Career fairs can be incredibly overwhelming—especially considering that with thousands of other students and only a few dozen companies recruiting, the competition can be fierce.
Some students would wait in line for 2 hours just to talk to bigger companies like Amazon, Google, Goldman Sachs, Boston Consulting Group, and others. And once they do reach an actual recruiter or hiring manager, many students freeze, thinking,
"What am I supposed to do now? How will this even get me an internship? Will this person even remember me?"As somebody that's actually landed an internship and a few offers from attending a career fair, here's my advice.
Know and Show Your Value
Let recruiters know exactly why you could help their company grow. Companies, for the most part, are not charities and could really care less about how much you could learn from interning with them. That won't make them hire you.What they do care about is growth.
You should know what you could add—your value proposition—and have your elevator pitch prepared. Think to yourself: What are my goals? What skills and abilities do I have? What am I passionate about? What are my strengths? What value could I provide? What makes me different from other candidates? How can I prove it?
So here's my personal breakdown for an effective elevator pitch:
- A brief introduction including all of your logistics (name, year, major, etc.)
- Talk about your qualities and what makes you unique
- Succinctly mention some of your experiences
- Relate everything back to your goal or personal mission statement, and how your pursuit of that goal could help the company
- Keep it light (and not too much like a sales pitch) by ending on a more personal note
- To make everything even more effective, show them examples of your past work if it's appropriate to. I always like bringing an iPad with some of the PowerPoint decks, data dashboards, and graphics I've created just in case it comes up in the conversation.
Be Confident (and if you can't, fake it)
Power posing for two minutes prior to a stressful situation, such as attending a career fair, can be super helpful in making you feel like the boss you really are.When speaking to recruiters and hiring managers, talk yourself up and know your worth as a candidate while still remaining humble and personal. Your conversations shouldn't be either too casual or too formal, and topics should be light but still interesting and engaging. Make sure to always smile when you're talking and to listen when the company representative is speaking—nobody likes getting cut off by somebody who is too eager to talk about themselves.
Personally, I would refrain from asking recruiters and hiring managers logistical questions regarding the internship unless you already looked for the information online and couldn't find anything.
Otherwise, if you don't know what else to talk about, keep an arsenal of engaging questions handy to ask the recruiter or hiring manager. Here are the ones I like asking because they're a step above surface level:
- How did you get started in this industry/field?
- What are some of the biggest challenges you face on the job?
- What do you like most about working for this company?
- What made you realize that this company was the right one for you?
- How does working here help you accomplish your life goals?
- What advice would you give to your younger self or an undergrad applying for an internship with your company?
Be Honest, Be You
Tell recruiters about your past experiences if you have the time to. Go a little into detail about the work you've done with past companies/organizations or other projects, and how those experiences would make you a great employee at their company.You should never lie or over-exaggerate.Being honest about the things you've accomplished and the places you've worked will always be a plus. Just make sure to highlight your direct impact at the places you've worked and relate those to the job or company in front of you.
It's A Numbers Game
You have to get your resume to as many booths as possible and talk to as many recruiters as possible, which means you should bring a bunch of copies of it and make sure it's good.You have to make sure you're still leaving an impression, making an impact, and building a relationship with everyone you talk to.I strongly advise against talking solely to the bigger brands, because the fact of the matter is that there is a very small chance they will even remember you later.
With smaller companies, you're likely to leave more of an impression at the career fair, which could give you higher chances of landing you an internship if you do well. I highly recommend interning for smaller companies because they will usually give you far more responsibilities, allowing you the opportunity to have an even larger impact on the organization.
The Logistics
The whole thing should go a little like this:- Shake hands and introduce yourself
- Express value proposition (or give a deeper introduction)
- Ask questions
- Hold a conversation
- Get their business card (or email address)
- Hand them your resume
- Thank them for their time
- Shake hands goodbye
- Send a follow-up email and/or LinkedIn invite within 24 hours including a detail from the conversation you had so it's more personalized
- Ask to meet over coffee or lunch for an informational interview so you can get your foot in the door of your next opportunity
Takeaways
Know your worth and make sure others know it too. Keep these things in mind and you will do great. If nobody gives you an internship, don't even sweat it. Just keep trying hard, building your skills, networking your butt off, cultivating relationships, and applying for the opportunities that come your way.As Lady Gaga would say...
You are talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show-stopping, spectacular, never the same, and totally unique.Don't forget that you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to as long as you take the right steps, the smart steps, to get there.
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