Last week, I attended a Consulting and Management Career Fair hosted by University College London where I am studying abroad. Personally, I approached the fair as a learning opportunity and as a platform to find out more about companies and their application processes. On the other hand, my flat mate came into the fair determined to get access to an internship and network with recruiters who could get him to that point. Both of these approaches are perfectly reasonable and depend on what you want to get out of the overall experience. After the fair, I began to think about how I can get the most out of these opportunities no matter what my expectations are. Here are some tips and tricks that I came up with to take advantage of career and grad fairs that you may attend:
1-Dress appropriately- Depending on what type of fair you are attending; it is commonplace to dress according to the occasion and the industry. For example, for most career fairs it is acceptable to simply dress nicely without having to be too formal. This means no sweatpants or pajamas, but does not necessitate a suit. For some specific industries, such as Investment Banking or Trading, it is more common to see people dressed in suits or business formal attire. Overall, there is no standard dress code, but I would dress in a manner that is both comfortable for you and strengthens your professional presence.
2-Bring multiple copies of your resume- Print out at least 5-10 copies of an updated resume in case someone you are talking to is interested in keeping one of them on file. You may not give out any resumes during the fair, but it is always a good idea to be prepared for every scenario.
3-Come up with a game plan- Sometimes your school will give you a list of companies and agencies who will be attending the fair. Before the day of the fair, take a quick look and see which companies interest you the most and do your research on them. If your goal is to get an internship at a specific company, this is the best way to impress recruiters and make a good impression.
4-Try to talk to companies that may not be on your radar at first- On the other hand, if your goal is to find out as much as possible about a large amount of companies, I recommend talking to as many representatives as possible and trying to talk to people from companies that you may not have heard about before. After attending the fair at UCL, I ended up applying for internships to two companies that I had never heard about before that day.
5-Get recruiter contact information- If you find a company or recruiter that you particularly like, ask them for the best way to contact them in the future so that you can stay connected. After the fair, email them reminding them of your conversation and asking them more questions or about possible internship or job opportunities at their company. Remember, recruiters are looking for eager candidates to hire, so it looks good if you show initiative and drive in keeping up a relationship with them.
6-Relax!- This is all part of a learning experience and the more relaxed that you are, the more likely you are to keep an open mind and have beneficial conversations with recruiters. Do not create any excessive pressure for yourself and take this as a positive opportunity for you to shine!
