Whenever I hear the word fair, my mind immediately conjures up images of a magical place; A place where there are giant slides, butterfly houses, continuous concerts and, of course, hundreds of booths selling all things fried and fattening. However, according to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, a fair is simply “an exhibition of buyers and sellers at a particular place and time for trade”. Recently, I attended a fair, but this fair was nowhere near similar to the afore mentioned heavenly exhibition. No, instead of shorts and sunglasses there were suits in every point of my visual field, and instead of booths selling heart-stopping food served on a stick, there were booths representing businesses from all over the state. As a college student, I am sure you are now aware of which type of fair I am referring to- the career fair.
Most college students will one day subject themselves to the widely publicized and highly regarded event known as the career fair. For those of you who have not experienced this event, the process is simple: ditch the jeans and sweatshirts and pull out those rarely seen dress clothes from the back corner of your closet, print out your resume and head over to the venue to be immediately recruited onto the high paying staff of some big wig company. Doesn’t that sound fantastic? Well, unfortunately, this scenario is so comparable to the heavenly situation described above that they may as well be serving funnel cakes at the door. I experience the real deal, and learned quite a bit from
it. So here is the story about how I, Megan Grissom, went from a career fair novice to, well, at least a girl who knows what to expect for next year.
I woke up the morning of February 9th, 2011 in the one of the best moods I had been in all semester. I sang as I curled my hair, carefully applied my make-up and, finally, slipped into my first brand new suit, bought especially for attaining a summer internship. I ate a nice, healthy breakfast of scrambled eggs and veggies and I was on my way to campus with my resume, confidence and high expectations in tow. But, this “conquer the world” attitude I left my apartment with did not stick around with me for long. I walked into the building with my head held high, printed out my nametag and grabbed a directory. But, upon opening it and seeing the collection of businesses that had set up camp behind those doors in front of me, I realized something- I had not the slightest idea what I was doing.
With this realization bouncing around in my head, I decided that I really had no choice but to take a deep breath and push myself through that door, after all, I had not been so dressed up since my last high school debate tournament. So I did, and by doing this I came to yet another conclusion- I had competition. Of course, I was aware that this was not “The Career Fair for Meg and Meg Only”, however, upon seeing the mass of other students talking to the same employers I would soon be talking with and wearing suits similar to mine, it hit me just how important it was to market myself to these
employers, and it would take more than my fabulous new suit to get the job done. The problem was knowing where to start.
So, by the power of observation, which, in my opinion, is always the best place to start when you are engulfed in a new environment, I decided to first take a look at the businesses in the directory and filter out the ones that were not looking for students in my major. I circled about 20 booths and, now that I had a game plan, I felt a little more at ease about this experience. Twenty businesses to talk to meant that my chances of getting an internship had increased by 400% since I had walked into the building. I felt my confidence creeping back up my spine and, standing a bit taller, I walked into the
maze of booths with my fingers mentally crossed.
Now, I had thought just the list of businesses was overwhelming, but that was nothing compared to actually submersing yourself into the event. I immediately decided that staying organized was the best way to get myself through this maze alive. So I started from the beginning and, of course, learned more as my experience deepened. The first booth I approached was one for an insurance company. I was not certain what I could do for an insurance company, but they were wanting to see Liberal Arts and Sciences students so I shook their hands and introduced myself.
How do you introduce yourself to perspective employers? Now, I myself thought this was going to be harder than it really was. But, being the daughter to a business man, I was taught that steady eye contact and a firm handshake are always the best ways to introduce yourself in any situation, so that is exactly what I did and, thankfully, my father’s method seemed to work. Once the introduction was over, I found talking to employers to be the easiest part, after all, I was marketing something that I knew better than anybody else- myself.
However, as it turned out, my product was not always fitting for every company I spoke with. As I mentioned, the first company I spoke with was an insurance company, not at all what I was looking for in an internship. In some cases a company might surprise you and have exactly what you are looking for, but in this case it did not, and this was not the only case that I found I was not the right fit for a certain internship. Some companies were looking for juniors and seniors only, while others were only looking for graduates to hire on full time, and at first I found this discouraging, but then I, as you can probably guess, had a realization. When told that a business is not looking for someone of your major or year, it might seem appropriate to just thank them for their time and move onto the next table, but what is one of the main reasons to attend a career fair in the first place? It’s networking.
The employer might not be a right fit now, but if you make your name known they can keep you in mind for next year, or even for a job when you graduate. Of course, I am not recommending that you stalk this person until they are scared not to hire you, but just to keep in touch, in case something opens up in the future. Also, even if they cannot offer you a job, they might know somebody who can, and it always helps to have a mutual contact. Needless to say, I was feeling better and better as I made my way through my list, and not just because I was making contacts, but because I was becoming
more and more comfortable as I was getting more experience talking to employers, which is a skill that will come in handy as I, hopefully, interview for internships soon.
I had managed to talk to every employer I had circled and them some, who I talked to while waiting to talk to an employer on my list. So finally, I have one last lesson to share with you, and that is, maybe it is better to attend a career fair for the first time with no expectations. Naturally, you should come prepared for the occasion, but I found that an open mind often opens more opportunities, which is why most people, at least why I, attended the career fair in the first place.
So, to wrap things up, I learned that there are many things to keep in mind when attending a career fair for the first time. Don’t check your confidence at the door, make a flexible game plan before talking to employers, expect and make the most out of the awkward “well, you aren’t what we are looking for…” experiences and, most importantly, don’t get distracted by the other students who are also in attendance. While they may be your competition, they are not you, and if you have the right stuff employers will know it, so don’t let your intimidation get the best of you and let your stuff be
known, after all, it cannot hurt you, right?
The career fair may not have the excitement of a state fair. It did not have my favorite fried foods or be the prime place for people watching, but it did boost my excitement regarding the possibilities for my summer. So I would definitely recommend that college students of all majors and years attend the career fair, even if you are not looking for a job you can at least start the networking process for the following years. So as it turns out, the career fair really is a type of fair- the employers are the buyers and you are the seller. Only at this fair, instead of leaving with a stomach ache and an empty wallet, you leave with opportunity. At that level, the state fair cannot even compete with the career fair, even if the career fair does not have a giant slide.