Copyright © 2018 by Gabriela Casineanu

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any formor by any electronic or mechanical means, without written permissionfrom the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Content, Writing, Formatting, Cover Design: Gabriela Casineanu

Images: Presenter Media

Editing: Christina Friend-Johnston

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Casineanu, Gabriela, 1961—, author

Job Fairs: How to Get the Most of Your Participation, 1st ed.

ISBN: 978-1-7752390-1-7

DISCLAIMER

Although the author and publisher have made every effortto ensure that the information in this book was correct atpress time, the author and publisher do not assume andhereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss,damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions,whether such errors or omissions result from negligence,accident, or any other cause.

Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations is thesole responsibility of the reader. Neither the author nor thepublisher assumes any responsibility or liability whatsoeveron behalf of the reader of this material. Any perceivedslight of any individual or organization is purely unin‐tentional.

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This book does not replace employment counseling, profes‐sional coaching, or therapy. The information and resourcesin this book are provided for informational and educationalpurposes.

There are several examples and case studies presentedin this book, but the real names were replaced with ficti‐tious ones to preserve confidentiality.

Whenever a gender-specific term was used, it should beunderstood as referring to both genders, unless explicitlystated. This is done solely for the purpose of making thetext easier to read, and no offense or sexism is intended.

Neither the author nor the publisher can be heldresponsible for the use of the information provided withinthis book.

DISCLAIMER

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JOB FAIRSHow to Get the Most of Your Participation

GABRIELA CASINEANU

Thoughts Designer

CONTENTS

Disclaimer iii

Foreword ix

Dedication xi

What Readers Say … xiii

Bonus xvii

1. Words From the Author 1

2. Why Attend a Job Fair? 4

3. Types of Job Fairs 16

4. Where to Find Them? 23

5. Before 26

6. During 45

7. After 68

8. Common Pitfalls 76

9. Funny and Helpful Dialog 95

10. Now … Your turn! :-) 101

Bonus 105

Acknowledgments 107

About the Author 109

Also by Gabriela Casineanu 111

NEW CANADIANS TV 113

Bibliography 115

FOREWORD

Very informative and beneficial, this book provides a detailed insightinto how to get the most out of attending job fairs!

As a job fair organizer, I was very impressed with Gabriela’s in-depth knowledge about what it takes to prepare for a job fair if youare a job applicant.

This book provides a step-by-step guideline, taking you throughthe life cycle of attending these types of events. It starts off with thebasics of why you should attend, benefits, types of job fairs, where andhow to find them, tips for preparing for the event, how to approach em‐ployers and follow up.

If you are planning on attending a job fair any time soon then thisbook is a must read!

~ Saj AnwarDirector Hire CanadaHireCanada.ca

ix

DEDICATION

To all those who …

Consider the job fairs worthlessDon’t know how to approach an employer at ajob fairWant to get the most of the time spent atsuch event!

~ Gabriela

WHAT READERS SAY …

INTROVERTS: LEVERAGE YOUR STRENGTHS

FOR AN EFFECTIVE JOB SEARCH

I had some incredible personal growth from this book. The patternsthat emerged from the exercises are enlightening. I have a job interviewthis week for a short-term goal job. Just knowing that my next positionneeds to prepare me for my long-term objective was a revela‐tion.Without your book, I’d probably go back to the same bad-fit,stress-filled, long-commute type of job. ~ Amy Buttiglieri

This book is more like an exercise book. You can apply the given tech‐niques, interiorize the new approaches, put them in practice, and—chapter by chapter—you realize that there is more than finding a job:it’s designing your path to a place where you’ll be comfortable working,and it doesn’t feel like work anymore. I really like how positive this

book is, and it works! Lots of real-life experiences, you feel you’re notalone. As an extrovert, the book helped me become more focused andassertive. ~ Cecilia Miranda

Finally, a practical job-search book for introverts! After 10 minutesinto this book, I was jumping up to make changes to my resume andmy LinkedIn profile. There are so many tips to make the whole processless stressful and more effective. ~ Amazon Customer

I was pleasantly surprised by the volume of knowledge containedwithin. As an introvert who is going through a major career transition,I will definitely be referring back to these tips. ~ Michelle Cornish

THE KEY FACTOR: UNDERSTANDING

THE EMPLOYER’S PERSPECTIVE ON HIRING

If you’re in the midst of, or even contemplating a job search, youowe it to yourself to read this book! I’ve worked as a consultant fordecades with corporate clients in the field of employee hiring, develop‐ment and retention. For me, Casineanu’s clear focus on theEMPLOYER'S perspective on the difficult challenge of hiring a newemployee is one of the most valuable aspects of this book. It’s all toooften the part of the job application and interviewing process candi‐dates overlook – to their detriment.

~ E. Thomas Behr, Ph.D.

The stress of looking for a job makes most job-seekers understandablyself-focused. In her previous book “The Key Factor: Understanding theEmployer's Perspective on Hiring”, Gabriela Casineanu helps job-seekers pick their heads up to see the bigger picture. Through her clearwriting and examples, she not only explains the importance of under‐standing the employer's perspective on hiring (they are nervous too!) butshe offers implementable strategies for job candidates to build andcommunicate empathy with a potential employer.

As a career coach myself, I know to be true how frequently jobseekers get so wrapped up in themselves that they miss fundamentaland critical steps in marketing themselves.

~ S. Peppercorn

I love the practicality of this book as it's also based on the first-handexperience of the author, which makes the book a more interesting read.It is clearly written and enriched with examples and tips to make oneunderstand the cycle of the hiring process and most importantly theemployer's point of view. Every job seeker should have this book.

~ Elsa Mendoza

BONUS

FREE checklists to use BEFORE, DURING andAFTER the job fair to maximize your experience:

gabrielacasineanu.com/jobfairchecklists

Opportunities don't happen, you create them.

— CHRIS GROSSER

Chapter One

WORDS FROM THE AUTHOR

Aim for the sky, but move slowly, enjoying every step along theway. It is all those little steps that make the journey complete. ~

Chanda Kochhar

Hi there! Let me introduce myself first—so you knowwho’s talking to you through this book.

I’m Gabriela Casineanu, international bestsellingauthor of Introverts: Leverage Your Strengths for an Effective JobSearch and The Key Factor: Understanding the Employer’s Perspec‐tive on Hiring.

Both these books, and the one you’re about to read, are

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based on over 11 years of experience in coaching, employ‐ment and career counseling and my own professional path!:-)

I’ve successfully navigated several career transitions sofar: after 18 years in engineering, quality assurance and ITprogramming, I switched gears to business, coaching,employment counseling and adult training.

Although I chose not to pursue a career in manage‐ment, my MBA and coaching training strengthened myability to see things from different perspectives—and howto transform challenges into opportunities!

In other words, I build my career step by step!That’s what makes my books

unique: they look at a topic fromvarious angles, providing useful tips,ideas and concepts that are often over‐looked or unknown. Also, they presentevidence-based strategies, real storiesof successful job seekers and adviceon avoiding common pitfalls encoun‐tered during the job hunt.

Through one-on-one sessions and interactive work‐shops, I’ve helped countless professionals to understandhow to build a more meaningful career or to just find thenext suitable position.

GABRIELA CASINEANU

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"What about job fairs?”, you might ask :-)Besides going to many job fairs myself, I’ve also experi‐

enced them from various angles:• As a job seeker, when I moved to a new city or looked

for my next job adventure :-)• As a representative of an employment center, sharing

information related to employment and the servicesprovided by the center

• As the organizer of three bilingual job fairs and themain point of contact for employers; and

• Having my own booth as an author, to help jobseekers with customized advice and through my books.

Which brings me to the purpose of this book:I see so many shortsighted job seekers who attend job

fairs! They come with very high expectations and—ifthey’re not met—they leave frustrated and disappointed!Some even avoid going to other job fairs considering themunhelpful. Or, some visit them with preconceived ideas,missing a lot of opportunities that could directly or indi‐rectly lead to employment.

That’s exactly what I’ll cover in this book: how to getthe most out of your participation at a job fair.

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Chapter Two

WHY ATTEND A JOB FAIR?

A mind that is stretched by new experiences can never go back toits old dimensions. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, J

Oh, I love this quote! How does it apply to job fairs? Well,participation in any job fair is a new experience!

Please don’t fall into the trap of thinking that all jobfairs are the same! Even recurring job fairs planned by thesame organization are different: there are new exhibitors,some of whom may have new job postings, there are newvisitors for you to meet, etc. Plus, your experience with

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each job fair will be different (especially after readingthis book). :-)

Before getting into more details about what to do before,during and after a job fair to maximize the benefits of theexperience, I’d like to draw your attention to why attendinga job fair could be more beneficial than you think! :-)

Employed or unemployed?

Whether you’re looking for your first job, you’re inbetween jobs or already employed, a job fair is an opportu‐nity created for people like you. Would you make it workfor you? Or do you let the opportunity pass you by?

Employer’s perspective onhaving a booth at a job fair

In my book Introverts: Leverage Your Strengths for an EffectiveJob Search, I mentioned that one of the best strategies tofind a job is—what I call—The Human Factor.

What do I mean by that? Using the information youreceive from others (existing and new connections) couldlead you to your desired position. It’s a strategy to tap intothe hidden job market and is much more useful thanapplying directly to online job postings (which are seen by

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your competitors, therefore decreasing your chances tostand out).

By using the Human Factor, you also bring yourpersonality into the job search process, so those whoresonate with you will be more willing to help in one wayor another. I’ve talked to many companies’ representativesat job fairs to understand their point of view.

Interesting enough, they attend these job fairs for thesame reason: The Human Factor!

Whether they’re willing to interview on the spot, justgather resumes or direct the candidates to their online jobpostings, what they’re actually looking for is to get a senseof the candidate’s personality before even considering theirresume. In their opinion, this will decrease the risk ofhiring someone who is not a good fit (e.g., has the wrongbeliefs or attitudes) for the position or the company’sculture. The Human Factor helps avoid extra costs downthe road; if employers make the wrong choice, they’ll needto re-start the hiring process.

If this is your first time hearing about reducing theemployer’s risk, I talk more about this topic in my book TheKey Factor: Understanding the Employer’s Perspective on Hiring (it’sfree on Amazon!).

Coming back to job fairs: you’ll be surprised to see howmany employers and recruiters take notes (on candidates’resumes) if they’re interested in interviewing them. If

GABRIELA CASINEANU

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there’s space assigned for pre-selection interviews at thatjob fair, they’ll even conduct prescreening interviews onthe spot.

By having a presence at a job fair, companies alsoincrease their visibility to visitors and other exhibitors whodon’t know about them. It could open up new opportuni‐ties, referrals and collaborations.

All the above points apply to recruitment agenciesas well.

Why not benefit from the fact that companies andrecruiters are curious to see potential candidates in person?

Benefit from other’s efforts

Organizing a job fair is no easy task! The organizersput a lot of effort and resources to bring together compa‐nies, recruiters, training institutions and employment agen‐cies under one roof…all to help visitors—like you—getmore exposure and increase their chances to get hired!

Would you be interested in leveraging all this?Some job fairs offer exhibitor booths for free (if they’re

sponsored or have funding). The majority of these eventsneed to cover at least the costs (e.g.; the venue, promotion,etc.).

Since the exhibitors are willing to pay the event feesand spend time to attend a job fair (which implies costs as

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well), why wouldn’t you grab this opportunity tomeet them?

They’re there to get access to the pool of candidatesvisiting the job fair. Will you be one of them?

A job fair is more than just a job fair!

Most of the job seekers I’ve met over the years expectno more than finding job opportunities or getting hiredfrom a job fair.

But if you broaden your perspective, a job fair ismuch more!

It’s also an opportunity to network with a clear focus onemployment!

The employers, recruiters, employment agencies andjob seekers are attracted to a job fair because of its focuson employment! They have different objectives though.

What better way to network and meet people who—like you—are attracted by the common theme?

You never know what opportunities are waiting for youif you don’t tap into the power of networking … whileyou’re there!

