Dickinson College Career Center

Your success at the event has a lot to do with proper planning for fairs. You can’t control every detail, but you can work on a few things prior to attending.

Strategize for your Day
Planning your day is crucial. Many recruiters pack up and leave toward the end of the fair, so the likelihood of meeting recruiters increases if you arrive early in the day. Plan on getting there early.

Find out who is attending before you get to the fair and make a list of which employers you would like target and then rank them. When you get to the fair, speak with some of the employers who are not as “crucial” first. In other words, don’t start with your dream job. Give yourself some time to “warm up” before approaching your favorite organization. For tips on how to market yourself at a fair, see Perform below.

Resume
Your resume can serve as an advertisement of your work-related accomplishments and should be without flaw. The Career Center can help you put together a resume that you can be proud to show potential employers.

Career Center Hours: Monday - Friday - 8:30-4:30
Drop-ins: In the HUB on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 11:30am-1pm.
Resume Guide (PDF format)
Resume Quick Tips (PDF format)

Attire
First impressions often shape our perceptions of others. At a fair, standing out because of what you are wearing is typically not preferred. Recruiters tell us that they want students’ credentials to stand out, not how they dress.

Tips for Men and Women:
• The most important thing is to make sure your clothes fit you well. Clothes that are too big or too small don’t give the right impression.
• If in doubt, err on the side of being too conservative in your dress. A good rule of thumb is that if you wore the outfit out last weekend, it probably isn’t appropriate for a fair.
• Dark colors (black, navy, dark gray) are traditional colors for business attire.
• Iron!
• Apply scents (colognes and perfumes) sparingly.

Tips for Women:
• Dark colored suit with a plain shirt, blouse, or shell
• Skirts should be tasteful (hint: if your skirt doesn’t reach your fingertips when your arm is by your side, it is probably too short.)
• Pant-suits are completely acceptable
• Heels should be close-toed and you should be able to walk in them (not too high!)
• Hair should be neatly brushed and pulled back off your face
• Accessorize enough so that you look well put-together, but not so much that you or someone else could be distracted by your jewelry or makeup.
• If you don’t have a suit, wear a dark color on the bottom (black, navy, gray) with a lighter colored shirt, blouse, or shell.

Tips for Men:
• Dark colored suit with a plain, collared shirt (blue or white is preferable)
• Conservative tie (ties with cartoon characters or sports equipment are generally not favored).
• Dark socks and shoes (no sweat socks and sneakers!)
• Hair should be neatly combed
• Clean-shaven or neatly trimmed beard
• If you don’t have a suit, dark slacks with a white, neatly pressed button-down shirt and tie is acceptable.

Travel
Plan on getting to the fair early in the day. Employers will often pack up and leave before the end of the day, so in order to ensure that you have the opportunity to speak with them, make sure you get there well before the end of the fair.

Directions to the fairs can be found by clicking the links below:
Internship Fair
CVC

The Career Center often provides transportation for those students who need it. For those interested in traveling in Dickinson vans, a $20.00 refundable deposit is required to secure your seat on the van. Money will be refunded when you arrive at the specified location to go to the fair. Sign-up details for upcoming fairs follow:

Internship Fair: Students interested in traveling in Dickinson vans must sign up for transportation by October 28, 2004. To sign up, come to the Career Center and ask for Corinne. Please bring your $20.00 refundable deposit with you. The van will be leaving at 12:30 pm on November 4th, and returning at 5:00 pm. Please meet for a prompt 12:30 departure from the ATS parking lot.

CVC: check back for more information

What to Bring
• Plenty of resumes for distribution to employers
• A copy of the employers you wish to target
• A portfolio or notebook to carry your resumes and notes you might take
• Pen/paper for notes

What not to Bring
• Big book bags and/or cumbersome handbags
• Cell phones (if you choose to bring a cell phone, please remember to turn it off so that it does not cause distraction)

2. Research
Know the Organizations
Employers frequently tell us that they can tell when students don’t do their research. Much of the information students ask about can be found on organizations’ websites. Employers don’t like to reiterate information that is posted on their website. Prepare yourself for more advanced conversations by reading their website, asking others what they know, and looking for press releases about your organizations of interest.

You can’t find out every detail of the organizations, but you can find out a great deal. Some good information to find out before having a conversation with employers would be:

• What populations does this organization work closely with?
• What is the organizations mission/values/philosophy?
• Who are their competitors?
• Where is the organization located?
• What positions do they have available?
• What types of people do they hire?
• Have they been in the media lately – newspapers, magazines, other press releases, etc.?

Tip
Make a list of all the things you think the organization would want to see in a candidate, based on what you find out through researching.

Find out what employers will be attending the fair prior to the fair so that you can prepare a list of employers you’d like to target. To see who will be attending, click on the links below:
Internship Fair

Know Yourself
It is important to be aware of the skills you bring to the table and how they relate to the job or organization you’d like to work with. Be ready for your conversations with employers by asking yourself the following questions:

• What type of position are you looking for?
• What are your greatest strengths?
• How do you know they are your greatest strengths? How have you demonstrated those strengths in the past?
• What experiences have you had that make you a good candidate for this job and organization?
• What honors, awards, recognitions have you received?
• What types of career-related work have you done already—internships, volunteer work, research, class work, part-time or summer jobs, etc.?

Tip
From the list that you made of characteristics the organization might be looking for
in a candidate, write out an experience where you have demonstrate that skill.

Example:

Skill:	How I demonstrated it:
Creativity	Came up with a new way to relay information to a target audience based upon research of that population. Increased hits on website by 30 %.

3. Perform
You’re now ready for the critical moment: the conversation with an employer. This encounter is sometimes called a “two-minute commercial” because you have a limited time to sell yourself to the recruiter. While you don’t want to memorize a speech, having a general idea about the points you want to cover during the conversation will make the encounter much more successful.

Here are some tips on what to include in your commercial. Don’t repeat these steps verbatim—make it your own. These are just suggestions to get you started:

• Introduce yourself and let them know what college you attend
• Major
• Experiences that relate to the job, internship, or organization (internships, class work, part-time or summer jobs, research, volunteer work, etc.)
• What interested you about the job, internship, or organization
• Ask questions that indicate you’ve done some research on the organization

Tips
Approaching an employer can feel intimidating. Here are some suggestions to help you feel more confident:

• Give a firm handshake, make eye contact, and hand them a resume
• Take your cues from the employer: if he or she is looking over your shoulder, at their watch, or otherwise seems bored, that might indicate that its time to move on!
• Treat the encounter like a conversation: You don’t have to do all the talking, but do make sure to give them a glimpse of your skills and interest in the job.
• Remember what skills you think the employer is looking for and tell them why you are right for the position
• Before leaving, make sure to ask for a business card and how they prefer to follow up (How can applicants formally apply? Can you contact them in a few weeks? etc.)