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Career Fairs: May I Have a Mug, Sir?

atalasoft.com

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Re: Career Fairs: May I Have a Mug, Sir?

#11

Post by Groxx »

iuygtfrikuj wrote: post #9
Groxx wrote: post #7

I've had no end of success by simply slapping a name sticker over my coat, wearing my side-backpack/laptop-bag, both of which because I usually have limited time before class, and simply having fun. Booth-sitters are usually bored, know less about the details of the job you might get than the people you'd be working with (they're often HR), and have dealt with many kids wearing suits and sounding important. But they…

Any booth that doesn't have real workers on ignore. There is no point in talking to MSFT HR drones at a MSFT stand - what have learned that you couldn't get from the application web page. ps. It is worth looking for companies you have never heard of. While there is no point in listening to a speech from a MSFT HR drone - the small company that have their CTO on the stand who are making a cool technology might be wort…

You may hear of un-published openings (almost every single instance, in my experience - they save some for the fairs), and you've gone past the initial HR barrier if you sell yourself well as a person. Bypassing hoops you have to jump through helps immensely.

Re: Career Fairs: May I Have a Mug, Sir?

#12

Post by EazyD123 »

artmageddon wrote: post #8

In my experience, recruiters who set up at career fairs tend to do it wrong sometimes, too. I haven't been to a career fair since I graduated university in 2004, but there are reasons I stopped going to them. 1. Show Up . This is self-explanatory, right? On a number of occasions, a company would set up a table with a poster or two alongside a locked bin for people to drop their resumes in. I don't mind if a one-perso…

>>"I'm a literate person and I've probably already combed through your website. "

You'd be surprised. The vast majority of people haven't done any research on the exhibiting company at all. It's a real treat when they have visited the website! Unfortunately, not the norm.

Re: Career Fairs: May I Have a Mug, Sir?

#13

Post by iuygtfrikuj »

Groxx wrote: post #11
iuygtfrikuj wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any booth that doesn't have real workers on ignore. There is no point in talking to MSFT HR drones at a MSFT stand - what have learned that you couldn't get from the application web page. ps. It is worth looking for companies you have never heard of. While there is no point in listening to a speech from a MSFT HR drone - the small company that have their CTO on the stand who are making a cool technology might be wort…

You may hear of un-published openings (almost every single instance, in my experience - they save some for the fairs), and you've gone past the initial HR barrier if you sell yourself well as a person . Bypassing hoops you have to jump through helps immensely.

Depends on the company - pretty much any outfit large enough to have a professional booth with HR drones is going to be by-the-book.

Another problem if you are anywhere nice is that the HR dept treat this as a holiday, so you are getting a bunch of people who are in your town to drink, stay in a nice hotel and 'bond'. Having to talk to a few smelly students isn't the highlight of the trip.

Re: Career Fairs: May I Have a Mug, Sir?

#14

Post by artmageddon »

EazyD123 wrote: post #12
artmageddon wrote: post #8

In my experience, recruiters who set up at career fairs tend to do it wrong sometimes, too. I haven't been to a career fair since I graduated university in 2004, but there are reasons I stopped going to them. 1. Show Up . This is self-explanatory, right? On a number of occasions, a company would set up a table with a poster or two alongside a locked bin for people to drop their resumes in. I don't mind if a one-perso…

>>"I'm a literate person and I've probably already combed through your website. " You'd be surprised. The vast majority of people haven't done any research on the exhibiting company at all. It's a real treat when they have visited the website! Unfortunately, not the norm.

Fair enough, I can see the frustration with that... and I do understand from you and the article that recruiters do have it tough, too.

I would usually pick out companies who I would want to talk to and research them a couple of days before the event. The key here is that I'm looking for something from the recruiter that I can't get from the website, be it an edge or further insight with experiences about the company. Simply repeating the company's mission statement and handing me the website equivalent on glossy paper isn't all that much of a help(this isn't too frequent a case but it's happened).

Re: Career Fairs: May I Have a Mug, Sir?