Some examples:• Meet other job seekersWhen I mentioned this to my clients, their reaction

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was: Why should I connect with other job seekers? They’relike me; they’re looking for a job as well!

And that’s exactly my point: since they too are jobhunting, they’re actively seeking useful information forthemselves. And in this process, they come across informa‐tion and job postings they’re not interested in…but youmight be! Are you open to meet and build relationshipswith these people?

The job seekers are going through similar challenges sothey can relate to your struggles. Great relationships cancome from people having similar issues. The job hunt canbe a great topic to start a discussion with another job fairvisitor.

There are even benefits of connecting with othercandidates who are looking for the same type of position.For example, you can learn from them and share what youlearned so far:

- Job search strategies specific to the industry- Job postings you applied for but were unsuccessful- Lessons learned- Connections- Ccompanies they didn’t know about, etc.A collaborative spirit could take you further than a

competitive mindset. It helps both of you to gather moreuseful information than you can do individually in the

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same amount of time. This strategy helped me find myfirst job after I immigrated to Canada.

I personally consider everyone as a resource person,even before we start talking. Why? Because through ourpersonal experience and professional paths we are exposedto different situations, people and information. Theexchange that comes out of our discussions will enrichboth of us. Furthermore, it will spark ideas in our mindsthat we might not otherwise get.

What do all these have to do with finding a job andyour busy schedule? Well, you’re only one person; how farcan you reach by yourself ? Some of the people you’llconnect with will give you new ideas on what you can do tobe more successful in your job search, and even forwarduseful information to you (job postings, for example) if youleave a good impression and exchange contact information.And you should do the same for them! The more generousyou are, the more generous others will be with you.

• Approach the companies’ representativesYou might not be interested in all the companies that

are present at a job fair. Yet, talking even with their repre‐sentatives could reveal more useful information—so youcan better understand the job market and the employers’perspective on the hiring process. Being already employedand experienced in their field, they might have connectionsand access to information you might not have.

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• Talk to service agency representatives (employment services,recruiting agencies)

Since they’re part of the employment ecosystem, theirpoint of view could be beneficial to you. Often they haveservices, programs and job postings that you may not comeacross otherwise.

Focus on career building

If you’re serious about building a meaningful career, Iencourage you to visit job fairs even if you’re alreadyemployed. Building your network should be part of yourcareer “toolbox.” You never know what useful informationand valuable connections you’ll come across. After all, jobfairs are events where you can meet many professionals. Agreat way to stay in touch with what’s new in the jobmarket!

I develop these ideas more in the bestselling book Intro‐verts: Leverage Your Strengths for an Effective Job Search.

Test and improve your skills

I invite you to also look at a job fair as a safe “play‐ground” to test some of your skills—which directly or indi‐rectly affect your job search results.

What do I mean by that?

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By interacting with others, you will better understandwhat image you project. Do you come across as confident?Are you comfortable talking to strangers? Are they open tospeaking with you?

All these aspects affect the way you conduct your jobsearch, as well as how you present yourself in a jobinterview.

If you put aside the pressure of having to make a goodimpression, you’ll be more comfortable in your skin andpeople will better relate to you. So a job fair could be agreat way to assess how you interact with others and whataspects you can improve about yourself.

In a job interview, you don’t get the chance to get asecond impression. So getting more prepared in this areacould lead to a better job interview performance.

Staring at the computer all day to find online job post‐ings won’t provide this “mirror” that helps you understandhow you’re perceived or how comfortable you are in newsituations (especially stressful ones like job interviews).

If you already have an “elevator speech,” job fairs are agreat opportunity to practice it—until you’re projectingenough confidence to make the other person get interestedin who you are and what you’re doing.

If you’re not familiar with the term “elevator speech,”this is a short, powerfully engaging presentation of your‐self. When you’re looking for a job, you never know when

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you might run into someone who is a potential networkingcontact—even in an elevator—so having a good elevatorpitch ready at all times is useful. A simple Internet searchwill help you find more information about “elevatorspeeches” or “elevator pitches.”

The ability to communicate well, self-confidence andassertiveness are skills valued by any employer, even if theyare not mentioned in job postings.

Think for a moment:If you have two candidates with similar technical skills,

would you hire someone who has the required technicalskills but isolates himself or doesn’t communicate well orsomeone who communicates effectively with his colleagues,manager and the clients?

There’s a lot of communication going on in the work‐place, and employers are interested in having employeesthat fit well in their work environment. This doesn’t meanthat you have to become more talkative if you’re an intro‐vert, for example. But communicating efficiently andhaving the self-confidence to express your point of view,leads to better collaboration and fewer communicationissues in the workplace—which increases productivityafter all.

You can also use the job fair “playground” to test yourexisting skills. When you connect with employers, they’llassess you anyway. If you pay attention, you can get a sense

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of how well you “perform,” what’s working on your behalfor what needs improvement.

While visiting a job fair, take the opportunity tobecome more aware of your behavior and beliefs. Notice ifyou’d like to change something to become better preparedfor future job search opportunities. I’ll give you someexamples in the following chapters.

Whether you consider yourself an expert in your fieldor not, the skills required to find a job aren’t always thesame with those used to perform well in the position. I talkmore about this in my book Introverts: Leverage Your Strengthsfor an Effective Job Search.

In Canada, networking is considered one of the most effec‐tive job search strategies! By networking, I don’t meanapproaching your circle of friends and acquaintances(although you can do that too). Statistics show that one infive Canadians are born outside of Canada. In Toronto,the ratio is one in two. With so many immigrants who starttheir Canadian life from scratch, networking becomes agreat way to understand the Canadian workplace cultureand the specifics of job hunting in this country. When itcomes to job searching, immigrants can’t rely on the peoplethey know back home, nor on the way a job hunt is

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conducted in their own countries. Every country has itsown culture and that applies to the professional environ‐ment as well. Not to mention the differences between thevarious sectors and industries.

For more than five years I designed and facilitated jobsearch workshops and I talked about networking. Manyparticipants were newcomers and they were quite surprisedthat networking is so powerful in Canada.

“If you go back to your country with what you learnedhere, do you think that using networking—the Canadianway—would be beneficial in your own country as well?” Iused to ask them. The majority of them agreed.

Keep in mind: the Canadian way to network is notfavoritism or nepotism! Knowing someone is not enough toget a job or to be referred. Canadian employees prefer notto risk their reputation by referring someone who isn’t agood fit for the position or the company’s culture. Even ifsomeone sends your resume to HR or the hiring manager,there’s no guarantee of a job interview or getting hired.

Why am I talking about this in the context of a jobfair? To help you understand that a job fair could be apowerful networking “tool” for you if you're open tothis idea.

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Chapter Three

TYPES OF JOB FAIRS

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed inoveralls and looks like work. ~ Thomas A. Edison

One-time job fairs

One-time job fairs are usually organized when a companyhas several positions available and wants to prescreen morecandidates in one day (to save time and resources).

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Employers prefer to get a sense of the candidates’ person‐ality before considering their applications for a job inter‐view. A job fair is a great place to do just that.

It might not be easy to find such job fairs by yourselfbut if you increase your network and let people know whattype of positions you’re looking for you might find theinformation in time.

Many of these job fairs have entry-level positions (cus‐tomer service representative, for example) since turnover ishigh for these positions and the company consistentlyneeds to hire.

Even in such conditions, there may also be interme‐diate and senior-level job opportunities—so it’s worthvisiting these job fairs as well.

Some companies prefer to partner with a serviceprovider (employment centers, for example) to organize aone-time job fair so they can leverage their marketingefforts by tapping into the pool of candidates provided by aservice provider (their clients can also refer friends).

That’s one of the benefits you’ll get when you’ve regis‐tered with an employment center: they send notificationsto all their clients when they hear about job fairs—directlyfrom the employers or through their own research (theyalways look for useful information to help their clients).There are many more benefits of being on the email listof employment centers, as I mention in my other book:

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The Key Factor: Understanding the Employer’s Perspective onHiring.

Recurring job fairs

Recurring job fairs are usually organized by companieswho specialize in organizing this type of event. By visitingtheir website, you can find out the dates of the upcomingjob fairs. Keep in mind that visiting one of these job fairsdoesn’t mean you know which employers will be present atthe next one.

If you’re still looking for a job by the time they orga‐nize the next job fair, check the new one as well. The orga‐nizers make a constant effort to bring back the previousexhibitors and attract new companies. It also depends ifthe previous exhibitors are still interested in meeting newcandidates.

Job fairs organized by service providers

I want you to understand the reasons why servicesproviders put time, energy and resources into organizingjob fairs (contacting employers, securing the venue, coordi‐nating the logistics, promoting the event, etc.). Their role isto serve their clients while achieving their own targets (eachorganization has its own targets).

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Service providers include employment centers, settle‐ment services and recruitment agencies. For employmentand settlement services, serving their clients meanssupporting them with information, resources and programsto help them find employment or settle in their new city.Usually, non-profit organizations offer such services andfunders set their targets. For example: the minimum clientsserved per year who will benefit from their services.Recruitment agencies are for-profit organizations. Theirclients are the companies they serve, not the job seekers.For recruitment agencies, yearly targets are related toprofit, the number of clients (companies) they help, and thenumber of relationships built with new companies (toensure future success). To better serve their clients, therecruitment agencies need candidates (job seekers). Orga‐nizing or participating in job fairs is part of the strategy toincrease their pool of candidates.

No matter what type of service provider organizes a jobfair, if you’re in their database, you’ll hear from them.You’re a valuable asset, helping them to potentially achievetheir goals.

Such events could be beneficial to you too! They’ll dothe best to attract exhibitors (with job postings) and guestspeakers you might not get the chance to meet otherwise.

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They might even help you by sharing the best strategies toapproach employers at a job fair, or by providing feedbackon how to improve your resume or interview skills.

Just because the service providers have their ownagenda, doesn’t mean you can’t leverage the resourcesmobilized for organizing such events. By the way job fairsare usually are free for you: the job seeker.

Online vs. offline

Most job fairs are events that require your participationin person. I have to admit: I’m not familiar with online jobfairs, so I wonder what’s the difference between an onlinejob board (that lists job postings) and an online job fair.

Probably the online job fairs are listing job postings fora specific amount of time, while the organizer makes theeffort to bring more eyes to see those job opportunities. Butdon’t trust me on that: get curious to experience an onlinejob fair for yourself. Any experience comes with somelearning if you’re open to it.

In my opinion, the power of job fairs consists in the inter‐actions that occur on the spot. Both the visitors andexhibitors are there to meet in person and gather informa‐tion directly. Please don’t ignore the benefits of the direct

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communication, since you won’t get it online. Exhibitorspay a fee to be part of a job fair because they want to meetthe job seekers in person. You've probably heard thatpeople form the first impression of you within a fewseconds and they trust their own opinion more than whatthey get from reading your resume. Are you willing toshow up? Or hide behind a resume or the computerscreen?

Specialized vs. non-specialized job fairs

As you probably guessed, specialized job fairs are orga‐nized around a specific theme. For example, there are bilin‐gual job fairs or sector-specific ones (Health, IT, etc.).

The non-specialized job fairs are focused on bringingemployers from various sectors, having a broad range ofjob postings available.

Whether you’re visiting one type of job fair or another,you’ll need to prepare for these events. Going unpreparedwill not help you get the most of this experience.

Strengths

By putting myself out there, I learned that I make abetter impression in-person than by phone. Because of this—even if I’m an introvert—I look for opportunities to

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meet more people in person when it comes to job search‐ing. And that works for me.

Do you know your strengths? What makes you leave abetter impression?

Use your strengths if you want to accelerate your jobsearch, especially when you visit a job fair.

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Chapter Four

WHERE TO FIND THEM?

Only those who will risk going too far can find out how far onecan go. ~ T.S. Elliot

I hope you’re more motivated now to attend job fairsbecause I have so much more information to sharewith you!

