24/10/2022

Get the most out of careers fairs

Careers fairs offer a fantastic opportunity to get a feel for the wide range of opportunities you have following your degree, and they are an exciting first step to ensuring all your hard work at university pays off and finding a career you love.

We know that careers fairs can be busy, and we wanted to share some tips from our team on how to make the best of every opportunity there.

Set a schedule:

Careers fairs usually operate in a short window, so get organised and plan ahead. Start by researching which fairs are the most interesting to you and your career aspirations and plan out a schedule of fairs you want to visit and how you will get to them.

Research Employers:

Get to know which employers are attending each fair and do some research in advance, look at their websites to find out about the roles they offer, their locations and the culture of the business, think about whether you would like to work there and set out a list of questions you would want to know for any potential employer.

Decide your top 3 - 6 companies that you would like to see on the day. If we are attending, make sure Propel Tech are on your list.

Decide on your agenda for the day:

In advance of the day, set out 2 things you want to get out of the day - are you researching industry sectors, are you wanting to find out about specific companies, are you ready to look for a specific job opportunity or internship, or are you wanting to build out your network for the future? Deciding on what you most want to achieve from the day will help you get the most out of your time at the fair.

Plan it out:

If you can - on the day plan out which employers you will visit and when - this will ensure you cover off the most important employers on your agenda. Ensure you also plan for talks or seminars that you want to attend as these are time specific.

Be CV ready:

Employers will be looking for graduates and interns on the day - you can get ahead by having your CV and a short personal statement ready to share on the day. Employers will want to know not just about your academic qualifications, but they will want to see your personality and understand what you can bring to the team. So be sure to update your CV and have prepared a short statement to cover off a bit about you, your interests and the type of role you are looking for.

Make a great impression:

Consider the type of sector you will be working in and wear appropriate smart and clean clothing, we are not suggesting turning up in a suit but being clean and well-presented always goes down well and can create a good memorable impression.

Ask the right questions:

Show you are really interested by asking interesting and curious questions:

What are you looking for in a candidate and what helps a candidate standout?
How would you describe the culture of your company?
Why did you join the company?
What do you like most about your company as a place of work?

Be ready to follow up:

If you were really interested in an employer then follow up - send an email to the HR team or the person you met at the fair and say that you were impressed by their business and that you would like to be considered for any graduate roles that may be available in the future and that you would love the opportunity to chat further.

Relax…..

A graduate fair is an opportunity for businesses to attract you to work for them - don't be nervous enjoy the day.

Finally… come and meet Propel Tech…

At Propel Tech we make technology happen, offering digital transformation, software development, testing service, technology integration across a range of technologies.

Over the next few weeks Propel Tech will be attending careers fairs organised by the University of Leeds, University of Huddersfield, University of Bradford, University of Central Lancashire and Leeds Beckett University and we would love to meet you and chat about how we can help you make a difference and not coffee. We are committed to helping our graduates and interns propel their careers forward and as a small team we’re not big but we are clever.