% Tips for Career Networking Events

1: Prepare a card

Have cards to hand out (NOT resumes). The businesses know they can follow up with attendees if they want to. So be prepared. Your card should have on the front: your name, email address, phone number, Linkedin address.

On the back: your IT discipline/area of interest, your positioning statement, when you  will be available and if full or part-time.

2: Prepare yourself

Update your Linkedin page (Especially important if you are actively looking for a job). Under your name, where people usually put a title, put a statement that tells something important about what you bring to an employer (NOT a technical skill). For example: Passionate about checking details and finding solutions OR: High standards clearly communicated OR; Good ideas put into action (by the way –don’t use any of these examples…)

3: Dress for the event

You are always representing your professional self. While guys don’t need a tie, a nice shirt (not a T-shirt) looks best. Aim for neat.

4: Present your best self

Be sure to ask the recruiters for their business card, or take down names and email addresses with a pad and pen. Dinner will be a part of the event, the business people will be attending, and may notice you during dinner time. Be modest when taking your food (serving size).  Use a napkin and take care not to spill on your clothes.

5: Follow up

Whether or not anyone asks you for a card, ask for theirs. FOLLOW UP with an email thanking them for their feedback (personalize it with something they said to you -  which means, be prepared to take some notes during the mock interview feedback time), and for their time.

Make the most out of meeting recruiters

You want to stand out from others when you meet recruiters at a job or career fair. Here are tips to help you do that.

BEFORE

1:  Set yourself apart from the rest of the group using “YOU as the Employee Solution (YES)”

Everyone in the room will have technical skills. What will set you apart are your personal effectiveness skills and how you communicate them. Doing so is as easy as 1-2-3.

1.       Think of a talent or a skill you possess (are you a team builder, detail oriented, highly flexible, etc.).

2.       Think of a time when that skill helped you in an IT or any other project.

3.       Connect that to the benefit provided by using that skill, then put them all together.

2:  Practice: Say your YES statement out loud until it sounds natural. Be prepared to answer a few questions about yourself – and be prepared to ask a few questions as well.

3:  Know about the companies attending.  Get the information from career services or the web page or flyer telling about the event. Go to the recruiters’ websites and research the company. Write down a few notes to jog your memory when you meet them.

4:  Prepare a few questions. A good one to ask is what skills and type of experience they look for. Come up with a couple more and base one on something you learned from their web site.

5:  Update and bring resumes. Keep them in a folder, ready to hand to the recruiter. Do not simply set them near a recruiter.  You need to talk with the recruiter to connect with her or him. (Also, put the recruiters’ business card in the folder.)

DURING

1:  Bring a pad and pen. Be ready to take notes regarding your conversation. You can use them when following up (send a thank you to each recruiter you spoke to).

2:  Keep your time with each recruiter short. Visit all the companies, but know the recruiters will be paying attention to the degree of professionalism (politeness) you display.

3:  Present yourself as a professional. Be sure to ask the recruiters for their business card, or take down names and email addresses with a pad and pen. Although dinner will be a part of the event, the recruiters may notice you during the dinner time. Be modest when taking your food (serving size).  Use a napkin and take care not to spill on your clothes.

AFTER

1:  Follow up. After the event, send an email thanking the recruiter for talking with you AND be sure to mention something that she or he said to you during your chat