Speaker 1: Hey everyone, this is Self Made Millennial. I'm Madeline Mann. In this video, you'll get all the career fair and job fair tips, including how to prepare, what to do, and an entire script and framework of what the heck to say. And I reveal what all of your competition is doing so that you stand out. And stay to the end because I'll give you something special to refine your elevator pitch. A job search is not something you should do alone. And this channel has led to thousands of people making successful moves in their careers. So subscribe to this channel and hit the bell to be notified of a new video every Thursday. So a career fair is where companies set up tables and hordes of people gripping resumes walk up and talk to them. I want to first tell you what it feels like to stand on the other side of that table representing a company. Once you know what it's like to be the one doing the hiring, it is going to become very clear why the advice I give you will make a massive difference when you show up there. It will be night and day, okay? So people walk up to the table. They first ask, what does your company do? I give them the spiel for the 85th time that night. And they ask, what roles are you hiring for? Which then I respond, all kinds of roles. What roles are you looking for? At which point, so incredibly often, this question is difficult. It sends them for a loop. They go, well, I'm not sure. I'm getting my MBA right now. So maybe something in marketing or maybe a finance role. At this point, I'm gonna be real with you. I definitely know we're not going to hire that person because the reason a company hires someone is to solve a business need. You must know what value you add to the world. A company does not want to be your career experiment. So anyways, they hand over the resume. We talk a bit. They give a floppy fish handshake and then hightail it out of there to the next company. So knowing that, here are the steps to absolutely crush it at career fairs for the three stages, okay? So there's pre-fair, during the fair, and after the fair. First, pre-fair. Pick out the companies you want to meet when you get there and research them. Here's how you research them. First, make a beeline to their careers page and see if they have any open roles for you. If they don't have an open role that you're looking for and they aren't one of your top companies of interest, I would stop researching them for now and come back to them later if you have time. But if you really like this company and really want to make connections there, then continue the rest of the steps, bub. Second, know what they do and who they do it for. I try to find a quick video on them or an article where I can get the gist. Write down one reason why you would want to work for the company. Don't stop researching until you have an answer to that question. It could be because they have a cool product, you believe in their mission, you saw a post from an employee that talked about why it was such a great place to work. So learn about the company and then find a genuine reason why you would want to work there. Third, find out how big the company is for context. And fourth, find a current piece of information such as a tweet or a recent piece of news about them, such as they launched a product, they moved offices, they had a bring your pharmacist to work day. I don't know, but have that news in your back pocket. So that's the quick and dirty way to research these companies and make sure you write these findings down. Next, print out your resumes. And if you really want to impress them, create a folder specifically for your target companies. Now you can't do this for every company, if there's a hundred companies there, I'm assuming you're human and you need sleep. But for your favorites, you could create a folder, slap their logo on the front and place your resume, some work samples and even a customized cover letter for them. If you need help writing a cover letter, I got you. I'll link a video in the description of my three-step formula to write a cover letter. It got me a job, it's gotten many other people jobs. Also, when I say work samples, I do have a video called how to stand out in an onsite interview, which I show you A to Z, how to make a portfolio for any profession to show your work samples. And so definitely look at that video. If you want some inspiration, I will link it in the description. Part two, during the fair. Okay, once you get there, go to a company you're less interested in to get a little bit loosey goosey first. Don't put pressure on this one, it's your warmup. And here is the script you can use when you walk up to the table. Strong handshake, look them in the eyes and say, hi, I'm first name, last name. Then we're putting our research to use right away. Say, I was glad to see you all, we're going to be here. I'm really interested in company because reason you came up while you're researching. This is fantastic, they don't have to recite to you what the company does for the millionth time and you're showing genuine interest right off the start. You could hand over your resume now or whenever it feels right. Then I would usually ask a question here, like what do you do for the company? Or how long have you been with the company? This is so that we aren't speaking at them, but that it feels like a real human conversation. Then say, I noticed you have X role open. I am a Y professional with experience in Z and I, and then say an accomplishment. Such as, I'm about to graduate with an MBA with a focus in marketing and I optimize our program's website to show up on the first page of Google when you search for MBA programs. Or another example is, I'm a designer who has seven years experience at startups and have designed graphics for over two dozen mobile apps. I'll give you more tips on this at the end of the video, but make it short, make it snappy. So again, you did your research, you're already saying how you would add value to the team and you're not having them repeat which roles are open. Thank you. So I would make it feel like a conversation again. So after I said this, I would ask a question here, such as, does that sound like what you're looking for? Or my understanding is that this role would do X, Y, Z. Is that right? And then I would probably throw in that current event thing in the news that we had heard and ask them about it. Now, that current event could also be your intro if it's strong. Like, wow, I saw this week that you all just closed a round of funding, congrats. I just recommend that you weave this into conversation somehow to really underline that you are someone who did their research. I am curious to hear what your greatest challenge is when going to a career fair. Leave me a comment. Then if I'm really feeling the conversation, I'll round it out with a few questions focused on that person's experience at the company. What have you been excited about these days at the company? What kinds of people thrive at your company? If they've been there for a while, I'll ask them what do they enjoy about the company that has kept them there for all those years? If they joined more recently, I'll ask them, is this company what you had expected? I'm giving you a lot of material here to have an organic conversation. And that's what this is all about, people. Treat them like a human person. You want to be friend. It is not fun to stand on the other side of the table and hear someone recite a pitch they created and then hand over the resume like a transaction. Apply online if that's your jam. Okay, so here's how to close it out. Ask, do you have a card? If they say no, ask, how should I follow up? If you forgot their name and didn't get a card, say, remind me of your name, and then write that shiz down. And part three, after the fair. Follow up the next day with an email. Say, great meeting you last night, name. Reiterate your interest in the company and reattach your resume and clearly say which role you are interested in. So I have a free worksheet for you all to help you answer the question, tell me about yourself. This will help you in interviews and also in your quick introduction at a job fair because this allows you to be concise and tell them exactly the information they need to hear to become a fan of you. So I will link that free download in the description. Like this video and subscribe to this channel. Thanks so much, everyone. Wi-Fi high five.