Career Fair Jitters

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

By Dioni L. Wise

UNITY News Online

Being a job seeker at the Career Fair and Media Expo can be nerve-racking, especially if you’re new to it.

Dressed in your best attire, you take semi-confident strides toward news directors and recruiters who could change the course of your career. You’re nervous because you are the umpteenth person they’ve heard sell themselves as the missing link in their company’s chain.

Career fair
Career fair

You wonder about the impression you’ll leave. You also wonder about the recruiter’s thoughts. You just want to pick their brains.

Well, famed Detroit Free Press recruiter Joe Grimm allowed me to pick his brian. Here’s what Grimm wrote in an e-mail about UNITY.

“Unity is about a week away and, as a recruiter, I am trying to get ready. What to pack, what to ask, how I’ll I get enough sleep in so that I don’t burn out by Friday? I imagine a lot candidates are doing the same things. Most, but not all.

In the first three UNITY conventions, seldom did I see any resumes, wardrobes or hairstyles that were not professional.

I am more concerned with what I have NOT seen than with what I have seen.

Where, at the job fair, were the people who did not make enough copies and spent the convention in some high-priced copy center?

Where, at the mentor breakfast, were the job-seekers who partied too hard the night before?

Where, after a workshop, were the people who had smart questions that would set them apart?

As I plan for UNITY 2008, I am not concerned about the bad things I will see. I am concerned about the lost opportunities of good people gone unseen.

Will I see you?”

Here is the schedule for the Career Fair and Media Expo at McCormick Place West Halls F1 and F2:

  • Wednesday, July 23 9 a.m. -5 p.m.
  • Thursday, July 24 9 a.m. -4 p.m.
  • Friday, July 25 11 a.m. -5:30 p.m.
  • Saturday, July 26 9 a.m. -12:45 p.m.
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 at 1:10 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Career Fair Jitters”

  1. Doug Mitchell Says:
    July 17th, 2008 at 5:14 pm

    Good thinking Joe and I wonder the same thing since I can’t be everywhere. Who did I miss because there are so many people looking for jobs?

    Even tho’ I manage student projects and am hunkered down over most days, I pass out A LOT of cards at conferences and am always on the look out for the next manager and editor for our intern program or reporter or producer for our network or stations.

    Before you go in to talk, have some kind of plan. Don’t go in desperate. It shows. If you are handed a card by a recruiter, follow up. Say you remain interested or you have decided otherwise. It’s ok but follow up regardless. The higher level of professionalism (asking smart questions about the company for example), the more you will get noticed.

    Doug Mitchell
    NPR

  2. Dioni L. Wise Says:
    July 18th, 2008 at 6:19 am

    Mr. Mitchell,

    Thank you for the advice. How much follow-up is too much? Have you ever been turned off by a person who seems overzealous?

    Best,
    Dioni L. Wise
    UNITY Convention Online Staff

  3. Doug Mitchell Says:
    July 18th, 2008 at 12:37 pm

    Another good question Dioni.
    There is a line between harassment and “consistent” or “pro-active” communication. That line depends on the recruiter. I have had people pestering me. I don’t mind. I can filter easily. Others mind a lot. I have hired a few people who pestered me because their work ethic, professionalism and ability to think on their own I noticed. so, they expressed their initial interest. I handed my card to them and they followed up/ And then followed up again and then asked if they were being a bother. I was good with that.
    I had two people send me e-mails and when I didn’t respond, they wrote saying they were going to “give up.” Boy, nothing annoys me more than having someone say openly that they are giving up. I wrote them back and said you’ll never get anywhere that way. One is now working for an NPR station as a producer, the other is working here for NPR in DC.
    You can be aggressive without being desperate and unprofessional. You have to remember there are far more college graduates than there are jobs. Focus on what sets you apart, not makes you the same.

  4. dioni Says:
    July 18th, 2008 at 1:04 pm

    Thank you, Mr. Mitchell. I’ll make sure not to commit any of those offenses. See you in Chicago!

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