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Job Seeker Tips for Career Fair Success-Part 1 by Suzanne Ricci, M.Ed. LaSalle Computer Learning Cen
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# 1: Pre register. Most events are advertised well in advance. Many career fairs have websites with pre-registration for the events, so when you arrive you can focus on the goal… finding worthwhile employment not registering.
# 2: Allocate enough time. Several people rush through a career fair because they want to get it over with. Getting it done fast, doesn’t mean you did it right, and in this case it is better to do it right than rush through it. If an event is from 10 am – 2 pm, then you should plan to be at the event from 9:30 am – 2 pm. If you finish early, and are happy with the results, you can leave, but you should never plan anything else before the end of the event. It is important to be available throughout the entire time period because at the event you may get asked to interview on site or you could be asked to wait and speak with a person who is coming to the event at 1:30 pm. If you have other things to do then you may miss a great opportunity.
# 3: Dress Appropriately. You should be dressed in proper business attire. Not business casual and never plain casual. A career fair s a professional event. You are going to a career fair to find a career you should look the part. It is better to be over dressed and feel confident than to be underdressed and feel self - conscious.
# 4: Preplan some answers to common questions. At a career fair, several employers are going to ask you the same questions. You should pre-plan good answers to the more popular questions. For example, what type of position are you looking for? What was the last position you had? Why did you leave your last company? Pre-planning answers will help you relax and you will be able to effectively answer the questions most employers at the career fair will ask. If you are a LaSalle student, please ask your career counselor for sample good and bad answers to common interviewing questions. Be sure you practice your answers on your family, friends and loved ones. Ask for constructive criticism. You don’t want a career fair recruiter to be the first person you try your preplanned answers with. Remember you have 10 seconds to make a good impression. Pre-planning some of your answers will help.
#5: Bring several copies of your latest resume. Several… is defined as no less than 50. You should never tell an employer “I only have one left or I only brought one.” That tells an employer you are unprofessional and under-prepared and nobody wants to hire an unprofessional or under-prepared individual.
• Your resume should be the latest resume you have. In my recruiting experience I have received several hundred resumes with no name, the wrong phone numbers, wrong address, wrong email, etc. If you don’t have the correct contact information on your resume then you should not be shocked if nobody contacts you from the career fair.
• Do not cross out the information on your resume and write it in at the event. This tells an employer you didn’t care enough to pre-plan and you are probably very irresponsible. It is a pet peeve several recruiters will agree with.
• Be sure you read your resume before you make multiple copies. The biggest pet peeve of recruiters is misspellings on a resume. It tells the recruiter you do not have an eye for detail, have poor computer skills or are lazy… all of which are big red flags and will cause your resume to get sent to the garbage bin.
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Baby Boomers to Millennials
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by Mark Liston
Valpak Director of Sales Recruiting
Valpak, a Cox Target Media Company
OK I admit it. I’m a baby-boomer looking to recruit Millennials. Or is it called Gen-Y now? Or the “Me” generation? Wait, am I talking about you guys coming out of school . . . or am I talking about those of us who graduated in the 60’s and 70’s? You know us. The workaholics. The crackberry users. We can’t text message and we never learned how to get out of work on time to make it to our kids ballgames. Some of still can’t set the VCR, we have old Beatles records in the garage, a turntable that doesn’t work, and probably some 8-tracks somewhere in the house.
Now you are hearing some of the boomers say that “we are worried about the Millennials because they want balance in their lives” & they want “teamwork”. Duh. THAT IS WHAT WE WANTED!
You guys are much better than we were. We had race riots in L.A. and in Detroit. We ducked bullets at Kent State. We went on Peace marches against the war. We went to Woodstock. Listened to the Who and the Rolling Stones. (My God, are those guys that old ???) Our parents were so worried that we would be in charge some day.
When we finally got in charge we didn’t know how to stop working. We really weren’t friends with our parents because we learned to do things “because they said so”. Phone cards. No reason besides “I’m the dad, that’s why”.
