Post by Farzan Khoobchehr, GIC Peer Mentor 2021

Whether you’re seeking your first internship or full-time job, attending a career or job fair is a smart strategy for marketing yourself to potential employers. At a career fair, you can connect directly with recruiters and hiring managers from a wide range of companies from various industries, learning about them as they learn about you. Knowing how to effectively prepare for a career fair means you’ll stand out from other attendees and ultimately find your first full-time job or internship. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many career fairs may continue to be conducted virtually. For this reason, we will discuss how to prepare for an in-person career fair and virtual career fair separately. But before discussing how to prepare for career fairs, let’s first understand why you should attend career fair events.

First, let’s consider why several companies compete to secure their place at the UCI career fairs. The goal for the attending companies can be to fill a few key positions or to hire a large number of students for entry-level jobs. Depending on an organization’s needs, you may even be set up for more in-person or online interviews or even receive an offer right at the fair. At UCI career fairs, You’ll meet many students from various backgrounds, including some who are competing for the same jobs or internships as you. Don’t treat them as hostile competition though; initiate friendly conversations with other students, share stories, and show curiosity toward others. These are students who can become part of your extended career network and potentially help you in the future to secure a full-time job. 

In Person Career Fairs

Do Your Research

Research in advance the employers registered to participate in the fair. This enables you to decide which employers to connect with, and to have a broad plan of what to say to each employer. Tailor your message to each employer by stating why you wanted to speak with them (their internship program, their projects, whatever attracted you). You can find the list of participating companies a few days before the fair on the UCI website.

Practice Your Elevator Pitch

Practice your elevator pitch a few days in advance in front of a mirror. At the career fair, show how your skills will be a good fit for the company. Be prepared to talk to the employer about what you can do for them, and how the courses you have taken and the projects you have done have helped you. If your major is more technical, make sure to name particular technologies you know and used in your previous projects.

Dress Formally And Be Professional

While dressing professionally means different things in different occupations, one thing is certain: You must look polished when you attend an interview or job fair regardless of the company. Some students make the mistake of dressing for a job fair or interview as they would on the job. Remember that interviewing and securing a job requires a completely different skills and mindset than actually performing at the job. In many cases, you can dress much more casually on the job than you should for an interview or career fair.  Remember, you have to get the job before you can dress like someone who already has a job! That applies especially for tech-related jobs.

Your body language says many things about your confidence. make good eye contact, don’t chew gum (or smell like smoke in person). Don’t touch your face. If you gesture with your hands, keep your movements small and not in front of your face. Have a smile on your face and hand your resume to recruiters with confidence (make sure you have at least 10 hard copies of your resume at the event).

Virtual Career Fairs

All the important information that was mentioned in the In-Person career fair section, applies to online career fairs too. However, there are some other important things that you must keep in mind:

• During virtual conversation, be friendly and conversational, and have a positive attitude. Stay on topic. Microsoft Team or other video connections can sometimes be unclear, so speak clearly and confidently.
• Ensure that you Use correct spelling and grammar when chatting with recruiters
• Ensure that you Just don’t look as though you are distracted by different notifications and your notes while you are on a video chat