Here are a few ideas on how to find them:• Ask my friend Google! :-) Use keywords like “job

fair” plus your city’s name.• Register with an employment center. Part of an

employment center’s job is to gather and disseminate useful

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information to their clients (job seekers). So if they hearabout a job fair—or if they organize one themselves or incollaboration with companies—they’ll let you know.

• Recruitment agencies. Some agencies organizetheir own job fairs or participate in similar events. Theymight use social media to announce their participation,and/or post on their website.

• Event websites (like Eventbrite.ca). These websites listevents in your city and many job fair organizers will alsouse these platforms to promote their events.

• Newspapers and online job boards. You mightfind ads about job fairs this way.

• Websites of periodic job fairs. Usually, this typeof job fair has a website because the organizers want topromote the next events, attract visitors, build momentumand increase their exposure between the events.

• Connections. Ask people you know if they’re awareof any upcoming or periodic job fairs and to keep you inmind if they come across such information later on.

• Social media. Using hashtags can help you findsomething on social media. For example, the hashtag #job‐fair returned tweets about current, upcoming and past jobfairs. From there I could visit the profile of the person whotweeted, which can lead me to the job fair's website. Or Ican reply to that tweet with a question or comment, to findout more about the event.

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I like Instagram, for its visual aspect. Here are thehashtags I found for job fairs in Toronto: #jobfair #jobfair‐toronto #jobstoronto #torontojobs but you can also usemore general hashtags like #job, #jobs, #jobsearch and#hiring .

Now you have no excuse: you can’t say anymore thatyou don’t know how to find job fairs in your area! :-)

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Chapter Five

BEFORE

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation,hard work, and learning from failure. ~ Colin Powell

Colin’s quote also applies to your participation at a job fair.You’ll need to:

• Prepare first. Skip this step at your peril! Because itdoes make a difference: it could make you feel frustrated atthe end of the event (if you don’t prepare) or enthusiasticabout the next steps (if you do). Which option would youchoose? :-)

• Be willing to attend and make the most of

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your participation. That’s hard work! Because you’llneed to overcome your inner critic, who will keep you busywith all kinds of thoughts.

• Learn from your experience. I personally don’tagree with the usual definition of failure and the negativeconnotation often associated with it. To me, what peopleconsider failure is an opportunity to learn! It could point out askill that you need to learn or improve, a new perspective youignored before, a direction that’s not good to follow, etc. So ifyou learn from the “failure” experience, why would it have anegative connotation? I look forward to learning from my fail‐ures; they are my best teachers. And you should too! You mightnot have the best experience at the first job fair but if you learnfrom it (what to do better next time), your next job fair experi‐ence will be better. You’ll expand your comfort zone each time,with each experience, and that counts the most. Because eachof these experiences will contribute to becoming the personyou need to be to find the position you want.

Now let’s talk about how you can prepare beforeparticipating in a job fair.

If there is a website dedicated to the event

• Visit the event website to see if it lists the job postingsavailable.

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• If there are several positions you’re interested in,create a targeted resume for each one. Add a Post-it notewith the name of the company that has the position you’reinterested in. It’ll be easy to find that resume when youapproach the company’s booth. This way, you’ll be seen asproactive and organized—two qualities that are appreci‐ated by employers.

• You can also bring a non-targeted resume, but makesure it projects the direction in which your career isheaded, not just your background. For example: I haveexperience working in different professions so I create aresume that first highlights the skills and experience relatedto the job I want, followed by the rest of my experience.This way I attract the employer’s attention with what Iwant and I can mention that I have more skills. Havemultiple copies to leave with the employers who might beinterested.

• Notice if there are also services offered at this job fair(resume critiquing, workshops, presentations) and decidewhich ones you want to attend. Also, check if there are anyspecial offers available (coupons, ebooks, bonuses, etc.)

• Usually, there’s a list of exhibitors on the eventwebsite. Check each exhibitor’s website to familiarize your‐self with their services and products. The representativesat the job fair will be pleased to see that you know some‐thing about their company and you’ll make a good impres‐

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sion from the beginning. A company representativetold me:

“Nothing bothers me more than having to repeat toeach candidate what we’re doing. Not only does it taketime, but it reduces the time spent with each candidate (toget to know them more). I don’t want to create a longqueue for our booth.”

Check also on the company’s website for other jobpostings (not listed on the job fair's website) so you canprepare a targeted resume if you find one interesting.

• Many job fairs with an online presence require regis‐tration before the event to estimate the number of partici‐pants. If you register in advance, you’ll probably getupdates about the job fair’s exhibitors and a reminder toattend.

• Pay attention to the address and the event hours. Planto attend during the first half, since the exhibitors get tiredand some may leave earlier.

Business cards

If you have business cards, plan to take them with you.A job fair is an excellent opportunity to meet people andexchange business cards to follow up later. It looks moreprofessional to exchange business cards than to write yourcontact information on a piece of paper.

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If you don’t have business cards, there’s no need tocreate fancy ones. You can buy an envelope with 250 pre-cut blank business cards from Walmart or any officesupplies store (like Staples). You can print them at home (ifyou have a printer) or at an employment centre.

Don’t forget to take a pen with you when you visit thejob fair. When receiving a business card or grabbing onefrom a booth, write a reminder of who the person is orwhy you took that card on the back. You might notremember later with whom you want to follow up, so thatnote will help you. It happened to me when I followed upwith someone: I sent the message to someone else, thenwondering why I didn’t get a response. :-)

Social media

• If you don’t use social media for your job search yet,you should! :-) Ninety percent of companies have a socialmedia presence and check job candidates’ profiles on socialmedia. I have a whole chapter in my book Introverts: LeverageYour Strengths for an Effective Job Search on how to use socialmedia to accelerate your job hunt (especially LinkedIn).

• Follow the social media profiles of the job fairexhibitors you’re interested in. Comment on their postsand share them via your profile(s)—if you want to getnoticed.

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• Follow the job fair’s social media profiles as well, tostay updated. They usually post updates prior to the eventso you’ll get more information and you’ll know what toexpect. Plus, you can see who else is following orcommenting on their posts. These could be people youwant to connect with, since you have the same interest,which could lead to opportunities. If you want, you caneven plan to meet them in person at the event—they won’tfeel like strangers anymore. :-)

• Notice if the job fair’s posts on social media are usingspecific hashtags. You can use them too when you post onyour profiles before, during and after the event—so peoplecan find you too. You can increase your visibility this way.

• What to post on your social media profiles beforeattending?

- That you plan to visit the job fair + the event website +specific hashtags so more people find out about the event,including your friends. If they’re looking for a job as well,they’ll be grateful to find out about the job fair from you.And when people are grateful, they’re more willing to helpyou in return! You’ll appreciate some help during your jobsearch, won’t you? The organizers will certainly appreciateyour help in promoting the event, which will give them anextra boost to make it a success (for both the visitors andexhibitors).

- Questions you might have about the event + a tag with the

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job fair's profile so that job fair organizers can see them.This way you'll give the organizers a chance to respond,showing they care about the visitors’ and exhibitors’ expe‐rience with their event. Engagement in discussions withyour social media followers brings more followers, interac‐tion and increases visibility (yours and theirs).

- What position you’re looking for + event website + specifichashtags + tags of the exhibitors you’re interested inconnecting with at the job fair. If they’re monitoring theirsocial media profiles, they’ll find out about you before thejob fair so you’ll grab their attention even before they meetother candidates at the job fair.

- Ask for tips and advice about what you’re interested toknow. For example: “Any tips for me? I’m looking for (thisposition) and attending (this) job fair (link).” Add the job fairlink and relevant hashtags. Besides getting information,you’ll indirectly let others know what you’re looking forand increase your visibility.

Are you familiar with the power ofsetting intentions?

You can set an intention for the job fair: what you’d liketo get out of your participation at the event.

Your intention should follow the SMARRT formula for

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goals. If you’re familiar with the SMART format, you’veprobably noticed that I’ve added an extra R. I’ll explain itin a bit.

S: Specific“I’ll participate at this job fair” is not specific enough!“I want to talk with at least five employers, make six

new connections and follow up with at least three people”is more specific. If you focus your attention on somethingspecific, it gives you something to look for and you’ll beopen to seizing the opportunities that get you closer toyour goal.

M: MeasurableHaving numbers included in your intention is helpful.

After you reach your goal numbers, you can decide if youwant to adjust your goals or not. It will be a choice, insteadof putting pressure on yourself to do more and more …

This is especially useful for introverts, since their energygets quickly drained in a room full of people. Having aspecific intention in mind will give you something mean‐ingful to focus on. That will distract you from your innerthoughts and help you get out of your comfort zone toreach your goals. Then you can find a way to rechargeyour batteries, happy that you achieved at least what youinitially wanted!

By the way, studies show that the brain consumes up to

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20 percent of the body’s total haul (more than any otherhuman organ). If you’re constantly thinking (as introvertstend to do), your energy is depleted faster. And you don’twant to meet an employer when you’re tired, do you? :-)You won’t be at your best.

A: AchievableI’ve met job seekers who attend job fairs expecting to

get hired. If they don’t, imagine their frustration!It’s out of your control which candidate an employer

will choose. When it comes to a job fair, your role is to bethere and get the most out of your participation!

Your intention for attending such an event should befocused more on what you can do (stay positive, be proac‐tive, meet people, understand the employer’s perspective,etc.) so you can adjust your job search accordingly. You canadd your intention to something like “get two pre-selectioninterviews on the spot,” and decide that’s ok if it doesn’thappen. If it does, and you land the job, let this be yourbonus … and celebrate! :-)

By the way, you can read more about what makes anemployer hire a specific candidate in my free book The KeyFactor: Understanding the Employer’s Perspective on Hiring.

R: RelevantYour intention should be relevant to the overall goal of

your job search. You’re probably thinking that partici‐

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pating at a job fair is already relevant enough to your jobsearch. And I agree!

But I want you to open up a bit more. Treat the job fairas a playground where you can test your soft skills as well,while focusing on the end goal (finding a job). Because thesoft skills are essential to landing a job!

I love what Jawad Khalloqi (an experienced employ‐ment counselor) told me: “In general, the skills required tofind a job are different than those used to perform the job.”

What does he mean by that? During the job hunt, a jobseeker needs to:

- Do research- Think strategically- Find ways to increase his chances to get hired- Speak with people- Present himself in a way that grabs the employer’s

attention, etc.Not all of these skills are usually required by the posi‐

tion to which he applies.If you include goals in your intention that are related to

these skills, you’ll “push” yourself during the job fair topractice them—in an environment that’s quite similar to ajob interview but less stressful! And that’s the best part:when you’re less stressed, you’re more at ease, and theseskills show up more naturally. Practicing them in a non-

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stressful environment will help you become more at easeusing them later, in a more stressful environment (i.e.; jobinterviews).

Suggestion: write on a piece of paper (or notebook)your intention so you can take it with you to the job fair.You’ll have other things to focus on, you don’t need to keepyour intention in mind all the time. Just have it handy touse as a checklist.

R: ResonantThis is the extra “R” I was talking about earlier! In

coaching, we consider that a SMART goal is not enough. Itappears to be enough to the logical part of our mind, butwhat about the other one? In the SMARRT formula, this Rmeans setting an intention that really resonates with you.

Why is this important?Let’s see! What happens if I ask you to set the following

intention:“During this job fair I want to talk with at least five

employers, give away at least ten resumes and make sixnew connections”.

If this intention doesn’t resonate with you (becauseyou’re not interested) or you don’t agree (you think that’stoo much or too little), you won’t be motivated enough todo what it takes to achieve it. Right?

But if you set an intention yourself, something that

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resonates with you, something you’re really interested in,this resonance will bring you extra energy and motivationto achieve it.

As a guideline: set an intention that’s a bit bigger thanyou think you can achieve, but not too big to scare you—because this fear will unconsciously sabotage your behaviorwhile you’re talking with others. Stretching yourself a bitwill help you identify the “blind spots” of your behavior, soyou’ll know what to work on next—if you want to takeyour job search to the next level.