So here we are now wanting to hire you but are concerned about your “work ethic”. The sad thing is that we are saying to you EXACTLY what was said to us when we were trying to find jobs. Many of you graduated in the top 5 percent of your class. 95 percent of you didn’t though. That’s ok. 95 percent of all doctors who graduated weren’t in the top 5 percent of their class. Hey, Michael Dell and Bill Gates didn’t even graduate from college. Last I know they did fine.
If you are stressed about finding a good job let me give you some thoughts that might make you feel better:
The best class I ever took in school was typing. 9th grade. Mrs. Howard was my teacher. Roosevelt Junior High School in Rockford, IL. I’ve used what I learned in that class more than any other class. Ever.
1) No one has asked to see my report cards at any job I had. No one cared.
2) No one asked to see my college transcripts. No one cared.
3) Don’t worry about knowing what you want to do 20 years from now. All of us who knew what we wanted to do changed our minds 423 times. Some of us still are.
4) Hiring managers who want to stereotype you based on your age, your education, your ethnicity and/or anything else create their own problems. Ignore them.
5) Your biggest challenge is getting in the door. Not working once you get in the door. You will be fine. You ask questions. You know how to get along with adults. Remember, you get along with your parents. We didn’t.
The best job you get in your life will probably be one that you find by networking. Not on CareerBuilder or Monster. Your parents, your parent’s friends and your friend’s parents will try and help you all they can. Ask.
Also pursue careers that you feel you can be passionate about. The only problem with relying on your parents advice is that they may not be aware of some emerging industries. They may also have a prejudice on a company or an industry based on their own experiences with that business 30 years ago. (Hey, can you tell that I REALLY didn’t listen to my parent’s advice on jobs!)
Book’s like the “Princeton Review’s Best Entry-Level Jobs” can give you great insight to companies.
Finally, let me give you a couple of tips on interviewing with some babyboomers.
1) You only have one chance to make a first impression. It is easier to “overdress” than “underdress”.
2) Guys - ties. I don’t think earrings on guys are cool. My sons have tatoos. I don’t. I don’t want to see them in the interview.
3) Ladies - I want to hire you, not date you. Dress appropriately.
4) Be early.
5) The interviewer wants to know what you can do for them. Make sure they know that before you find out what they can do for you.
6) Send a thank you e-mail.
7) Send a thank you card, too. (Remember that first impression thing above )
8) Relax.
9) Finally, things that are too good to be true usually are. For most of us we “didn’t get rich quick”. So, we believe that there aren’t many jobs out there that are really that way.
10) Have fun. Looking for a job can be great - especially if you know that the perfect one for you is right around the corner.
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Tooting our own horn
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Speaking of WorkNet Wednesday,,,,,
“PSCU Financial Services was thrilled when we found our new Compensation Supervisor at your WorkNet Wednesday Job Fair. The position had been opened for 97 days and we just hadn’t found the right person. Thank you for inviting us to the event and we look forward to many more.” David LaBrake, PSCU Financial Services
“Jabil has been exceptionally pleased with the volume of attendees, the quality of the candidates and the overall support from WorkNet Wednesday. We’ve attended two events (9/2007) and have five confirmed hires with others still in the pipeline.”
Deb Snow, Jabil Circuit
“I’ve always been impressed with the staff here at WorkNet. Professionals, well-versed and helpful. Love doing these fairs.” Jim Hodge, Bright House Networks
“I have always considered WorkNet as an extension of BIC Graphic’s recruiting team, and this goes further to solidify my thoughts. Thank you.” Rick Abbey, BIC Graphic USA
“This was excellent! Everyone was so helpful with setup and tear down, giving me a break and checking on me. I talked with a lot of candidates!” Sybil Murray, Progress Energy
“Very successful, lots of great candidates. Everything was very nice.” Lori Kemnetz, Tech Data Corporation
“One of the best I’ve been to!” Carlos Fernandez, The Nielsen Corporation
“”Accessible, clean, very professional. Already signed up for several WorkNet Wednesdays!” Connie Cox, R’Club Child Care
“WorkNet Pinellas is a great resource for connecting local community job seekers with educational and employment vacancies.” Eric Carver, St. Petersburg College
“Excellent – because the staff sparkles as much as the facility. I don’t see any room/need for improvement.” Arti Foster, Sequelcare of Florida
“Good attention to details. Got good personal attention. More crowded than I had anticipated – good turn-out.” Terry McKing, CompuLink
“Very well organized. Computers onsite a big plus. Easy to locate, good layout.” Jeffrey Martinez, US Border Patrol
“I was pleased with the quality of candidates.” Caroline Ocasio, Ashley Furniture
“You guys always do a great job.” Gwen Jonas, Kelly Services
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Bilingual Job Fair Press Release
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Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 3:00 PM EST
Bilingual job fair in Clearwater
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Workers who speak English as a second language will have a job fair geared for them.
