Stephen has recently graduated with a degree in Business Administration. Like other recently graduated students, he is also looking out for job opportunities where he can learn and excel in the field of administration. He posted his resume with different job search sources in bid to get land for a good job. However, he did not have much luck with that. At most places, he failed to get selected for even an interview. The main reason for this was that his resume pointed towards an ordinary educational qualification. Soon, he learned about a job fair happening in his city. It included all of his prime organizations he had short-listed for the interview. Not willing to let this opportunity go, he made strong plans in his mind to win a job with the best organizations in spite of having plain education. Let us see how he plans to excel at the job fair.
- Job fairs offer an opportunity for the job seekers to meet the employers directly for the interview. Without reviewing the resume prior, employers meet the job seekers during the first round of interview. Hence, your personality and conduct contribute in impressing the employer along with your resume.
- It is a good opportunity to let your skills like communication, spontaneity and leadership take the initiative and you impress the employer with your overall personality before he considers your educational qualifications. The smartness and the eagerness of the candidate to learn new things can overpower your ordinary qualifications in giving you the job.
- Do not forget your etiquettes. Greet the employer with a simple handshake and good morning or good afternoon (whichever is appropriate at that time). Once the interview is over, thank the recruiter (whether you are selected or not). Never address the recruiters with their first name. Good manners help to portray the applicant as decent, cordial, respectful and a true professional. In spite of having plain education, the employer may recruit you for these qualities. (Especially in fields of marketing, sales, customer care, hospitality etc.)
- Compose a smart opening line to introduce in few sentences. Remember recruiters have to interview many candidates at the job fairs. Hence, they allot only a few minutes to each to review his potentials. A smart opening line that speaks of the candidate's capacities and career goals would be critical in impressing the employer. The recruiter will consider an applicant in spite of his ordinary qualifications if he is focused, dedicated and ambitious.
- Emphasize on your key skills and experiences to divert the employer's attention from your educational qualifications. As employers regard strong job experience as key factor in selecting a candidate, they may overlook the ordinary qualifications.
- Job fairs are a way of connecting with many other job seekers and recruiters. It is chance to improve your networking skills. These networks often prove useful for job search.
- Job fairs invite many organizations to conduct recruitments in the fair. Hence, it is a wonderful opportunity to meet people from different organizations at one place. One can apply for multiple job openings at one time. The more recruiters you reach out to, brighter are your chances of getting selected for the job.
- The recruiters at the job fair inform the candidate about the result of his job application at the same time. Hence, there is no waiting game or any ambiguity to face after the job search fair.
Keeping the above tips in mind, Stephen went to the job fair. There he impressed many of the recruiters and was asked to appear for the second round by almost 5 organizations. This example proves that job search fairs do help the aspirants having plain education in getting the job they always wanted. So, make job fairs your way to gain job.
