How to Attend a Tech Career Fair

The millennium's electronics explosion led to rampant growth in the tech industry, and job opportunities are turning up in large numbers across the country. One of the best ways is to attend a tech career fair, where you can meet immediately with prospective employers, learn more about career opportunities with their company and even have an informal interview.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Resumes

1. Do your homework. Learn who both the major and specialty-market players are in the tech industry. Research their current job postings, generally available on the company's website, to see precisely what skills and experience employers are looking for.
2. Tailor your resume, emphasizing the education, skills and experience you have that are most relevant to the kind of job you want to get. Get creative if your resume is thin, and spin the experience you do have in such a way as to make it more appealing to employers who hire at the entry level.
3. Plan a short, concise self-introduction to use when you meet with your prospective employers at the career fair. You'll have only a short time to make a good first impression, so ensure that your introduction sells the employer on your skills, experience and personability.
4. Find a tech career fair to attend in your area by registering with one of the Web's more established job search engines. CareerBuilder.com, for example, has a specific search tool that allows you to track down both general and specific job fairs in your region (see Resources below). Supplement your searches using your favorite Internet search engine.
5. Talk to career counselors at your school, if you attend high school or college. They can help you find career fairs geared towards the tech industry.
6. Find out what companies will be attending the career fair, and prepare a list of specific, intelligent questions to ask each of them. This will demonstrate your preparedness and interest in working for them.
7. Bring a minimum of 20 to 30 copies of your proofread resume with you on the day you attend the career fair.
8. Ask the representatives you meet with for a business card. Should they invite you for an interview, having a business card allows you to follow up with the same person who met you at the fair.
9. Dress professionally, be courteous, look people in the eye when you speak to them and be confident. Remember: they need you as much as you need them.

Tips & Warnings

• Narrow your search criteria according to the tech sector you're trained in. You can find career fairs for information technology, product research and development and virtually any other tech sector you can think of.
• Expect competition for tech jobs to be stiff. You need to have a current and constantly growing skill set to succeed in the rapidly changing tech environment.

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