7 Tips to Make the Most of Job and Career Fairs at Your University

7 Tips to Make the Most of Job and Career Fairs at Your University If you’re studying in Sweden, career fairs are one of the rare times employers come to you, all under one roof and right in your campus. You really don’t want to waste that opportunity. Personally, I’ve attended 3 career fairs since I moved to Sweden and even gotten a software engineering internship from one of them. So these 7 tips are directly pulled from my personal experience and learnings about what works and what doesn’t. I hope you find them very helpful in your career journey! 1. Do Your Research Usually, universities publish a list of the companies and organizations exhibiting at the fair at least a day or two before the event. At my university (Mälardalen University, or MDU for short), signboards listing the companies, their booth numbers, the floors where their stands will be, and the kind of career opportunities they’re offering (internships, thesis, summer or part-time jobs, etc.) go up at the campus entrance a day before Högvarv (that’s what our career fair is called). If you can’t wait, or you need more time to research these companies and figure out how best to position yourself, you can check your university website for an online version of the list. At my school, that list can be found on the student union website, Mälardalens studentkår. And as more companies sign up, they’re added to the page, so I’m always checking regularly. Finally, I make sure I take a picture of the physical list at the campus entrance the day before the fair just to be sure I have the complete list. Once you have the list, Google each company. Read about what they do, the industry they play in, and the services they offer. Are they in your field of study or a career path you’re pursuing? If yes, then they should go on your first draft of the list of companies you’d be speaking to on that day. Now, go through this draft list, this time focusing on what exactly these companies are looking for. What openings do they have? What skills are they looking for? What are the requirements for a prospective candidate? Which ones do you meet at least 60% of the criteria? For me, companies with a close fit make it into MY final list. These are the companies I’d definitely be pitching myself to on that day. Then there’s a second list of companies I’m not so sure of but would still want to give a shot or maybe clarify some things with their reps who’ll be on ground that day. Signboard of companies at the campus entrance2. Practice Your Pitch Now that you have a good idea of what these companies are looking for, how do you position yourself to them as the best candidate? By having your elevator pitch ready! What is an elevator pitch? It is a 60-second summary of who you are, your background, what you’re looking for, why this company, and what you bring to the table or what you’ve done that makes you what they’re looking for. The catch is you need to fit all of this in your pitch without sounding rushed. It takes a bit of skill, but practice over time will help. First write it down, then say it in a conversational tone and time yourself. Make adjustments where necessary. It is important that you practice, or else you might find yourself mentioning extraneous details or stammering through the entire thing. The people at the stand meet dozens of students and are on their feet throughout the event. It wouldn’t take long for them to zone out once you start rambling. A strong pitch followed by intelligent questions (see Tip #6) is how to keep their attention on you and ensure you leave a lasting impression. Practice it so you get very comfortable saying it without uhm-ing and stumbling through your lines, but don’t practice it to the point where it sounds rehearsed. You want to strike that balance between confidence and sounding natural and relaxed. 3. Timing Is Important Fairs are crowded and noisy places, at least at my school. You could arrive at a company stand eager to speak with them, only to see 10+ other students also waiting for their chance. What I’ve found out is that to get the best out of the fair, I must arrive very early or towards the end, but never in the middle. There are pros and cons to each. If you arrive early, you get to talk comfortably with the company rep(s) before the hordes descend and you’d be meeting them while they’re still bright-eyed and alert. Towards the end of the day, they’re already exhausted from speaking to so many students, but a lot of students will have left as well, so you will get some alone time…but with someone who’s probably at 20%. The good thing, though, is that if you make a strong enough impression, you’re the one on their mind when they leave the fair. Just me having fun at the fair!4. Less Group, More Solo If you’re the introvert in a friend group full of extroverts, it might not be such a good idea to visit booths with them, especially when you want to make a strong impression. It might feel comforting at first (safety in numbers, yunno), but gradually, you’d discover what I did: While you’re still gathering the confidence to speak, they’re already having a very interesting conversation with the company reps. Immediately, your natural tendency to fade into the background kicks in, and you become a listener rather than an active participant. So while it’s good to hang out with your friends at the fair, you could say something like: “I want to visit this booth, you could visit that one, and then we’ll meet back and compare notes. Sounds good?” Then you walk up to the stand on your own and make your pitch. It paints you as serious and focused on what you want, instead of arriving as a friend group and fading into the background, and you can clearly stand out in the company rep’s mind if you play your cards right. I noticed this myself at my first career fair. I went to a few booths with my friends, and I was too shy to talk. The fact that they were there, talking, made it easy for me to just slip into the background. I remember leaving those booths feeling dejected because I never spoke up and the company reps didn’t notice me. I wasn’t able to sell myself or ask the questions I wanted. 5. Be Strategic with Your Booth Movements I have a very simple strategy that works wonders for me. Remember the list from Tip #1? I usually rank the companies on my final list in order of interest and priority: which do I really want to work for, and which are my second and third choices? When I get to the fair, I start by visiting the booth of the company I’m least interested in and work my way to the one I’m most interested in. That way, I gradually build up my confidence and get rid of nerves. 6. Be Strategic with Your Questions For every company in my list, I note down at least two questions to ask them. They’re usually specific questions about parts of their operations/business I wasn’t clear on after doing my research and/or clarifications on their current or possible future job openings. The point is your questions must not be generic or something that can be easily answered by visiting their website or company page. You could ask really technical questions about the technology they’re using (or come from the business angle if you’re more business-oriented). Or you could ask about an innovation in their field/industry that you’re curious about and whether it’s something they’re pursuing or interested in. Either way, you need to prove that you’ve done your research. Or maybe you could ask about a job requirement that wasn’t exactly clear. I’ve had cases where a company lists some requirements for a job opening, but it’s not clear if international students are eligible. Then when I ask during the fair, the company rep goes, “Oh, that’s a very good question. How about you take my LinkedIn and follow up with me? I’ll ask at the office and get back to you.” That’s how I built a couple of connections on LinkedIn. So again, coming with really strategic questions is important. 7. Apply ASAP Most times, after you’ve talked with a company rep and really impressed them with your suitability for an open role, they might say, “Oh yeah, you should apply,” or, “We have some other openings. Scan this QR code and check out these other roles that I think would be very good for you.” Smaller businesses or startups could say, “I really like your profile. Could you send me your CV via email or LinkedIn?” Whatever is requested of you, you have to do it fast: within 24 hours or, in the worst case, 48 hours. You cannot waste time. You cannot dilly-dally. Many employers in Sweden review applications as they come in and can fill a role before the deadline. So the earlier you apply, the earlier you take that action, the better for you. As they say, the early bird gets the fattest worm. In Conclusion… To make the most of your school’s career or job fair, prepare well, show up on that day with intention, and follow up fast. And you could end up with more than a goodie bag or souvenir. I know I did. I bagged an internship and also got a really cute water bottle at the last career fair I attended :)…..Good luck! Isn’t it lovely?!