Even if you’re looking for a position below your exper‐tise, you can find something that resonates with you besidesthe financial gain. For example: how this type of job willhelp you get closer to your long-term objective or the skillsyou’ll learn by having this position. Look beyond theappearances and find something that resonates with you.This is the best way to motivate yourself ! By the way,employers love to hire motivated candidates! And it’s yourjob to find ways to motivate yourself; others are too busywith their own stuff. :-)

T: Time-boundIt’s important to set a time frame for achieving your

intention: when you want to achieve it by?Since you plan to go to a job fair, you might think you

already have a time frame but you can make it even more

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specific! For example: “At this job fair, I want to talk with atleast five employers, give out at least 10 resumes, make sixnew connections and follow up with three people. I’ll spenda minimum of three hours there to gather useful informa‐tion by talking with visitors and exhibitors.”

Mental preparation

By now, you might think that you have all you need:you know your background and the intention for thisjob fair.

That’s all good, but there’s more. :-)• Understand that a job fair could open up more

opportunities than you expect, so be open to seizing them(even if you don’t know upfront what they look like).Otherwise, you could be so stuck in your own expectationsthat you might pass up on some opportunities withoutrecognizing their potential value. Like the lady with anaccounting background who stopped by my booth asking:“For what positions do you hire?” My booth at that job fairwas only to help job seekers through custom advice on thespot and to inform them about my book Introverts: LeverageYour Strengths for an Effective Job Search. She didn’t even botherto read my banner before asking her question. Disap‐pointed that I didn’t have any job openings and shecouldn’t leave her resume for a potential position, she left

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—ignoring my offer to give her some tips to accelerate herjob search. With over ten years’ experience in coachingand employment counseling, I could certainly have givenher some tips specific to her situation. But she was so stuckin “I can find a job only if I leave my resume with anemployer” that she missed an opportunity. General jobsearch advice is useful, but customized advice specific toyour situation, background and personality is even better!

• Think about what kind of information you’re inter‐ested in related to your job search objective and preparesome questions to ask the other job seekers you’ll meetthere. They might have some answers, information andcontacts beneficial to you as well. If you assume they don’t,you won’t even bother to open up a discussion or ask! Or ifyou feel that you know all you need to get the job youwant, then ask yourself: what could make your job searchmore effective? Obviously your strategy isn’t as effective asyou think, since you didn’t get the position you want yet.Please don’t be like a client who told me, six months afterattending my job search workshops: “I sent 300 resumes invain, now I’ll start using the other job search strategies youtaught me”. He was talking about the strategies I alsopresent in the book Introverts: Leverage Your Job Search for anEffective Job Search. My answer to him: “Why did you wait solong?” He could have used several strategies simultaneouslyto accelerate his job hunt.

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• A job fair can be an exhausting experience. Prepareyourself mentally for that so you don’t give up too easily.Perseverance is one of the tools in the toolbox of successfulpeople.

• If you’re introverted or shy, keep in mind that a jobfair could be a stepping stone that takes you further onyour job hunt journey. Get ready to put yourself in uncom‐fortable situations (like talking with more people than youwould normally do). You’ll be happy you did when younotice (at the next event) that you’re getting better at “navi‐gating” these situations. In coaching we call it “expandingyour comfort zone.” Every time you push yourself a bit outof your comfort zone, you’ll learn something new—whichwill expand your comfort zone.

By the way, that’s the best way to improve a skill orlearn a new one. I’m a strong believer that job searching isa self-growth process that pushes you to grow to the skilllevel required for the position you’re looking for.

• You’ll find more about how to master your mental“game” in the chapter: Common Pitfalls.

Physical preparation

Yep, you’ll also need to prepare your body to get themost of a job fair.

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• A good sleep the night before will give you extraenergy to expend during the job fair.

This is especially important for introverts since theirenergy gets depleted faster in a new environment. Andtalking with the exhibitors and other visitors will acceleratethis process. That’s why setting a time frame for being at ajob fair is important! You can even schedule some breaksfor yourself while there, to “recharge your batteries” so youcan stay for the time you committed to.

Extroverts might think this tip is not applicable to themsince they get energized when speaking with others. Yet, ifyou’ve accumulated some fatigue lately, this will be quicklypicked up by the employers you’ll talk to. Not the best wayto leave a great first impression, right?

Plus, when we’re tired, all kinds of negative thoughtsinvade our mind. Not the best way to visit a job fair either.:-)

• A good stretch before going there will make yourbody function better, so you can focus more on your mental“game”—an essential factor to succeed in any endeavor.

• Plan to take a bottle of water and some snacks withyou. The time spent at a job fair, plus commuting, will addup to a few good hours so having some snacks handy willhelp. You don’t want hunger to push you out sooner thanyou planned, do you?

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And talking to many people can leave your mouthfeeling dry. Learn from employers who hydrate themselveswell—they too speak a lot at job fairs.

Not to mention that staying hydrated will keepyour stress level down, helping you to be your best duringstressful conversations with employers.

Appearance

You probably know this, but it’s worth repeating:whether you like it or not, the first impression takes intoconsideration how you look!

While a job fair seems to be a less formal event, yourappearance still counts. You should look like you’re goingto a job interview for the position you want. After all, theremight be opportunities for pre-selection interviews at thejob fair, and you don’t want to give the impression thatyou’re not ready—do you?

Think in advance what’s appropriate to wear andprepare your clothes the day before. Feeling rushedbecause you couldn’t figure out what to wear or yourclothes weren't ironed, isn’t the best way to start your dayin general. And it could affect how you present yourself infront of the employers. So be proactive!

There is another reason why I’m talking about dressing

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like you’re going for a job interview: it will prepare youmentally as well!

Did you notice that when you’re dressed more formallyyour attitude is different than when you’re wearing a T-shirtand jeans? That’s because we unconsciously associate thelatter with something more fun (and act accordingly) and theformal dressing to something more professional. As soon aswe put clothes on, our bodies instantly react, adopting thecorresponding attitude. While humor is appreciated ingeneral, looking like you’re going to a fun place is not usuallywhat employers expect when they meet a candidate. :-)

Yet, different companies have different organizationalcultures. And different positions in the same companymight require different attire. Keep that in mind when youchoose your clothes for a job fair. For example, if you’relooking for a position in a bank (which is a more formalenvironment) wearing a pullover at the job fair might notmake you look professional enough. If you’re looking for aposition at a small coffee shop, you might be ok with jeansbut a dress shirt would look better than a T-shirt. This isalso a way to indirectly convey the message that yourespect the interlocutor, the company and yourself!

There’s a reason for the saying “Dress for success!”Should I mention that—in general—visible tattoos,

piercings, overly fashionable clothes, shoes and jewelry (no

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matter how beautiful) are considered inappropriate for aprofessional environment like a job fair and job interview?You may be perceived as being too interested in how youlook—and less interested in work.

Checklist: BEFORE

If you would like a reminder about what to do beforeattending a job fair, you can download the checklist here:

gabrielacasineanu.com/jobfairchecklists

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Chapter Six

DURING

The future depends on what you do today. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

This is the day! You’re all prepared and ready to find outwhat this job fair has in store for you. So let’s get started!

Plan to attend the job fair when it opens or soon after.This will help you get the most out of it regarding connec‐tions with employer and recruiters.

Yet, good things could also happen toward the end ofthe event!

Let me give you and example: A marketing profes‐

45

sional, new to the city, came to visit my booth when I wasabout to pack up my stuff to leave. He was curious aboutmy book, then he asked several questions regarding hisspecific job hunt. In other words, he did an informationinterview on the spot. :-) Since he liked the advice I wasgiving, we continued to talk for a while and he left withnew ideas about how to accelerate his job search.

I don’t suggest you keep someone over the time limit, itshows a lack of respect for the person’s time and you cancome across as someone too greedy—not the impressionyou’d like to make, is it? It was ok for me to stay a little overthe closing time, but for other people it might not be. Whathe didn’t do though: he didn’t follow up! Not only to thankme for the time I spent with him and the advice hereceived, but also for letting me know his coordinates incase I might come across some useful information for him—days after our discussion. Some people are willing to dothat if you make a good first impression, and he did! So helost an opportunity there!

You’ll find below some ideas on what you can doduring the job fair. But I encourage you to also come upwith new ways of making the most out of the time youspend there—that’s why you have a brain, right? :-)

Intention

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Do you remember the intention you set for this specificjob fair? The one based on the SMARRT formula.

For each job fair, you can choose a different intentionbased on your current situation and goals. Keep it handy,so you can use it as a checklist of the things you planned toachieve at the job fair. When you’re too tired or don’t knowwhat else you can do there, reread your intention andnotice if there’s anything left that was not yet accom‐plished. If you checked all the items from your intentionfor the event, feel free to remove any pressure you put onyourself and decide if you want to spend more time there(for additional benefits) or not. I bet there’s more there foryou but it’s your choice to stay, take a break and thencontinue or leave.

Familiarize yourself

When you arrive, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourselfwith the venue:

• Do they have a coat check? It’s not easy to walkaround with your winter coat and still be comfortable whenyou talk to people. Same if you have extra bags (shoppingbags, for example)—you won’t look too professionalcarrying them around anyway.

• Stop at the registration desk if you need to register or

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confirm your registration. If there’s no one else around,you can ask a question or two to get in the conversationmode.

• Is there’s a floor map, take a look to spot the boothsyou want to visit.

• If there are presentations planned, check the scheduleso you don’t miss the presentations you’re interested in.The organizers carefully choose their guest speakers, andI’m pretty sure you’ll learn something new from eachpresentation)—at least from the answers you get if you askyour own questions. Most of the presenters allow partici‐pants to ask questions. This is another way to get others toknow about you and what you’re looking for—which couldmake a good conversation topic if someone wants toconnect with you after.

Navigating the job fair

Take yourself on a tour to get a quick idea about all theexhibitors and their booths. There might be some newones, which were not yet listed on the job fair's websitewhen you last checked.

Some booths might have longer waiting lineups. Eval‐uate what’s the best way for you to navigate the job fairefficiently.

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Keep in mind that you could get tired, since you’ll bethere for a while speaking with others. If you consider theemployer’s representative as an authority, you’ll probablybe more stressed than usual, which could get you tiredfaster.

Don’t wait too much before visiting the booths you’reinterested in. You can start with a few you consider lessimportant, to get yourself familiar with approaching anexhibitor, then go to those you’re really interested in.

If the lineup is too long: instead of spending too muchtime in that line, check if there’s a smaller queue atanother booth, and go there. That’s why it’s good to knowin advance what booths you consider mandatory to visit.

The exhibitors' booths might be grouped by categories;employers in a particular industry could be in the samesector, which will make it easier for you to go from onebooth to another.

At the exhibitor booth

Before even talking to an exhibitor, take some time tonotice their promotional materials (banners, flyers, etc.).You’ll get a better idea of who they are and what job post‐ings they have available.

• If, after the initial assessment, you consider that a booth

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doesn’t deserve your attention for now, come back to itlater (after you visit the more relevant booths for yourintention).

• Notice if the booth represents a company, a serviceprovider, a training institution or something else. Nothingis more annoying to an exhibitor than explaining to eachcandidate who they are while the information is alreadyavailable on their promotional materials and even listed inadvance on the job fair's website.

• Before starting a discussion with an employer, be clearabout what you’re looking for and your situation. But beopen to whatever comes out of that discussion. We neverknow what we don’t know and some things becomeobvious only days after.

How to approach an exhibitor

When you’re ready to talk with an exhibitor, start byasking a question. It could be related to what you’venoticed at their booth (banner, flyers, list of job postings),on their website or something that grabbed your attentionwhile at their booth.

Be prepared to hand out your resume if they’re inter‐ested in your background and have positions in your field—they’ll probably ask for it. If not, feel free to ask if you

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can leave a copy of your resume. Some might accept, evenif they don’t currently have job openings in your field.Recruiters and other service providers are always interestedin growing their pool of potential candidates.

When you show interest in an institution, its represen‐tatives will be more open to knowing about you.

