amongst your peers. If you haven’t already, check out our ongoing free business card campaign!
Develop Your Sales Pitch
Once you have the opportunity to get in front of a recruiter, you will have only 5-10 minutes to sell yourself. Hopefully, you have done all of the research from tip # 1 and you’re familiar with the company and their available internship positions. Arrive prepared with 5 key talking points about your strengths and your accomplishments (quantify where possible). Think about the reasons that you would be a great fit for the company, as well as what excites you most about the opportunity to intern with them. Do you know an upperclassman who had an amazing internship experience with them last summer? If you still need ideas check out this one-sheet, created by Jenny Blake at Life After College. This is truly an opportunity for you to shine and express your excitement about the company and their internship program. All of your talking points do not have to be academic or job-related. Just make sure that they are appropriate, memorable, unique and engaging.
Dress for Success
Many students miss out on landing an awesome internship position because of inappropriate clothing, hairstyles or jewelry. If you plan ahead, this does not have to be you! It’s also very important to know your audience. More traditional positions in finance, business and accounting often require business professional attire, while startup/tech companies are more laid-back and often frown upon business attire. It’s always a great idea to err on the side of caution. Keep clothing, hair and jewelry conservative, unless informed otherwise. Use your talking points and resume to emphasize your unique personality. Check out these tips from Virgina Tech’s Career Services Center on how to dress for the career fair.
Follow-up, Follow-up, Follow-up
So you’ve gone to the career fair and met with some pretty amazing companies. You were well-researched, your stories were funny and engaging, you impressed employers when you handed out your business cards and you even collected a few of your own. The rule of thumb is that you should follow-up with a recruiter at least 24-48 hours after your meeting. Why? Because you want to make sure that they remember you! Shoot the recruiter an email thanking them for speaking with you, reiterating something interesting from your conversation, emphasizing your interest in their company and inquiring about next-steps in the internship recruitment process. Your follow-up is equally as important as your first encounter and a succinct, error-free email is a great way to re-emphasize your interest in a company.
