Land your Jobs and Placements from Career Fairs
Recently, I started my college degree in Computer Science, and last week we had a career fair at my campus. I was quite excited to visit this fair and enjoy the crowd of students interacting with so many companies, and looking for jobs and placements for the next year. Here’s what I learnt
Every company is different
There were a variety of companies at the fair, some having only 30 employees, while others having 3,000. Based on their company size, reputation, number of applications and positions available, it is your job to analyse the different aspects and estimate what kind of a company you are willing to join.
Small companies aren’t the worst
Just because one goes to a big college, it doesn’t mean one needs to have your placement in the Big Tech companies. Furthermore, a big company does not imply a better work environment. Small start-ups too have amazing ideas, visions and a workforce. They tend to care more about their employees due to lack of reputation, giving you a suitable environment to work in.
Get recruiters to talk more about themselves
This is a tip I learnt from some seniors. The more you make the interviewer or recruiter talk about the company — their values and work culture — they are more likely to prefer you over someone who didn’t. This is called “Demonstrated Interest”. P.S. Sometimes, you could get stuck with a recruiter talking about a company that doesn’t interest you, try not to fade away from the conversation... It might not look good😁
Learn to sell yourself
Pitching great ideas in a presentation is a good skill to have. However, can you pitch a not-so-good idea at the same level and impact? When you meet recruiters from different companies, know how you would pitch your skills, experience and mindset, even if you do not have much.
“People want to say it’s the 1480 [out of 1600 in the SAT] that changed my life but ACTING like a 1480 changed my life. And what does a 1480 do? They go to class; they hang out with other 1480s and they EXPECT success.” — The Power of Thinking
Leave on a good note
Whenever you finish having a conversation with the recruiter, remember to thank them for their time. It shouldn’t reflect that you were not interested in learning about the company. In my case, I connected with the recruiter on LinkedIn with a personalised note, reminding them of who you are. This ties to the point about Demonstrated Interest.