You’ll find below some examples of questions that youcan ask. It’s all about how well your skills, experience andexpertise will match what that institution needs. Anapproach based on curiosity and mutual interest will makeyour interlocutor more open to listening to what you haveto offer, than an aggressive sales approach that starts with:“I have experience in (this) field, here’s my resume.”

Examples of questions:• For a company/recruiting agency/recruiter:What type of candidate are you looking for? Do you

have job openings in (this) field? Do you envision havingthis kind of job opportunity in the future? I saw on yourwebsite that … (then add your question).

If you’re interested in that company, and there are notmany people waiting for that booth, you can even ask:What qualities are you looking for in a candidate in this field,to match your company culture? The answers will help youunderstand how you can adjust your job application if youwant to apply for a position with that company, or send a

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Pain Letter directly to your potential manager. I talk moreabout the Pain letter as an effective strategy in my book Intro‐verts: Leverage Your Strengths for an Effective Job Search. This is aconcept that was coined by Liz Ryan in her article How ToWrite Your First Pain Letter.

• For service providers (employment centers, settlementservices, career coaches, etc.):

What services do you offer for people like me? Bymentioning a few words about your background and jobsearch objective, you can get a customized answer.

• For a training institution:I’m looking for (your job search objective)…do you

recommend any courses? Do you have career adviceservices and an alumni association? Any other advicefor me?

Such questions could help you gather more usefulinformation and learn about services available to accelerateyour job search.

Other booths

Just because a booth doesn’t seem related to whatyou’re looking for, it doesn’t mean that you can’t get usefulinformation from the representatives at that booth. They’reexperienced professionals as well. Besides the products andservices they represent, they could share valuable informa‐

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tion with you and direct you toward other resources thatmight help.

If their booth is not directly related to job postings,probably not many job seekers are stopping by their booth—because they didn’t read this book yet! :-)

In fact, that’s how I first heard that some companiescan create a position if a good candidate shows up.

After making a tour at a job fair, I stopped at a boothwhere the representative was all by himself. No oneapproached him and he looked bored. You should haveseen his face lighten up when I stopped by. He was repre‐senting a private company with expensive courses but waseager to talk to me. When I mentioned what I was lookingfor and asked for his advice, he was more than willing toshare what he knew about effective job search strategies. Ifound a job soon after so I didn’t get the chance to followall his advice, but I’ve shared what I learned from him withall my clients in one-on-one sessions and job search work‐shops. Some of them did find jobs using this strategy:directly approaching companies who could benefit fromtheir experience, even if they didn’t have any job postingslisted on their website or online job boards.

If you read my book The Key Factor: Understanding theEmployer’s Perspective on Hiring you’ll better understand why acompany is willing to hire this way. This book is free onAmazon.

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Meet new people

As I mentioned earlier, a job fair is more than a placeto meet employers and hand out resumes.

If you begin to grasp the value of networking, you’llalso understand why a job fair is such a great opportunityto increase your network! Everyone there is open to makingnew connections:

• Employers—candidates. The first are interested inmeeting good candidates; the others to meet potentialemployers.

• Service providers—candidates. The first haveprograms, services and job postings sourced directly fromthe employers and they’re looking for clients to help themmeet their objectives. The latter can benefit from theservices, programs and job postings offered by these serviceproviders.

• Job seekers—job seekers. Since they are in a similarsituation, each of them are already collecting informationand are developing their network (besides friends andacquaintances). Being open to connect with other jobseekers is very beneficial to tap into other people’snetworks.

I built rewarding relationships with people who were ina similar situation during my 14 years in Canada, startingfrom the day I landed here. And we’ve helped each other

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along the way, even if we’re not in touch too often. To giveyou an idea, here’s an image of my Canadian professionalbackground:

I couldn’t have got where am I today without the rela‐tionships I built after immigrating to Canada. And yes, Ihelp many as well! Giving is even more rewarding thanbeing only on the receiving side.

Are you wondering what you can give when you needhelp too? Here are some examples:

- A smile or encouragement- Information you’ve accumulated- Sharing a useful article- Offering an introduction to someone you know (or

just met)- Sharing your experience (it might inspire others), etc.There are so many ways to give! Even offering to stay

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in touch is useful, since you might find new informationand make new connections later that might be beneficial tothe person you just met.

I remember a client sharing her experience in one ofmy workshops. She recently met someone and theyexchanged business cards. A couple of days after, she metsomeone else who wanted to connect with a person havingprecisely the profile listed on the business card she receivedearlier! Being able to introduce the two new acquaintancesto each other made her feel good, while helping them atthe same time. Something that she didn’t anticipate!

Here’s another example from when I managed amentoring program. A marketing professional with anMBA who moved from another city, wanted to increaseher visibility and get advice from a mentor. She had veryspecific requirements: the mentor had to have at least 15years’ experience in the marketing field working withcorporate clients. Guess what? The very next day,someone with 15 years of corporate marketing experience,knocked at my door asking to join this program as amentor.

Don’t underestimate the power of networking! Be open toapproaching the other job fair visitors. If someone doesn’tseem interested in connecting with you … NEXT! Look

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for other people in the room. There are plenty at anyjob fair! :-)

What works best for networking is the win-winapproach! Don’t approach someone just to see what youcan get. Approach others with a giving attitude (how youcan genuinely help them) and you might be surprised athow much you can achieve! The help will come back oneway or another, sometimes not directly from the personyou helped.

Most of the people you’ll help will be inclined to helpyou back.

And—even more importantly—the more you helpyourself, the more others will be willing to help you! Quickquestion: if you were on the other side, would you be morewilling to help someone who is proactively pursuing hisgoal? Or someone who keeps waiting for help from others?The attitude of the first one is called assertiveness, whilethe second one has a passive attitude. Which one drawsyou in more?

Assertiveness is one of the attitudes that makessomeone successful. And don’t we all love to connect andstay in touch with successful people?

A note of caution though: pay attention to not gettinglost in the process of helping others. :-) Your goal is asimportant as theirs. If you keep helping those passivepeople who only like to receive you’ll soon find yourself

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tired. These are needy people; they’ll drain your energy. It’sbetter to stay away from them altogether or spend lessquality time with them during your job search. A giver--non-giver relationship is helpful to neither of you. If youthink that continuously helping someone will make you abetter person, think again! With such an attitude, aren’tyou (unconsciously) sending out the message that the non-giver is not able to help himself ? Won’t you make thatperson more dependent on you instead of inspiring him tobe more resourceful?

I’ll let you figure out what happens if you’re the one inthe non-giver role, waiting all the time for help from others!After all, you’re the one without a job—right?

Wrong! :-) You’ll feel more miserable if you keepexpecting help from others and it’s not happening as muchas you’d like. Even if others want to help you, they’ll gettired after a while and they’ll give up if you’re not helpingyourself as well.

Introvert?

Being an introvert who doesn’t like to socialize is not agood excuse to avoid networking! :-) Because meetingpeople at a job fair is not really socializing.

It’s about gathering information from others, whichcould take you further toward achieving your meaningful

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goal! Finding that job, for example. The one you’re lookingfor right now—a job that has the quality of strengtheningyour skills and expertise, to make it easier to take your nextcareer step.

Networking is also about helping others who mightneed the info you can share or introductions to yourconnections.

I already mentioned that helping others will make youfeel good, which adds more positivity to your job searchas well.

If you’re willing to get information, resources andcontacts that will accelerate your job hunt, you’ll need tomake the first step towards others! Because others don’tknow what you already know, what you need or they mightnot even know you exist! :-)

By the way, introverts like to help others and are greatconnectors. Why not rely on your strengths to make themost of a job fair as well?

How to approach other job seekers

First of all, keep in mind what you’re looking for andyour current situation—these are good for filtering theinformation you come across. Instead of comparing thenew information to what you already know, notice how thisinformation relates to your goal and situation.

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Be open to the information they want to share with youand to be introduced to someone else (if they are willing tomake the introductions). Later, you can filter out whatyou’d like to implement—don’t discard something beforereflecting first.

Nothing is more annoying than an “I know it all”attitude!

When I was running that mentoring program, one ofthe mentees complained about the information receivedfrom her mentor. She didn’t agree with anything he wassuggesting so she wanted to end their mentoring relation‐ship. My advice was to continue until the end of thementoring term (four months). When I met her again ayear later, she said: “I can’t thank you enough for encour‐aging me to continue the mentoring relationship and to tryto implement my mentor’s advice! Everything he told mewas so useful!”

Keep in mind that a win-win conversation is the best wayto get more out of it, so try to also understand what yourinterlocutor is looking for and find ways to help him.

This being said, here are a few ideas on how toapproach other people at a job fair:

• If you’re an introvert or just shy, look for other introvertedor shy people. They’re usually observing more than talkingand are speaking with a soft voice.

Go and meet them! They’ll be so happy someone

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acknowledged their presence because, like you, they didn’tfeel comfortable approaching others.

Believe me; two introverted or shy people can be quitetalkative if they find the discussion meaningful! Andmeeting at a job fair gives you plenty of related topics tochoose from. Toward the end of the discussion, you canexchange business cards so you can stay in touch andsupport each other during the job hunt process (and evenafter, if you want).

• Another way to connect with people at a job fair is totalk with the person in front or behind you while waiting in a lineto speak with an exhibitor. You might be surprised; somejob seekers are very open to sharing useful information andexchanging ideas.

You can even introduce them to people you just met tohelp them increase their network. They’ll probably do thesame thing or you can ask to be introduced. What can youlose from a two-second question?

This kind of introduction doesn’t mean you endorsethe person you’ve just met; you don’t know much abouthim anyway! Introducing your new connections to eachother is only an opportunity for them to connect. Let themtake it from there if they’re willing to.

• You can also spark a discussion with a question. Let’s sayyou see someone in the hallway looking at a banner. Youcould ask a question related to that banner, about the job

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fair in general or what you’re looking for (“Excuse me, doyou know where I can find the booth of the ABC compa‐ny?”). Depending on how open the person is to talking (payattention to that too), you can follow up with another ques‐tion based on the answer received or with something else…just to get the conversation flowing!

• Even if you don’t like small talk, you can find plentyof topics at a job fair to spark a discussion. You can evenuse the advice from the dating scene: use a prop! :-)

A prop is something you’ve noticed about the otherperson. You can compliment the person on it, ask a relatedquestion or both. For example: “I like the color of thefolder that holds your resumes. Where did you buy it?”After the person responds, you can continue: “Thanks! I’llsee if I can find one. I assume that you too are looking fora job. What type of position are you looking for?”

These are just examples, but I encourage you to findyour own networking style. Start with something and—based on what you notice—adjust your approach to makeit work for you.

As a general rule:• Being genuinely curious (instead of getting stuck in

your own thoughts) and open to helping others will helpyou find your own way to meet people. You’ll see what Imean by getting stuck in your own thoughts in the context of ajob fair in the chapter: Common Pitfalls.

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• Ask for your interlocutor’s business card if you wantto follow up and hand out your business card in return. Ifyour interlocutor doesn’t have business cards but is willingto share his coordinates, have a notebook handy to writethem down. Using a piece a paper doesn't work, as it caneasily get lost.

• If you don’t have a business card, you can share yourname and email, so the person recognizes your name whenyou follow up. It’ll be useful to make a note to yourself toget your business cards ready for the next event you attend.Carry your business cards with you all the time; you neverknow who you’ll meet and want to exchange them with.

Social media as a networking tool in real time

As I mentioned earlier, a job fair is an excellent oppor‐tunity to network, meet other people and gather usefulinformation. Here’s how you can use social media in realtime, to make the most of your time at a job fair:

• If you did prepared for this job fair, you already knowthe hashtags specific to this job fair and you follow thesocial media profiles of the event and organizations you’reinterested in.

• Check for updates of these social media profiles whileyou’re visiting the job fair.

• Use hashtags to find others who might be there too.

