Co-op and Career Services hosts a number of recruitment fairs throughout the year, there’s the Part-Time Job Fair, the Graduate School and Education Fair and of course our marquee event, the 2-day Fall Career Fair.  If your next adventure includes furthering your education or finding a job, it’s likely one of these events can help you explore your options.  It’s important to make the most of recruitment events; it is not likely that at any point in your future a room full of recruiters  will be gathered in one place eager to meet you all at once.  So take note of our fair success strategies, they could have a big impact on your future!

First tip, do your research!  Employer feedback following fairs and networking events tells us that employers expect students to be aware of events on campus, and to know which recruiters will be there.  They want potential recruits to approach them with the ability to engage in meaningful conversation.  Approaching the booth and asking, ‘so what does your company do?’ isn’t going to impress anybody!  So, visit careerstartup.ca and click on Events.  You’ll find details about locations, time as well as participating recruiters.  Once you know who is attending go online and learn about the company.   Arrive at events early, and come alone! This is about your future,  not you and your entourage!

Second tip – prepare targeted resumes for each employer!  This applies to job and career fairs.  Again, we provide students with a list of participating employers and we tell students if they are accepting resumes at the fair.  Go to careerstartup.ca and get some great resume writing tips.  Once you have your resume, put it online or create a LinkedIn profile.  Put the URL on some networking cards, these come in really handy at networking events where you might not want to be carrying around copies of your resume.

Finally, we often hear from students that career and job fairs don’t feature employers hiring applicants from their particular degree program.  That might be the case, but it might not.  Instead of approaching a potential employer and asking, ‘do you hire English majors?’ try asking about the skill-sets they are looking for, or the range of positions that are available at their company.  Careerstartup.ca can help you assess your skills and prepare you to construct better resumes and be ready to present your skills and achievements to an employer.

Remember! Employers recruit in different ways.  Some are really organized when it comes to recruiting, particularly if they hire a number of positions throughout the year, career fairs are popular for these employers.  Some smaller companies may opt to attend a networking event, or participate in a panel for a specific degree program or faculty.  The key is to attend as many events as possible, come prepared and be ready to have a conversation with an employer about who you are and what you can offer.