So first thing’s first, you are not too young! Don’t let people talk you out of going to the career fair because you are a freshman. I can’t tell you how many times people told me I was wasting my time. But guess what?! I got two internship offers! Put yourself out there. If you really want it, the recruiters will see that. Now I am not guaranteeing you will get an internship first time round, but you have a better chance than if you don’t go at all. The worst thing that is going to happen is you are going to get some great practice! Yes, I said practice. Just like everything else in life talking to recruiters and interviewing takes practice. Career fairs can be a scary, hectic time for people who are shy or don’t like big crowds. But, after you read this you will be ready!
Step 1: Research, research, research. To make your time at the career fair easier to navigate and more productive you must know which companies to go to. There are hundreds of companies at the career fair and you will waste your time if you just walk around and randomly choose companies to talk to. Whether it is on a poster on campus or in an email, you should be able to find the career fair website where you can search the companies attending by major and type of position you are looking for. They even have an app called “Penn State Career Success: Fairs & Events.” I suggest making a list of all of the companies you are interested in and what booth they are in. Write a few things you thought were interesting about the companies or questions for the recruiters. (Researching the company shows initiative and helps you stand out.) Once you sifted through all of them make a system of prioritization. I like to highlight the ones I absolutely want to visit.
Step 2: Resumes galore. Now that you know how many companies you want to visit, you can print out your resumes. It’s never a bad thing to have a few extra copies and some companies may prefer to have an electronic copy, so take one on a flash drive. Name the file as your name, major, school, and year.
*Pro tip*: Adapt your resume to be directed at specific companies to show that you are really interested in them. Have some generic copies too.
Step 3: The elevator pitch. Take some time to practice your elevator pitch especially if you aren’t comfortable speaking to new people. Your elevator pitch is sort of a 30 second summary of you and what you are looking for. For example, if I was looking for an internship with Ingersoll Rand I might say:
“Hi, my name is Kayli Rentzel and I am sophomore in mechanical engineering and Spanish. I am looking for a summer internship where I can use my classroom knowledge for practical hands-on projects. I want to explore the options I have for a career in mechanical engineering. I read about your EPIC program and I was hoping you could tell me more about it.”
Step 4: Organization. Find a presentable way to bring your resume copies, prepared company list, and a notepad to the career fair with you. I bought a fairly cheap portfolio at McLanahan’s. If you don’t want to buy a portfolio a nice folder will do nicely, too.
Step 5: Dress for success. You should be dressing in business professional for career fairs and interviews. Personally, I wear a suit. A suit is something you should invest in at some point in your career, but you do not have to now. Dress pants and a nice blouse work as well. When you go up to a recruiter you are being evaluated as a professional. This means appropriate length skirts and dresses, full coverage up top, no distracting jewelry, and no ‘going out’ heels.
Step 6: The event. Some companies are going to have really long lines. Try to go to shorter lines first. This can kind of be a guessing game. Sometimes later in the day the company you wanted to talk to with a really long line now has no line. You will just need to use your judgment to try and be as efficient as possible. Once you are in line review the notes you took on that company. When you go up to the recruiter shake their hand, say hi, and ask them how they are. They are people too! Don’t just run up and throw your elevator pitch in their face. Have a conversation with them, ask questions, show your personality, and most importantly, SMILE!
Step 7: The follow up. After you talk to the recruiter take some notes. I right down who I talked to, if they had positions available, next steps, and if I liked what they had to say about the company. This will make follow up emails much easier. The week following the interview send an email to the recruiter you talked to thanking them for their time. If you thought of more questions feel free to ask them.
Step 8: The interview. If you happen to get an interview…well that’s a topic for another day.
P.S. The most important thing is to be yourself! Recruiters want to see your personality, not just hear about your technical skills.
By: Kayli Rentzel
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