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Many people like to share where they are via social media.Comment on their posts and offer to meet while you’re stillat the job fair. This is an easy way to expand your network,since you have at least two things in common: the eventand your social media connection. When you meet, if youlike the brief conversation you have, exchange your busi‐ness cards or coordinates. Don’t forget to make a note tofollow up with that person if you want to talk more, shareideas and resources or even ask for an information inter‐view! Then go on your way to meet other visitors andexhibitors.

• Post your thoughts on what’s going on at this job fair,what you’re looking for, what you find interesting, what youlearned by being there, your snapshots and add hashtags soothers can find you too!

• Reply (comment, ask questions) to those who alreadyposted about the event.

• Retweet or share their posts if you find them useful.In other words, make yourself more visible via social

media while you’re still there. You never know what oppor‐tunities will open this way: you could meet new people,learn something new, attract an exhibitor’s attention, etc.

• The main point to keep in mind: negativity doesn’thelp anyone, not even you. You’ll instantly feel the heavi‐ness of being critical, which unconsciously will affect theimage you’ll project from that point on. No one wants to

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be around negative or critical people. If you don’t likesomething or don’t agree with someone, use constructivecriticism instead. What does that mean? Constructivecriticism is the process of offering valid and well-reasoned opinion in a “sandwich” format: start with apositive comment, followed by what you consider nega‐tive, then with a positive remark or suggestion. Said in afriendly manner, it has more chances of being well-received!

Learn from your own experience

There are many things that you can learn while visitinga job fair. But you might miss them if you’re too attachedto the idea that you only need to hand out resumes toemployers!

As with any situation, the job fair is an experience. Areyou willing to learn from it?

If you are, you will certainly expand your comfortzone. The next time, you’ll find it easier to navigate the jobfair's landscape and to get more out of it. With each expe‐rience, you’ll become more confident approachingexhibitors and other visitors. This increased confidenceand improved communications skills will also have a posi‐tive effect on how you present yourself in job interviews—increasing your chances to get the job!

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While you’re at the job fair, pay attention to what youcan learn from:

• Exhibitors. The questions they ask can help you betterunderstand what they’re looking for, their expectations andtheir hiring process. Each encounter with an exhibitor willhelp you get more comfortable approaching strangers ingeneral and employers more specifically.

• Other visitors. Notice how they approach employers:what questions do they ask? How do they present them‐selves? How do they bring the discussion to the pointwhere the employer asks for their resume? If you talk withsome of the visitors, notice what can you learn from theirdiscussions. Is there anything else you want to ask them?How do they react if you ask to exchange coordinates soyou can stay in touch after the job fair to help each other?

• Your own experience of attending this job fair. Pay attentionto:

- What works for you in this context?- What doesn’t?- What image you project compared to what you think

about yourself?- How people react to your attitude and how you talk

about yourself?- Your stress level and things that frustrate you. Do you

catch any negative thoughts playing in your mind while

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you’re there? All these factors affect your behavior and howothers perceive you.

Just notice all these now, you’ll process them later. I’llgive you some suggestions in the next chapter.

Checklist DURING

If you’d like a reminder about what to do while youattend a job fair, you can download the checklist here:

gabrielacasineanu.com/jobfairchecklists

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Chapter Seven

AFTER

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90%of how I react to it. ~ Charles Swindoll

Ok, you attended the job fair. Hopefully, you applied atleast some of the suggestions mentioned in the previouschapters. Now it’s time to focus on your reaction to thatexperience and how you can use it to identify the next stepsthat will propel you further on your job search and career.

Of course, you can choose to do nothing about your

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experience at the job fair—which is totally ok if you don’twant to expand your comfort zone and get more out of thatexperience. But if you do, use the following suggestions.

Self-reflection

First, take time to reflect on your experience. Somequestions to ponder:

About the preparation phase (before the job fair)

• Was the preparation for this event helpful?• In what way?• What would you do more, less or differently next time

to be better prepared for the next job fair to get more fromthe time you spend there?

About your experience during the job fair:

• What worked well for you at this event? Be as specificas possible; identifying what worked well will help youunderstand what you should continue doing.

• What didn’t work? Be as detailed as possible becauseyou’ll need to improve in these areas if you want to bemore successful.

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• What image did you project comparing to what youthought you would?

• How did people react to your attitude?• Are you happy about how you talked about yourself?• What caused stress? What got you frustrated?

Jot down your answers. Identifying these elements will helpyou become more aware of your blind spots—the things thatwe’re not aware of or can be improved upon:

• What you can do differently next time to be morerelaxed

• How to turn frustration into something more useful toimprove how others perceive you and the outcomes of thejob fair. Usually frustration comes out when there is adifference between our expectations and what we perceiveas real. A simple mind-shift might help. For example,instead of focusing on the difference, focus on how you canmake this work for you—while still being true to yourself.

• If you catch any negative thoughts playing in yourmind like a broken record, write them down. Pay attentionto each of them and replace each with another one that ismore positive. If you can’t come up with something, askothers. :-) Sometimes others, being more detached, can seemore clearly how you can improve your thoughts. I’ll giveyou some examples in the next chapter: Common Pitfalls.

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• What beliefs did you have about this event? Whichones didn’t serve you?

• Did you measure up to your expectations? If not,what could help you do better next time: Adjusting yourexpectations? Improving your attitude? Looking at eachjob fair with fresh eyes instead of preconceived ideas?

• Did you achieve the intention you set up in the“Before” phase?

If not, what blocked you? Any blockage is an opportu‐nity to grow. Are you open to working on it so it doesn’taffect you next time?

If you did, congratulations! What contributed toachieving your set goals for this event?

• What would you do differently next time based onwhat you’ve learned from this self-reflection?

By asking yourself such questions, you’ll get ideas on howyou can improve to get more out of your participation atthe next job fair. Don’t forget to take action upon what youdiscovered. Otherwise it will remain just wishful thinkingwithout real improvement. This way you’ll also get to expe‐rience how self-reflection can help you improve yourselfbased on the experiences you go through related to variousaspects of your life (not only during the job search).

You might not find answers to the above questions right

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away but keeping them in mind will help you find answersin the following days. Here’s a process I highly encourageyou to go through at this point:

1. Spend one to two days answering the abovequestions.

2. Based on what you discovered, decide what actionsyou want to take to improve yourself.

3. Having your list of actions, notice if there are dupli‐cated or similar actions. You can even group them bycategories.

4. Set reminders in your agenda for each action youwant to take: when you’ll start and a deadline.

5. After you’re all set up, start taking actions! If youwant to improve something, the only thing you can do istake action. Becoming more aware is not enough!

6. If you want, you can even create a buddy systemwith another job seeker where you both go through thisself-reflection exercise. Then you set up periodic meetingsto check up on your progress, helping each other stayon track.

I’m a strong believer that challenges are opportunities togrow. You need that growth if you don’t get job interviewsor don’t pass them—as you probably don’t level up to the

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employers’ expectations. I’m not only talking about thetechnical skills specific to the position you’re looking for.

The best part of going through this self-reflection exer‐cise and taking action upon it?

Besides getting more out of your participation at a jobfair and from similar events you’ll attend, you’ll also:

• Improve your communication with others, includingemployers.

• Learn how to have a more objective perspective on asituation, and how to identify what’s in it for you in thatsituation.

• Expand your comfort zone with each experience.This growth will have a positive impact on the otheraspects of your life as well, without making an additionaleffort.

• You’ll start creating a habit of noticing, evaluatingand improving yourself, with a favorable effect on your jobsearch, career path, and other aspects of your life

Would you like all of these? :-)

Follow up

If you’ve connected with some of the visitors andexhibitors during the job fair, now it’s time to follow upwith whom you’d like to keep in touch. Or at least those

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who you’d like to thank for the time spent with you and theinformation they shared.

For the follow up: the easiest way is to send an email toeach of them. That’s where the note on the back of thebusiness cards becomes useful!

In your follow up email:• Thank the person for the time they spent speaking

with you and what you appreciated about that discussion• If you’ve promised that you’ll follow up with some

information, now is the time (share the link to the articleyou were talking about, make that introduction to anotherconnection, etc.)

• If they promise something to you, mention that you’dstill appreciate receiving that information

• If the person was interested in a particular topic andyou happen to have relevant information add somethinglike “I remember you talking about.../were interestedin…/ I came across…, maybe you’ll find it useful.”

• Let the person respond before you ask for somethingfor yourself. If you get a response, depending on the toneof the message, you’ll realize if the person might be inter‐ested in staying in touch. If yes, you can send anotheremail, this time asking for what you want (an informationinterview, a resource, advice, etc.).

By acting this way, the person will not feel pressured tohelp you so you'll continue to make a favorable impression.

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This could be the beginning of a productive, professionalrelationship. Like in any relationship, a balance betweengiving and receiving will make a big impact. If you don’tknow how you can help others, just ask them! :-) If you feelthat you cannot help the way they want to be helped, saysomething like “I can’t help you with this now, but here’swhat I can do instead…” (and keep that request in mind;do some research to find out, etc.).

• The exhibitors might be too busy to respond, butsending them a thank you email could make a strongimpression. They’ll probably keep you in mind since veryfew people follow up.

Checklist AFTER

If you’d like a reminder about what to do after attendinga job fair, you can download the checklist here:

gabrielacasineanu.com/jobfairchecklists

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Chapter Eight

COMMON PITFALLSof Job Seekers Attending a Job Fair

Shift your focus to achieve your purpose. Life is all aboutchange! ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

If you want to be successful in your job search and career,you’ll need to identify the thoughts that don’t serve youwell, and what actions will make your job hunt moreeffective!

While helping over 1,200 professionals looking for jobs,I’ve identified some common pitfalls in the way theyapproach the job-hunting process. I’ve covered those in myother books on job searching. Below you’ll find the

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common pitfalls I’ve noticed regarding job fairs. Some arealready mentioned in the previous chapters but I wanted tocapture them here as well because…they are important!

You may receive the best advice for a specific situationbut you'll probably not take any action upon it if you don’tbelieve that it’s good advice!

Many of my clients have asked “What actions should Itake to get a job?” No answer will be beneficial to themunless they agree with it, or at least apply it with an openmind. That's related to mindset: your way of thinking, yourattitude—which has an impact on the results you get. Haveyou heard about a successful mindset?

If you’re not where you want to be yet, check yourmindset first before blaming what others say! There’s a lotwe can improve upon in this area if we want better results.

I have a whole chapter about mindset in the book Intro‐verts: Leverage Your Strengths for an Effective Job Search. By theway, it’s not just for introverts. Each of us was born andraised in a specific culture and was “programmed” with thevalues, beliefs and attitudes that worked well in that cultureat that moment in time. Things evolved since and differentsituations occur all the time. Being resourceful and adapt‐able is good but adding strategic thinking and assertivenessis much better. In the context of the job search, beingassertive means having an objective and looking for oppor‐tunities that could help you build your path—step-by-step

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—toward achieving your objective. And I don’t mean step‐ping on others! It’s about having an open mind and thecuriosity to find out what works for you.

I bet that in the past—when you had a goal and achieved it—you didn't know from the beginning how the path wouldunfold! Did you?

It’s the same with your job search! Be open to findingyour next step and trust that—from there—you’ll find thenext step, and the next… until you reach your job searchgoal.

Getting back to the pitfalls related to the job searchingprocess: your own thinking could create huge roadblockson your path, making this process even longer (and that’s ifyou don’t give up!).

So let me give you a few examples:

Disappointment

When John visited a job fair for the first time, he wasdisappointed. He expected to see only employers, eager toget his resume, interview him on the spot and offer him ajob. Of course, being his first time at a job fair, he didn’tknow how to make the best of that experience. Getting thejob is a destination but you can build your path toward it,

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instead of getting frustrated that it’s not done in one step.Although it looks like it happens to some, if you dig further,you might find that even for them it was not just one step.Getting hired is not the only outcome of visiting a job fair,but John was so attached to his high expectations that hedidn't even think that he could get something else fromvisiting this event: connections, other useful information toadvance his job search, etc. That disappointment madehim avoid job fairs altogether.

