Re: Career Fair etiquette/behavior
My question is this: Does anyone know if there is a particular way to
approach companies at a job fair? Do you treat it like a mini-interview and
wait for questions, or do you have a quick summary of yourself that you
deliver with your resume? Should I even ask if they're looking for writers?
This is my first fair (probably of many) and I don't want to violate any
rules I am not aware of.
Some tips from a former career-fair attendee...
Have a pile of resumes. Be sure that you have a great-looking resume, but it must be printed on white paper and not look too "busy". Most of the resumes will be fed into a scanner right after the fair.
Research the companies beforehand. Most likely there is a web site listing the companies that will be there and the positions that they are looking to fill. Find out if any are looking for a TW, and concentrate on gearing up your resume to meet their needs. (As a beginner, you often forget to put some type of experience on your resume. Looking at job descriptions ahead of time can help you to know what should be there.)
Never walk up to a recruiter and ask, "Are you hiring technical writers?" Instead, state, "I'm a technical writer with experience in _________. I would like to leave my resume with you." Be positive, and avoid wishy-washy language even while talking to the recruiter. Suppose the recruiter says, "Do you have experience with RoboHelp?" You answer should be, "Yes, I used it for..." instead of "I took a class..." or "It's been a while..."
Have a portfolio of your writings, even if it is assignments from school or wherever you learned to be a technical writer. Put your resume and some of these documents on a CD, and make a colorful label to go on the CD. My CD's had my name and "Technical Writing Portfolio" as well as a cartoon of an over-worked TW that I found in a Google image search somewhere. It's harder to throw away a CD than a resume. (My CD was created with RoboHelp HTML and included several versions of my resume -- txt, Word, HTML, and PDF).
Visit every booth, and give each one both a paper resume and a CD.
Be prepared for rejection. Most of the recruiters are looking for developers instead of writers. This discussion has occured many times on this list: For every 10 - 20+ developers, a company will hire one TW. That means you have to try harder.
Be sure to get all the toys, candy, and pens that you can. These may be your only reminder of the fair!
Diane Evans
Technical Writer
Washington State Coordinator, Tombstone Project
http://www.rootsweb.com/~cemetery/washing.html
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