The UW-Stout Fall Career Conference is being held on October 14th and 15th this year, which is only shy of two weeks away! For a freshman, this may be just an opportunity for you to get a feel of who you would want to be employed by in the future. For a junior and senior, the Career Conference can be your make-it-or-break-it stage of finding the right internship or job opportunity when graduating college. Getting prepared for the conference can be some serious business to land you a serious career. Below are some tips to prepare yourself for the Career Conference. These little tweaks in your resume and wardrobe could be what separates you from the rest of the pack.
1. Kill it with your UP-TO-DATE Resume: When writing your resume, limit it to one page and don’t forget a separate reference page with professional references. These references can include past bosses, manager, and supervisors. Make sure these references have nothing but great things to say about you! Also, ask these reference’s permission to put them within your resume. If you’re not too sure what to put in your resume, online has resources and images of sample resumes that you can bounce ideas off of for your own. When you’re done creating a resume, get on UW-Stout’s Career Link page and upload your resume and references page for career service to approve it. You can also go to the career services offices and have a councilor review your resume in person and they can give you tips on improving the quality of your resume.
Then get yourself signed up with LinkedIn. It’s like the professional business Facebook where employers can see who endorses you to do your job right. You can also upload your resume and reference pages to your profile for employers to notice you.
2. Dress like the job above the job you’re applying for: When considering what to wear for the Career Conference, pick an outfit you would wear to an interview, because the conference is like one interview after another. The way you dress is what will make you stand out.
Do:
- Purchase a suit: This way you can wear it every year and you’ll always have a go-to professional outfit on hand. Don’t forget to get it dry cleaned if you already own one. You suit should also be solid colored.
- Be conservative: do not wear low-cut neck lines, miniskirts, and beware of dresses that hug too much of your body. If you are wearing a more fitting dress, wear a suit jacket over it to keep it professional.
- Cover tattoos. Depending on the tattoo, it could offend employers.
- Chew fresh gum or take a mint before going
- Shower the day of. Please.
- Have well-manicured nails: You don’t have to go to a nail salon but clean them up! Try not to have chipped nail polish either and have subtle colors if you are wearing nail polish.
Don’t:
- Wear footwear that will make you uncomfortable the entire time you’re walking around meeting employers.
- Wear big or too much jewelry: Limit to three pieces of jewelry. Facial piercings can offset employers and I advise not wearing it to the conference of interviews
- Wear too much perfume. Make it light.
3. Ask Employers Questions: The employers you’ll be talking with have been in your shoes before. They’ve gone out and tried to find their dreams job and it’s landed them where they are today. There are probably a few things they wish they had known when they were job seeking. The Career Conference is the perfect opportunity to learn about jobs that you might be interested in or you might realized things about a job type that you’re not too fond of. By asking questions of employers, you can learn more about the companies and business you want to work for. Here are a couple of example questions to ask:
- What is a typical work day for you?
- What roles do you play within the company?
- What do you like about the company that makes you stay?
My last tip of advice is to go up to an employer, introduce yourself, shake hands, and tell them about yourself. This will be their first impression of you. Also, do your research on the companies you want to visit with. When you introduce yourself, you can then apply what you have learned about them and why you are interested in what they do. This can impress employers that you are a dedicated individual who they might want to peruse. When you ask employers questions or incorporate your questions to their company, employers will want to learn more about you since you seem so eager to learn about them.
Sources:
Career Conference Link on uwstout.edu: http://www.uwstout.edu/careers/careerco_fall_emp.cfm
Dates and Coordinating Majors: http://www.uwstout.edu/careers/careercoEmp_fall_daymajor.cfm
Employers Attending: http://www.uwstout.edu/careers/careerco_fall_attend.cfm
Career Link: http://www.uwstout.edu/careers/careerlink_menu.cfm