Strategies for Attending 2012 Job Fairs
Research about the event and the participating companies. Most career fairs nowadays are promoted online. Some even have dedicated websites for the event. Use this to your advantage, and research what companies would be participating. This way, you will at least have an idea about how many resumes you will bring, or if the event is even worth your time.
Dress appropriately. Even if you are not sure that you are going to be asked to sit down for an interview, it's not an excuse to dress casually. Treat attending the job fairs as attending an actual job interview. First impressions do last, one cannot say that enough because it's absolutely true especially when it comes to this kind of situation.
Be prepared. Bring all the essentials which include, a pen, a notepad, enough copies of your resume, and your portfolio. Having said this, it's also important that you get a bag that holds all of these properly and which you could still carry comfortably. Also, wear shoes that are comfortable, but still professional-looking. Job fairs are usually whole-day events.
Modify your resume. Expect a lot of fellow job hunters in these events, and the recruitment people might have to entertain a lot of you that day. You don't want to waste the time of the recruitment person by giving him a few pages of your resume. Instead, modify it to be attractive, concise, and professional.
Practice at home about possible interview questions. These questions may of course depend on the position that you are applying for, but there are pretty general questions that all recruitment officers ask, like what your career objectives are, your strengths and weaknesses, and how you see yourself in a few years' time.
These strategies may seem simple enough for some some people, but surprisingly these are things that a lot of job hunters forget to apply in their job application. Don't waste the opportunity to attend these 2011 job fairs by going unprepared.