Can you see how his way of thinking deprived himfrom getting more from that event to help him advance onhis chosen path?

Why bother …

Lisa decided that it’s not worth going to job fairs. Whybother, she said, since these days all companies post theirjobs online? And even if you go to a job fair, they’ll directyou to send the job application via their online platform.

As I mention in the book The Key Factor: Understanding theEmployer’s Perspective on Hiring, employers have many reasonsto attend job fairs—even if they list their job postingsonline. Having access to a big pool of job seekers for a day(or just for several hours) helps them decrease the cost ofthe recruitment process—since the job fair's organizer didthe heavy work of bringing them all together (exhibitors

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and visitors). Meeting the job seekers in person also helpsemployers and recruiters get an idea of who could be goodcandidates before inviting them to a job interview. Plus, asthe job fair environment is less stressful than a job inter‐view, they’ll get a better image of the candidate’s real atti‐tude and personality—that being in your advantageas well.

As you see—as a job seeker—you get access to moreopportunities in one day by going to a job fair than youcould encounter otherwise in the same amount of time.

Is it fair to say that Lisa missed opportunities by notgoing to job fairs…just because she believes they’re notworth it?

I don’t know…

No one was born knowing everything, as far as I know.:-) Not knowing is not a big deal, unless you’re not open tolearning!

I’ve met many job seekers thinking, “I don’t know…”waiting for someone to help them or an opportunity tojump into their lap. While this might happen, my questionis: how long are you willing to wait? Because you can accel‐erate your job search by replacing I don’t know … with Howcan I find…? or What can I do to find out …

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Let’s do a quick exercise:

1. Hold this thought in your mind for a couple ofseconds: I don’t know how to approach an employer at a job fair.

2. Keep that thought in your mind a bit longer whilenoticing:

- How do you feel?- How much energy do you have?- Are you eager to take action when you feel that way

or with that amount of energy?3. After answering the questions above, look in another

direction, find something you like, then ask yourself: Whatcan I say to an employer when I approach his booth?

4. Now notice if there is any change in the way you feeland if the energy level changed while pondering this newquestion in mind.

5. Do you get any ideas of what you can say or do?How eager are you to find out when you ask yourself thisquestion?

If you noticed changes in the way you feel or the energylevel between points 2 and 3 it’s because our thoughts areaffecting how we feel…instantly!

What thoughts do you hold in your mind? Forhow long?

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The reason I asked you to go through this exercise? Tomake you understand the impact of I don’t know… on your‐self ! Each time you say it, you block your mind fromcoming up with answers because you believe…you don'tknow the answer!

Asking yourself an open question—instead ofrepeating a phrase in your mind—will help you come upwith new ideas and ways to find out what you want.

You’re not as powerless as you think!

You just focus on the wrong thought (such as I don’tknow). Switch to an open question addressed to yourselfand be open to receive the answer. It’s the best way to tapinto your intuition for help whenever you need it. :-)

Authority

If you experienced feeling less confident when youspoke with a employers, check with yourself: do you putthem on a pedestal, believing that they have more powerthan you?

While they might have more economic power when itcomes to the recruitment process, you’re actually at thesame level:

• They need someone with your skills.

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• You have the skills and expertise they need and you’rewilling to help them achieve their goal.

If they’re not interested, move on! There are other compa‐nies that will appreciate what you have to offer!

And if you don’t like their organizational culture…move on too! You too have choices, even if you thinkyou don’t!

If you’re willing to accept working for a company youdon’t like, work in parallel on your plan B (to take you outof there)—before you accumulate too much frustration,which will make it harder to find something better.

Does this perspective make you feel more confidentabout the next time you approach an employer?

Past does not equal future…unless you allow it to!

If your previous experience with job fairs was disap‐pointing, it doesn’t mean the next one will be the same(especially if you apply the suggestions from this book).

On another hand: if you expect a bad experience, thelaw of self-fulfilling prophecy will make you get…a badexperience! :-) For example: if you think that you won’t getmuch from attending an upcoming job fair, you’ll not prob‐

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ably prepare enough for it (why bother, if it will be a badexperience anyway?)! So you’ll show up like someone who’sdragging himself to do something he doesn’t want to do.

I’ll let you guess the impression you’ll make on thosewho you’ll encounter at the job fair—exhibitors andvisitors! :-)

I personally don’t like to deal with someone not inter‐ested in being there or meeting me, do you?

Let me give you an example of the opposite. A visitorapproached my booth with a go-getter attitude:

- What do you offer here?- I’m the author of these books, which help job seekers

accelerate their job hunt.- Oh, I don’t have time to read a book. I need a job …

now! I’m a handyman.- “Go to that booth!” I said pointing to a booth of a

company who was looking for tree worker positions.He quickly turned around almost running to get there!As you can see, I did my tour when I got to the job fair,

to connect with the other exhibitors and learn what theyoffer. Yes, even exhibitors are open to networking andhelping visitors who are not interested in their booth!Because networking opens up new opportunities, if you’rewilling to see them. :-)

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The idea of writing this book about job fairs came tome while I was at that job fair. Some visitors seemed quitestuck in their own thoughts and not open enough to howthis event could help them advance in the direction theywant. The job seeker from the above example knew hisobjective and was curious to find information that could beuseful for him. I really liked his attitude and I gladlyhelped him.

Do you have an objective for an upcoming job fair?Do you prepare questions to help you find the informa‐tion that leads to your next step toward achievingyour goal?

Or are you so confident that what you know (based onprevious experiences) is also valid for future situations…allowing opportunities to pass you by?

Let go

This is something that many people find hard toaccept: to let go of their expectations, even when it’sobvious they’re too high.

Setting an objective for attending an event helps buthaving too-high expectations and not being open toadjusting them…doesn’t.

I’ve met so many job seekers who expect to find a jobwhen they visit a job fair. I’m not saying that might not

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happen. But it’s not a 100 percent certainty that it will.Chances are the percentage is actually very low.

So if you notice there are slim chances to get hired onthe spot, why not let go of your expectation (to get hired)and get curious about what else is there for you?

By doing that, you’ll spare yourself from accumulatingfrustration and you’ll decrease the pressure you put onyourself. This, in turn, will increase the chances to make abetter impression to an employer who is looking forsomeone with your skills. As counterintuitive as it might be,lowering your expectations about the results you’ll get…could help!

May I leave my resume with you?

This is a good question to ask the representative of anemployer who has—or might have in the future—positionsavailable in your field.

Asking this question to someone you just met, mightnot be a good idea. It could be seen as a desperate act andwill not be well-received if you didn’t have a conversationfirst with that person. The person might feel pressured tohelp. Not the best way to make someone help you!

What you can do instead: if you feel there’s a goodconnection, ask to exchange coordinates and you canfollow up after your initial discussion at the job fair. In

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other words: build rapport first before asking someone todo you a favor.

The best thing to do is to become interested in theother person first (what he’s looking for at this job fair),mentioning at one point that you’re looking for a job (andwhat kind). The other person might become interested inreading your resume and, if you make a good impression,might keep you in mind for later reference.

Asking for advice on your resume is another way ofmaking someone aware of your background. If the personagrees, he might have some ideas and information to sharewith you. For example: how you can improve it, whichcompanies might need your skills, a referral to someonefrom his network who can also give you advice, etc.

Expecting that any person you talk to will help youdirectly get a job is the fastest path to disappointment!Being open and grateful for any advice or information youget will help you define your next step toward achievingyour goal.

What resume do I bring to the job fair?

A lot of job seekers who are not familiar with jobfairs ask:

• Should I bring a general resume?• What if I can apply for several jobs?

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• What should I put in my resume (objective, profile)? Idon’t know what positions are available there.

• I’m told that I’m overqualified: how do I write myresume for a job fair?

In the book Introverts: Leverage Your Strengths for an Effective JobSearch I also talk about resumes. You'll find detailed infor‐mation regarding the various resume types, how to orga‐nize the content corresponding to each type, when to useeach of them and why, how to target your resume to aspecific position, what is a general resume and when to useit, 10 steps on creating a targeted resume that has morechances to attract employers’ eyes, etc.

Instead of covering all of this information again in thisbook about job fairs, I’d prefer to put you on the spot! Afterall, I can give you a lot of information but I can’t hold yourhand all the time. In other words, I want to teach you howto fish instead of giving you the fish. :-)

I’ve already given you some ideas on how to approachsuch questions because they fit into the category Idon’t know…

One of the reasons I love coaching is because it helpspeople find their own answers— instead of feeling like avictim (thinking they don’t have all the information they

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need). Which option would you choose: to feel like a victimor learn to find your own answer? :-)

So let me rephrase the about questions regardingresumes in a way that makes you look at the bigger picturefirst, before using your problem-solving skills to findanswers.

Should I bring a general resume?

My definition of a general resume: a piece of paperthat lists all your skills, education, professional and volun‐teering experience, expertise and achievements.

An employer will quickly scan a resume to get an idea ifthe candidate will get on their shortlist. For that, they lookbriefly through the first page to see if the person has the skillsand experience required for the available position. Due to thetime constraints and the desire to meet more candidates, theemployer might shorten the resume scan during a job fair.

In such conditions, which option would match morethe employer’s expectations:

• A general resume with all that information he has tosort through?

• Or a more targeted resume that matches the positionthey’re hiring for?

If you know the position in advance (by looking at the

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employer’s or job fair’s website) it’s recommended to createa targeted resume.

If not, why not create a targeted resume for the type ofposition you’d like to get? You can find examples of suchjob openings on the Internet to help you craft a moretargeted resume (even if you don’t know all the details).When you talk with an employer who may have job post‐ings in the future, such a resume could help.

Here’s another idea, if you don’t know anything aboutwhich employers will be at the job fair: bring resumestargeted to both the jobs related to your short-term objec‐tive and the ones regarding your mid-term objective. Basedon how your discussion with the exhibitors will unfold,you’ll get a better idea of which resume to leave with them(short-term, mid-term or both).

What if I can apply for several jobs?

Now you know how an employer looks at a resume. Sowhat do you think YOU can do?

Create a separate targeted resume for each positionyou’re interested in!

It might look like more work— but isn’t actually morework to search for a job without adapting your strategies towhat employers are looking for?

By the way, I don’t recommend spreading yourself in

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too many directions because you won’t have the time andenergy to go too deep in any. And staying at the surfacewill not give you access to the hidden job market (wherethe big fish are).

What should I put in my resume?(objective, profile)

I guess I already gave you ideas on how to find theanswer to this question, didn’t I?

If the targeted resume is the way to go: isn’t it moreclear what the objective should be? And how to create yourprofile?

By the way, adding an objective to a resume is not evenmandatory.

I’m told that I’m overqualified,how do I write my resume for a job fair?

If you create a targeted resume, why would you make itlook like you’re overqualified?

Think about it: if you’re interested in buying a service,wouldn’t you feel overwhelmed if you get the service with alot of additional features you don't need? Wouldn’t you beafraid that the cost will be higher than expected?

An employer goes through a similar thinking process.

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That’s the reaction you want to induce in the employer’mind?

You might be overqualified when you compare yourselfwith the tasks required by the position to which you wantto apply.

But if you create a targeted resume for that position,you need to include from your background only the infor‐mation pertinent to that job posting—not everything(which will make you look overqualified)! You can add a bitmore than what’s required if you want, but don’t make thatvisible from the beginning of the resume.

I don’t know how to introduce myself.Or ask for a job.

How would you introduce yourself when you meetyour peers (i.e., other professionals in your field)?

Employers’ representatives and recruiters are profes‐sionals as well! :-)

If you put them on a pedestal, you’ll add extra pressureon yourself…blocking your thinking!

Relax, they’re also human beings! :-) They have theirown fears and are stressed to find the best candidates in thegiven conditions.

When you’re relaxed and trust yourself, you can comeup with an opening! You’ll find one!

