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JOB FAIRSAh, the job fair. One of the least festive of festivals, where the desperate unemployed worker and the ruthless businessmen meat and one tries the others nose on for size as a seat. Sorry for being bitter, but I've done the job fairs circuit quite a bit, and have found it, well, trying to say the least. Even teacher job fairs, which target my area of experience, have been quite difficult and unrewarding. Ultimately, I did not find a job that I was happy with until I began avoiding job fairs all together.
It is important to put your resume out there, but the most efficient way to do this is to not use job fairs at all. I've used monster dot com and a number of other similar services, with fair results. At a job fair, there are so many candidates wandering at such a frantic pace, that it is very difficult to get any attention at all unless one organization has a large number of jobs, or you are looking at a job that, for some reason (usually a good one) is not very possible. Yes, the career fair is not the fairest place to search for a career.
The advantage of using a service like monster is that, by definition, once you are contacted you already have your foot in the door. For me, it is very difficult to go out and seek a position, but if I am asked to interview for a position, I will have much more confidence. And any career counselor will tell you that confidence is key.
However, better than both the internet and job fairs is nepotism. Use your connections to the fullest. You do not have a more valuable resource. People love working with people they know, or at least with people who are known by people they know, and if you are a friend of the friend of someone hiring, this alone can sometimes be enough to get you a position assuming that you are reasonably qualified. Also, ask yourself when interviewing, what does this person want. Most people broadcast their desires when in a conversation, and it is never as simple as “a personable and qualified employee.” Some people want someone to agree with them, and so it pays to back up what they say and mirror their body language. Whether at job fairs or at interviews with family friends, it pays to be attentive.
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