Advice for A Job Fair (employment, apply, interview, non-profit)

[strikefirefall]

So I’m going to a job fair on Tuesday and I’m a little nervous about it. The following companies will be there:
Aaron’s
University of Phoenix
Argosy University
Aflac
Kaplan College
Prudential Financial
New York Life
Steel Peek Wealth Management

I graduated with my bachelors in psychology last year and have never held a real job, so my resume is very bare. I did some warehouse work for a month and volunteer work for a basketball team, but those were years ago. I don’t own a suit, so I was just going to go in a shirt and tie. Anyone have any advice for me? I plan to get there 30 minutes early.


I'm hoping I can possibly get someone at one of the college's in admissions or student affairs.

[timberline742]

Most likely the for profits will call "admissions" what is in reality sales. Following up on inquiries and trying to sell the program. If you want to get into admissions or student affairs for real, look to non profit schools. Just a suggestion.

[strikefirefall]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Most likely the for profits will call "admissions" what is in reality sales. Following up on inquiries and trying to sell the program. If you want to get into admissions or student affairs for real, look to non profit schools. Just a suggestion.

Yeah I know that they're sales. I've applied at their websites in the past, but figured it wouldn't hurt to be face to face with someone there. I just wanted to get some experience doing something.

All of the non profits I've seen want experience.

[Forever Blue]

Good luck! I've been to my fair share of job fairs & for the past few years now, they aren't worth a pile of _ _ _ _. I think these reps that come out to set up the tables to represent their companies love it for the sole purpose of being out of the office for the day & joking around with other company reps while they simply tell all the applicants to "Apply online." That's seriously all they say anymore! None of them really interview you nor want paper resumes anymore.

The schools & universities are there not to hire people, but hoping you want to enroll to be a student. Uh, people don't want to go to a job fair to spend money they don't have on tuition. They're there for a job!!!

[mkpunk]

My advice, don't go. Job fairs have only lead to one interview in my life. I've found that they are a waste of time and gas. Too many push you to apply online.

But if you do go:

1. print out only the resumes for the companies attending. The runner may say print 30 but if they aren't advertised, they likely wont show up.
2. the dress shirt tie and slacks should be fine
3. research the schools and ask questions about them and not (what do you do?)
4. be willing to try and talk to the recruiters.

Originally Posted by strikefirefall

Yeah I know that they're sales. I've applied at their websites in the past, but figured it wouldn't hurt to be face to face with someone there. I just wanted to get some experience doing something.

All of the non profits I've seen want experience.

I am not sure if that experience will count for the "experience" you need for the non-profit state and private schools.

[strikefirefall]

Originally Posted by mkpunk

My advice, don't go. Job fairs have only lead to one interview in my life. I've found that they are a waste of time and gas. Too many push you to apply online.

But if you do go:

1. print out only the resumes for the companies attending. The runner may say print 30 but if they aren't advertised, they likely wont show up.
2. the dress shirt tie and slacks should be fine
3. research the schools and ask questions about them and not (what do you do?)
4. be willing to try and talk to the recruiters.

I am not sure if that experience will count for the "experience" you need for the non-profit state and private schools.

The non-profit schools just wanted either admissions or sales experience, so it couldn't hurt. I myself attended a for profit school, so I know a lot about the schools attending. I'll still go just because it couldn't hurt.

The schools I looked up actually don't have any jobs listed online for where I am.

[timberline742]

I've had minimal success with job fairs, but the few times I did is when I had my elevator speech down pat, and when I gave it I didn't get the "apply online" thing exactly, but the look at our openings and if something interests you, call me directly as they gave me a business card. It's the ultimate "why not" thing to do if you're out of work.

[mkpunk]

Originally Posted by strikefirefall

The non-profit schools just wanted either admissions or sales experience, so it couldn't hurt. I myself attended a for profit school, so I know a lot about the schools attending. I'll still go just because it couldn't hurt.

The schools I looked up actually don't have any jobs listed online for where I am.

Which is why you research the firms before you go to the job fair. Knowledge is power.

[Hemlock140]

There is no need to be nervous about going to a job fair. I would go if only to get practice talking to potential employers, giving a good handshake, and seeing what the competition looks like. If you are very lucky, one or two of them might be about to expand or open a new location and actually need a number of people. Few if any of the employers will have openings that suit you. I have done job fairs as the employer, and we simply showed them the announcements for whatever openings we happened to have that day (about 10 that day), and answered questions about what other kinds of jobs we have. Only one of the attendees actually applied for an opening which happened to be mine, and I did not select him, as he was one of the worst candidates despite meeting the minimum requirements.

[Rambler123]

While the for-profit degree mills are generally scams, there's no harm in going to a job fair. Worse case scenario: you get out of the house for a hours, maybe make some contacts, maybe get to munch on some free snacks, and get some face to face interaction with people. No harm in that.

That being said, the actual value of job fairs - as in "will this get me a job" - seems very low these days.

In my own field, the focus is heavily on "cleared professionals" - people with security clearances. Which is great... right up until you discover that they ONLY want people with current Top Secret Clearances. This is frustrating rubbish since a security clearance is something you CANNOT get on your own - you must be sponsored for it by an employer through the government. It's particularly annoying since I could be cleared to the top level - my background is spotless - but no employer will consider doing so since they don't want to spend the money. A needless obstacle in my path and one that can't really be overcome. The final, insane, irony is that most of the "job creators" flat-out admit to not being able to find the people with the clearances they need, but they are still unwilling to spend the money to clear anyone new?! Better to run understaffed and overworked, I guess... and they wonder why this nation has an employment problem.

Anyway, I'd go to the career fair if for no other reason but to talk to folks, maybe see some new companies you haven' seen before, and maybe make some contacts. Even a few business cards might lead to something. Just be wary of scams - every career fair seems to have them, and many places have zero shame about preying on the unemployed.