WorkNet Pinellas launches its first bilingual job fair on Wednesday, Feb. 13 at the EpiCenter in Clearwater. A second one is scheduled for Aug. 13.
WorkNet decided to go bilingual based on feedback from its clients.
"There's such a diverse job market in Tampa Bay," said Sarah Whitney-Mead, vice president of sales for WorkNet.
Jobs requiring Spanish will be most prevalent, followed by French, Italian and Bosnian, Whitney-Mead said.
Many of the available positions will be call center jobs or customer service jobs, where a second language is integral to interacting with customers.
Companies planning to provide booths and job opportunities are Jabil Circuit (NYSE: JBL), PODS, Nielsen Co. and Bic Graphic USA.
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WorkNet Wednesday Inaugural
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We had a grand start with the premier WorkNet Wednesday. Our employer and career seeker surveys gave us good marks and offered suggestions like “have more of these WNW job fairs." Good news - we’re scheduled to have a WorkNet Wednesday the second Wednesday of every month. The Hilton Carillon was a great venue to launch WNW and we couldn’t have ask for better treatment and services by the entire staff - from their special events coordinator to the banquet crew to engineering and facility management.
We hope you noticed the new information kiosk right inside the door for help. Directly behind it is our “watering hole,” that keeps everyone hydrated, with our own branded WNW water. Aside from the water, it’s centrally located for anyone to grab a quick drink and get a better understanding of our TEN, PPN and TAS programs and services.
Hope you made it to this great job fair. If not, try and plan for next month on the second Wednesday.
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Good Fortune in 2008
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As 2007 winds to a close, the refrain heard often is the wish for 'good fortune in 2008.'
As defined in the dictionary good fortune is:
1. an auspicious state resulting from favorable outcomes [ant: bad luck]
2. a stroke of luck [syn: good luck]
Each of us defines good fortune from our own personal perspective: health, wealth, joy, love, career, etc. Fortunes are made by those offering quick fixes for good fortune, but at the end of the day, a lot of it is luck, good choices, and a positive attitude.
WorkNet Wednesday can help by offering employers and job seekers the opportunity to connect with those who can change their lives, bringing wealth, joy, career and by association, good health.
Join us the second Wednesday of every month. Be part of WorkNet Wednesday and tell others to join us. While there, meet the Team WorkNet (you can't miss us in our green WorkNet Wednesday shirts) and see the many ways WorkNet Pinellas impacts the workforce of Tampa Bay.
We are committed to bringing you good fortune in 2008.
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WorkNet Wednesday Website
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WorkNet Wednesday launched its new website, worknetwednesday.com, dedicated to promoting the monthly job fairs and other fee-based services of WorkNet Pinellas. Constructed as a sales and marketing tool, it will change frequently with updates, including photos and information about our employers and job seekers as well as industry trends, and news in the recruiting arena of Tampa Bay. The site links to worknetpinellas.org. but is a stand-alone site as the information base for the entire WorkNet Wednesday program.
worknetwednesday.com is another step in branding the program which started in August, 2007, where the second Wednesday of each month a job fair is held with the venues rotating throughout Pinellas County. Part of the branding is the logo with the gazing eyes, which is used on all marketing materials for WorkNet Wednesday.
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