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Start with something related to what you noticed attheir booth, for example. Or the discussion you overheardwith the candidate who was in front of you. After theyanswer, they’ll probably ask you a question. And there itgoes: the discussion starts flowing naturally. And you’ll bemore at ease when it’s time to ask if they have positions inyour field. They probably expected the question anyway,since they’re at a job fair. :-)

I don’t like small talk

Neither do I. :-) But it also depends what you considersmall talk, and who’s your interlocutor.

Extroverts like small talk, because they like meeting andtalking with new people. It energizes them. So if theemployer’s representative is an extrovert, he’ll probablystart the discussion anyway. In this case, consider the smalltalk a simple icebreaker, which will allow you to have thereal discussion in a bit. Take a deep breath (it’s relaxing),and wait until they ask what you’re looking for or whatyour background is. It won’t take long since he’s under thepressure of meeting with the most candidates as possiblewhile he’s there.

If the employer’s representative is an introvert, expectto get to the topic right away. Introverts don’t like smalltalk, especially when they have to get better results in a

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limited time frame. Talking drains their energy faster andthey need to persist until the end of the job fair.

You probably won’t know if the employer’s representa‐tive is an extrovert or an introvert, so relax! If they haveexperience in their field, they can play each role anyway.You’ll be fine no matter who you meet… if YOU don’tmake a big deal about starting a conversation withsmall talk. :-)

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Chapter Nine

FUNNY AND HELPFUL DIALOG

In a recent online conversation I shared that I’m writingthis book. It turned out that the person I was chatting withwas looking for a job and, with his permission, you havethe chance to read below the part of our dialog related tojob fairs.

I found it funny, but I hope you’ll also learn somethingfrom this dialog:

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- Do people really find jobs at job fairs? The few I'vegone to were a disappointment.

- Then you have to read the book I’m writing about jobfairs. :-) A job fair is a networking event with employersand other job seekers. Many employers have a booth at thejob fair to meet the candidates in person. They make anote on the resume if they think this might be an inter‐esting candidate, to not spend time in job interviews withcandidates they’re not interested in. Soft skills count muchmore than experience, at least in Canada.

If you’re focused only on the end goal (getting the job),you might miss other opportunities: to understand theemployer’s perspective, to get yourself more visible, to getnew connections, to get useful info from other job seekers(anyone knows something or someone), etc. A job fair is astepping-stone, not necessary the end goal.

- Makes sense.- I know I make a better impression in person than on

the phone (when I want to talk with a new person), so jobfairs are a good way for me to connect with others. That’show I found that some companies can create a position ifthe right candidate shows up to help them overcome aproblem or challenge they’re going through. Obviously,they won’t hire you if you don’t make yourself visible. :-)

- I feel awkward. I don't know what to talk about, howto start a conversation.

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- I put some ideas in this book.- [I don’t know] what to say to a recruiter, how to talk

with other job seekers, basically how to network. My horridlittle way is to go to the employer, ask if they have a job inFinance or IT, and if they don't, I leave. I don't talk to jobseekers, just attack employers the faster the better.

- First principle: keep in mind they're all human, notroles. Actually the job seekers are great resource people.

- Oh yeah, and is it ok to go from recruiter to recruiter?When the two recruiters are next to each other? Don't theythink I don't value them at all if treating it like an assemblyline, whether they're in your field or not?

- Hahaha :-) Nope, they'll think you're assertive (toachieve your goal). Which is a good thing!

- REALLY? Wow!- Yep.- Oh man, you need to have a whole chapter on how to

start conversations then.- You're shopping them because you have a lot of skills

to offer. You're not meat to attract cannibals. :-) You'reshopping, they're shopping... and somewhere in theprocess, there is a click.

- I feel more like a deer in headlights.- That’s because you think you're a deer in headlights.

Change your perspective! What if you're a hunter as well?You don't want to get a job in any company, right?

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- True.- What do hunters do when they meet?- Say “hi” and try to sabotage each other so each can

get the most kills?- :-) I don't know; there are so many options. They

could collaborate to get more than each can do by theirown efforts, for example. They can help each other, as well.

- I think I'm a bit too negative, and that perspectivechange would help tremendously.

- Good, feel free to use it! Is it more empowering? Doesit make you feel more confident?

- Historically when I've had that mindset, I was muchmore productive and efficient at job fairs. When I didn't, Ifelt awkward and floundered.

- What mindset? Deer or hunter? If you read my otherbook about the employer's perspective on hiring, you'llunderstand better (they too have fears).

- Hunter mindset. The deer in headlights is just painfuland all I want to do is go home. Oh yeah, and thatawkward freakin’ wait until the current job seeker finisheshis/her conversation with the recruiter.

- See, so instinctively you know what's good for you.Trust your gut/intuition!

Oh, and that's the best part: you can learn so muchfrom it just by observing their discussion! :-) So you'll bebetter prepared how to approach that employer, and what

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not to do. Introverts are great observers if they don't buyinto the deer perspective. :-)

Also, you can use that time to talk with the job seekersbehind you. I've got great info from such discussions.There's a reason why this book is about getting more froma job fair. You can practice your networking skills, to seewhat else you can improve. Also, you'll learn from howothers perceive you.

My favorite: go to talk with the exhibitors who areannoyed because no one stops at their booth. They’reeager to talk with someone and have time too. They areresource people too, have connections, advice, ideas, etc.

- That's what I end up doing because I feel a) stupidjust waiting in line, and b) wasting my time, and c)awkward.

- Great! This way you also help them, because nothaving anyone at their booth doesn't look good and won'tattract visitors. Do you ask them questions? Like: what doyou think I should do? Who or what company could Iapproach? Any suggestions?

Being curious will take you to the "hunter" role, you'rehunting for what could help you get closer to your goal.

The deer is looking to escape (to get away from some‐thing it perceives as a threat). The hunter is going towardhis goal, and adjusts the path accordingly...until he reacheshis goal.

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I know you're a gentle hunter; you won't hurt anyone inthe process. You're just hunting …your goal! :-) Otherwise,you'll hurt yourself by hiding or protecting yourself toomuch (like a deer). Make sense?

- Yep. :-)

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Chapter Ten

NOW … YOUR TURN! :-)

When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached,don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.

~ Confucius

The main purpose of writing this book is to help youunderstand that a job fair is more than just a place whereyou can hand resumes to employers.

Even if I was successful in raising your awareness aboutthis topic, that awareness won’t be enough to help youget more!

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Like with many other books you’ve read, the informa‐tion you’ll get from this book will fade from your memoryafter a while… unless you take action!

To help you in this direction, I invite you to write inyour notebook the five main points from this book that youconsider important to implement for the next job fair you’llattend.

Then, decide what actions you can take daily to helpyou become more at ease with implementing at least thosekey points at the next job fair. If you don’t make somechanges from now until then, your previous habits will runon autopilot… preventing you again from opening up to allof what the event has for you.

Examples of daily actions you can take• I reach out to one new person each day, even with a

simple question (like asking for directions on the street), tomake myself more comfortable talking to strangers. (Giveyourself bonus points if you talk with someone you consider anauthority.)

• I reach out to another job seeker (especially important ifyou’re new to the city), to have a chat about where we are inour job searches and how we can help each other duringthe job hunt.

• I practice being curious every day (about other people’sobjectives or dreams, for example).

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• I pay attention to my negative thoughts. Each time Inotice one, I ask myself:

- Is it true all the time?- (or) Is my inner critic warning me that I should pay

more attention to … ?- (or) What’s a better thought that could take me closer

to my objective?The inner critic has good intentions, but it might not

communicate them skillfully. :-) His role is to help youbecome more cautious and to reevaluate your thoughtswhen there’s too big a gap between that thought and whatyou can do in the moment. It doesn’t mean that you can’tdo or you’re not good at something (or can’t improve)—it’sjust that you may need additional steps to get there. Theinner critic usually shows up when you want to changesomething. It’s like inertia: trying to keep you in a state thatyou’re familiar with (even if it’s not comfortable). Thatwarning is a heads up that something needs to happen (amind shift or specific action) if you want to be successful inthe new direction.

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BONUS

Besides the actions you’ll takedaily to help you developsuccessful habits, you can usethese checklists as remindersof what to do before,during and after attendinga job fair. They summarizethis book’s content, to helpyou get the most out of yourparticipation:

gabrielacasineanu.com/jobfairchecklists

Thank you for readingJob Fairs: How to Get the Most of Your Participation!

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank…• Saj Anwar, Director of Hire Canada: the job fair he orga‐

nized on December 2017 made me realize the importanceof writing this book

• Those who helped shape my perspective on job fairs: CTI andCRR Global (coaching training institutions), Centre fran‐cophone de Toronto, the employers and recruiters whogenerously shared their experience with me, and the count‐less job seekers I’ve met or helped throughout the years

• My book launch team members for their support andvaluable feedback

• My daughter, Irina Cioaca, for her wonderful compo‐sitions (soundcloud.com/irinacioaca) that keep me focusedwhile I’m writing. :-)

~ Gabriela

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gabriela Casineanu has always been intuitive and curious.With her mother’s help, she learned logical thinking at anearly stage, paving the path for the technical professions inthe first part of her career. She ended up making a fullcircle by turning toward coaching and writing, which putsher intuition to good use.

By applying coaching to herself, and through a dailymeditation practice since 2007, Gabriela’s intuition hassharpened, and her creativity has increased, also leading toartistic expressions.

She is passionate about self-improvement and walkinga path of heart. She finds strength in nature and loves intu‐itive painting, nature photography, outdoor activities,

visiting sacred places, the Holographic Universe concept,and ...wearing that turquoise ski jacket! :-)

To receive notifications about Gabriela’supcoming books, news from her author journey

and special offers:gabrielacasineanu.com/series

For more information:GabrielaCasineanu.com

gabriela.casineanu@gmail.comLinkedIn.com/in/gabrielacasineanu

facebook.com/gabrielacasineanu

twitter.com/thoughtdesigner

instagram.com/thoughtsdesigner

ALSO BY GABRIELA CASINEANU

BOOKS

amazon.com/author/gabrielacasineanu

INTROVERTS SERIES

• Introverts: Leverage Your Strengths for an Effective Job Search

• Understanding the Employer’s perspective on Hiring

• Job Fairs: How to Get the Most of Your Participation

PHOTO-COACHING SERIES (self-coaching)

• Meeting With My Self: Self-Coaching Questions That InviteWisdom In (Book 1)

• Rencontre avec soi-même: Outil de communication avec lasagesse intérieure (Book 1, French Edition)

• Întîlnire cu mine însumi: întrebări ce deschid oaza

înțelepciunii (Book 1, Romanian Edition)

• Navigating the Relationship Landscape (Book 2, coming soon)

amazon.com/author/gabrielacasineanu

UPDATES

To receive notifications about Gabriela’s books and updates:www.gabrielacasineanu.com/series

COACHING, CONSULTING, WORKSHOPS

GabrielaCasineanu.com

BOOK GABRIELA TO SPEAK

GabrielaCasineanu.com/contact

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Articles• Liz Ryan, How To Write Your First Pain Letterhttps://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2015/03/01/h

ow-to-write-your-first-pain-letter• Immigration.ca: 2016 Census Reveals One In Five

Canadians Are Immigrantshttp://www.immigration.ca/2016-census-reveals-one-

five-canadians-immigrants/• The Star: Toronto still top choice for recent immigrants as

more people flock to the prairieshttps://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/10/25/toro

nto-still-top-choice-for-recent-immigrants-as-more-people-flock-to-the-prairies.html

• Scientific American: Why Does the Brain Need SoMuch Power?

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https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-does-the-brain-need-s/

Books• Paul D. Tieger, Barbara Barron, Kelly Tieger, Do

What You Are, (Little, Brown and Company, 2014)• Joel Comm, Twitter Power, (Wiley, 2015)• Gabriela Casineanu:amazon.com/author/gabrielacasineanu- Introverts: Leverage Your Strengths for an Effective Job Search

(Thoughts Designer, 2017)- The Key Factor: Understanding the Employer’s perspective on

Hiring (Thoughts Designer, 2017)

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