• Are you tired of job searching? • Do you just want to stay in bed and sleep in? • Have you given up on Career Fairs? Get re-energized and learn how to prepare! Use a Career Fair Evaluation Form to ace your next networking event! 10 Strategies to Stand out from the Crowd at a Career Fair One of the most efficient ways to network with employers is to attend major, community career fairs. Instead of cold-calling dozens of employers to set up a few meetings, you have all of the employers concentrated in one location. Let someone else do all of the logistics for you. At Georgia State University, my colleagues and I help prepare our 8,000+ business students for professional networking events such as career fairs. Or department sets up and hosts biannual career fairs which are open to all of our students, alumni and employers. Since these events can be quite large they can be somewhat intimidating. To help my MBA students prepare, I host a mock career fair event . At this event, I bring in alumni and seasoned business professionals to practice career fair etiquette, networking and introductions. We review the art of the handshake, rate business card quality and practice a 7 point greeting. Students make the rounds at each of the mock career fair booths. Meanwhile, each of the Mock Employers is evaluating the candidates using the form below. To help you succeed at your next career fair, I’d like to share my Career Fair Rating Scale. Employers, Recruiters and Human Resource Professionals will evaluate you on several key characteristics: poise, articulation, self marketing and papertools. Sometimes the evaluations are simply based on a “feeling” they get while interacting with you. Other times, they may use a formalized rating scale. Practice this networking skill with family and friends and ask them to rate you. The more you practice, the more comfortable you will become. Sharon's Career Fair Evaluation Scale Poise: Firm handshake/good eye-contact ____ effective ____needs work Displayed Confidence ____ effective ____needs work Articulation: Expressed themselves clearly/didn’t ramble on____ effective ____needs work Good Listening skills____ effective ____needs work Self Marketing: Knowledgeable about our company/industry ____ effective ____needs work Professional & Appropriate Dress ____ effective ____needs work Related their Career Goals to the job posting ____ effective ____needs work Closed with enthusiasm, re-stated interest____ effective ____needs work Professional Paper-tools: Resume _________ Business Card_______________ Cover letter______________ Any other papertools___________