3 Things you need at a careers fair

This week we’ve been exhibiting at Leeds University and at the London Graduate Fair to find great new talent to join Morgan McKinley.

Over the past few days we’ve met an array of people from different types of backgrounds and educational disciplines, who are looking to kick start their career now that they have, or will be graduating.

Careers fairs are a great place to meet a new potential employer and to find out what is out there in terms of a career in the big wide world. Whether you are looking to work abroad, work in a big financial services company or in an FMCG firm, careers fairs can offer you a bit of everything. Wherever you turn there are employers with bright and beautiful stands ready to throw flyers and sweets into your hands, and after a while, the process can get a little bit tiring.

So, what do you do? Who do you speak with? And more importantly, who do you actually give your CV or contact details to?

After two jam-packed days of exhibiting at careers fairs and speaking with potential employees we thought we’d give out some advice on the three things you need at a careers fair.

Bring your CV. We cannot stress this enough. Recruiters at Careers Fairs speak with hundreds of people throughout the day. Some visitors just want a bit of information, but many of them want a job at that company. The best way to make sure you have a chance of an interview is to give them your CV, and don’t just bring 5 copies, make sure you have plenty of copies to give out and make sure you only give your CV to the companies that you would genuinely like to work for.

Map of the careers fair. Most careers fairs will either hand out maps, include them in their fair brochure or have posters around the venue. If you can’t take a map, take a photo of it on your phone so that you can use it around the venue. Careers and Recruitment fairs are a labyrinth of employers, recruiters, freebies and hundreds of other candidates, so make sure you know where you’re going.

Research. Again, careers fairs will normally have a brochure outlining all the employers exhibiting and what they do and you should also be able to access this on the careers fair website. Make sure you take a brochure on the day and target the companies you would like to meet, whether that’s to find out information and/or apply for a job. This will help you maximise your time and to make sure that you are seen by a recruiter and also shows that you know who they are. Those who know about the companies that they are meeting are remembered by the recruiters far more than those who don’t.

So those are our top 3 tips. Careers fairs are a brilliant way to kick start your career and to meet future employers. If you do all of the above, you’ll stand out from the crowd and ensure that your application is at the top of the pile and not at the bottom.

We’re not quite finished exhibiting at careers fairs just yet. If you’re in Lancaster or Leicester, we’re going to be exhibiting at De Montfort University and at Lancaster University on the 29^th and 30^th October, so make sure you come and see us.