Tips on How to Prepare for Job Fairs

The popularity of Job Fair’s have increased over the past decade, with job fairs held almost every month in different localities and even malls across the country. These days – more and more job seekers are turning into job fairs hoping to land their dream jobs.

Many companies also take advantage of these events as one of their means to reach out to untapped talents. Most Job Fairs being held in the Philippines are in cooperation with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). The schedule of job fairs for the first half of the year has already been published in their website – however, according to the department, they are still expecting the number of job fairs to rise in the coming months as more and more companies are looking forward to hiring new employees to beef up their 2015 operations.

This type of career event is a great opportunity for you to meet a large number of employers in one place. They are occasions you can’t afford to miss and if you want to get the most out of the event, preparation is the key to your success. Let’s cover a few tips to increase your chances of landing your first job by following these tips on how to stand out amongst the hundreds of applicants during this event.

Practice Your Introduction

Meeting and interacting with recruiters face to face is a critical part of the job search process. It is a unique opportunity to make a personal connection that is not present when you just submit your resume online. Make sure that you make the right impression on first contact.

Practice your handshake and rehearse a brief introduction or practice a quick pitch summarizing your skills and experience.

Do your research and plan ahead

Know which companies you want to connect ahead of time and prioritize. Many job fairs have information of participating companies listed in their program. Make time to check out the company’s web site, mission, open positions, and general information before you go. Doing your research will help you create a very good resume and cover letter enabling you to highlight your skills and experience to match the job you are applying for.

Prepare your resume and cover letter

It is essential to have multiple versions of your resume and cover letter to highlight the relevant skills and experiences for the position you are applying. Make sure to bring extra hard copies and if you can, save a soft copy of your documents in a portable storage device.

Dress for success

Present a professional appearance. Dress smart! Wear business-like clothing and pay close attention to personal hygiene and grooming. Wear minimal make up and jewelry and always wear comfortable shoes as you are most likely be standing in line in job fairs.

Arrive early and be prepared to answer questions about yourself

Lines can be long during job fairs so arrive early. This will also allow you time to collect your thoughts or practice your introduction prior to initial contact with company representatives.

Be prepared to answer questions about yourself. Many employers open the conversation with: “Tell me about yourself.”

Make sure you speak clearly. You can start by stating your name, and a brief statement about yourself, and why you’re interested in applying for the position. The better you are at answering interview questions, the higher your chances of getting a job offer.

Ask questions

Job fairs is an opportunity to network. Create an opportunity to ask a question or two from the hiring manager. Make sure your questions are not available online or can be Googled. Instead, ask recruiters to elaborate on information you’ve learned from your research – or questions like “What is the key characteristic of your top employee?” or ‘Who succeeds in the position you’re hiring for?”. The more you engage with the interviewer, the better impression you’ll make. This extra effort is what will get you noticed.

Take notes and Follow – up after the interview

Jot down notes to keep track of the employers and the interviews you’ve had so you will have a reminder of who you spoke.

Follow-up within a week with a letter to each employer that you’ve met. Include the date and time you met, a review of one or two of your primary qualifications with a reference to your knowledge of the company. Hiring managers are reviewing hundreds of resumes, – a follow up letter may help your get reviewed ahead of the others.

Job fairs are all about the personal touch. Coming in prepared is one of the best ways for you to leave a good impression on potential employers present during this event.

 

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How To Offer That Little Bit Extra To Become An Extra-ordinary Virtual Assistant

The role of a virtual assistant is rapidly evolving as the Internet helps individuals connect easily on a global scale.

This evolution translates to more rapidly changing business practices moving away from ‘how’ they did business 10 or so more years ago, and as a result is creating new opportunities for remote executive assistants.

As many entrepreneurs and business owners work with virtual assistants to grow their businesses, VAs work as an active behind-the-scenes partner to the CEO and Senior Level Management, contributing on the administrative side, Day-to-Day Business Operations, right through to other critical support roles.

A few of the emerging Roles for Virtual Assistants include:

1. General Virtual assistant (performing a range of general support duties)

2. Audio / Video Editor

3. Content Writer

4. SEO / Web Marketer

5. Graphic / Web Designer

6. Web Developer

7. Social Media Manager

It’s important to acknowledge and appreciate that each of these tasks are different and separate unique roles designed to be performed by different people. Irrespective of the role or tasks within that role, every task should be approached with a consistent and extraordinary mindset if you are going to stand out from the crowd.

How Does One Pursue work excellence as a Virtual Assistant?

We often have a sense of bettering ourselves to become excellent at something, maybe even impress others with what we do or simply try to see how good we are at a given task. But, what does it really mean to be excellent?

Love What You Do

Loving your work and loving your role is one of the primary basis of being able to deliver excellent work 99% of the time. When you understand your role and you know that what you do matters to the success of the business, you will see that no task is ordinary.

Continue To Grow As A Person

As we contribute to the growth of the company, we also grow as a person and as a professional, which makes this job even more interesting and enjoyable. The world we are involved in is constantly changing – the internet is always updating, new things are always emerging and businesses are busy keeping up with these changes. These ordinary tasks become extraordinary as we continue to up-skill ourselves by learning new ways to become better and more efficient at these roles.

Be Technologically Savvy

Keeping up with the latest trends in technology is a critical factor for VAs as the internet is where you’ll spend most of your time.

Be a better VA and work to deliver an excellent outcome by learning and becoming more technologically savvy. This means you must continue to advance your Internet skills, which include file sharing and synchronization (Google docs and Dropbox), updating applications, using online calendars, email auto-responders and other internet services.

Understand Social Media and Other Media

Be social media savvy by using social media monitoring and benchmarking software. Understand how to use and get the most out of that software – For example using tools like Google Alerts to monitor new content ideas or keeping an eye out for trending ideas within a specific industry.

Be multi–media savvy by having basic photo, video and audio editing skills.

Most Importantly, Be Productivity Savvy

Be office productivity savvy which means become a master of Office tools used for word processing, spreadsheets and creating presentations.

Striving for excellence is an important part of professionalism in any job. Put quality into everything you do no matter how ordinary you think they are, and continue to up-skill yourself. This attitude will separate the achievers, who make rapid strides in their career from others.

 

 

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