#15

Post by xteemarie »

artmageddon wrote: post #14
EazyD123 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>"I'm a literate person and I've probably already combed through your website. " You'd be surprised. The vast majority of people haven't done any research on the exhibiting company at all. It's a real treat when they have visited the website! Unfortunately, not the norm.

Fair enough, I can see the frustration with that... and I do understand from you and the article that recruiters do have it tough, too. I would usually pick out companies who I would want to talk to and research them a couple of days before the event. The key here is that I'm looking for something from the recruiter that I can't get from the website, be it an edge or further insight with experiences about the company…

I agree that employer exhibitors have to be just as prepared! Our company treats it just like any trade show. And any good exhibitor will tell you that you need to have one specific goal to work towards. Without it, you're just the talking head with a brochure.

Re: Career Fairs: May I Have a Mug, Sir?

#16

Post by Groxx »

iuygtfrikuj wrote: post #13
Groxx wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may hear of un-published openings (almost every single instance, in my experience - they save some for the fairs), and you've gone past the initial HR barrier if you sell yourself well as a person . Bypassing hoops you have to jump through helps immensely.

Depends on the company - pretty much any outfit large enough to have a professional booth with HR drones is going to be by-the-book. Another problem if you are anywhere nice is that the HR dept treat this as a holiday, so you are getting a bunch of people who are in your town to drink, stay in a nice hotel and 'bond'. Having to talk to a few smelly students isn't the highlight of the trip.

True, but this one is about an on-campus / campus-organized fair:

>Atalasoft exhibited at the UMass Campus Center Career Blast Fair (say that 3x fast) yesterday, and holy smokes, do you want jobs.

Those are frequently far less "nice", and being smelly won't work anywhere. And even smaller businesses still send HR-oriented people more frequently than people they're paying to produce the core of what they sell.

Re: Career Fairs: May I Have a Mug, Sir?

#17

Post by twymer »

iuygtfrikuj wrote: post #9
Groxx wrote: post #7

I've had no end of success by simply slapping a name sticker over my coat, wearing my side-backpack/laptop-bag, both of which because I usually have limited time before class, and simply having fun. Booth-sitters are usually bored, know less about the details of the job you might get than the people you'd be working with (they're often HR), and have dealt with many kids wearing suits and sounding important. But they…

Any booth that doesn't have real workers on ignore. There is no point in talking to MSFT HR drones at a MSFT stand - what have learned that you couldn't get from the application web page. ps. It is worth looking for companies you have never heard of. While there is no point in listening to a speech from a MSFT HR drone - the small company that have their CTO on the stand who are making a cool technology might be wort…

In prior experience (having now been on both sides of the table) it's not about what you (the job seeker) learn it's about what they (the employer) learn.

Not that they can hope to get much information, just enough to filter your resume in a good or bad pile. Some companies collect huge piles of resumes and simply can't call them all. Seeming intelligent and interested in the company may be the only reason they call you from that resume.

Re: Career Fairs: May I Have a Mug, Sir?

#18

Post by [deleted] »

iuygtfrikuj wrote: post #9
Groxx wrote: post #7

I've had no end of success by simply slapping a name sticker over my coat, wearing my side-backpack/laptop-bag, both of which because I usually have limited time before class, and simply having fun. Booth-sitters are usually bored, know less about the details of the job you might get than the people you'd be working with (they're often HR), and have dealt with many kids wearing suits and sounding important. But they…

Any booth that doesn't have real workers on ignore. There is no point in talking to MSFT HR drones at a MSFT stand - what have learned that you couldn't get from the application web page. ps. It is worth looking for companies you have never heard of. While there is no point in listening to a speech from a MSFT HR drone - the small company that have their CTO on the stand who are making a cool technology might be wort…

[deleted]

Re: Career Fairs: May I Have a Mug, Sir?

#20

Post by kevinburke »

Maybe it's just me, but I haven't had a good experience with career fairs - too many people and it's difficult to stand out. I prefer reaching out to someone in the company, in our school's alumni network or asking for a mutual introduction. Hacker News has also been a good source of leads.
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