MNPC JAIF 2014 - Message 20

Fair Goers:

1. Thank you the 52 of you who were at the Prep Party!  And the 16 at the Target info session!
2. This a.m. we were still ahead of St. Thomas on resumes posted, sadly this afternoon they went to 150 resumes and we are at 143…..but we have never stayed ahead this long before!
3. Tomorrow, Friday at 2:30 in Center for Servant Leadership I will do a Review of Fair Employers – so come if you can.  There will be door prizes!
4. Fair is next Wednesday.  There are 3 work days before the fair.  I am hearing that many of you have not yet looked at the employer list at mnpcfair.org – PLEASE do this!  If you go to fair and don’t know who to talk to it will be VERY overwhelming.  There are 225 employers on the list.
5. Responding to concerns listed on the forms last night – you do not have to read all….just wanted to respond to what was put on evals last night:

Interviewing: I hope mock interviews last night helped with this.  Also, InterviewStream can help and the pdf at https://gustavus.edu/servantleadership/careercenter/searching/documents/SeekingCareerOpportunitiesandInterviewing.pdf

Elevator Speech: I hope the speed networking last night helped with this.  Also, see the Fair Registration Booklet.  There is a section about what to say when you walk up to employers.  And, we talked about this on Tuesday and we can also talk about it again tomorrow at 2:30 in the Center for Servant Leadership when we Review the Fair Employer List.

Nervous: The hardest part about the fair is that it is new!  If it helps, in the past students have said I make too big a deal of it and they feel over prepared.  (Which is what I am going for!) Also, these two videos may help: Top 10 Confessions from the Hiring Side of the Desk at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XhimyBv7H0&list=PLOzXDOxx4PSxUKC08na5vprMyQtSq3jM4&feature=share and Work Smart With Recruiters at https://www.arbez.com/work-smart-recruiters .

Getting to All Employers: When you arrive at the fair we will have a map of the booth area and a list of where all the employers are located.  So…you can go in the student lounge and sit down and map out where the employers are.  In the past students have found that they have sufficient time to see employers.  The booth area is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.  But, you do want prioritize the employers of interest to you.

What are good questions to ask employers?: At the booth: can I schedule an interview with you at the fair? What should I do next to continue in your selection process? What is your recruiting process time line?  In an interview:  What characteristics do the most successful people in this position share? What could I do immediately to start making a contribution in this position? (These are some…..questions you can probably find tons more on line.)

Don’t know what you are looking for: Ok…this is a challenge.  To make this event useful for you, you do need to review the employer list.  THIS WILL TAKE TIME!  There are 229 employers registered.  Come to the 2:30 session tomorrow in Center for Servant Leadership and we will talk about this.  Also….you do NOT need to know every job title in every company.  You can say, “ I don’t know all the job titles in your company, but the skills I am looking to use are: critical thinking, project management, problem solving, qualitative analysis, and collaboration.  Where in your company might those skills fit?” 

Finding Employers Interested in my Major: Employers care much less about your major than you do.  They are more interested in the skills and interests you have.  So…write down the skills and qualities you have (Gusties should each have 150 of those by the time they graduate!) and look at the positions listed by the employers and find those that may fit.  Another way to think about it is what employers are doing work that is of interest to you. 

Resume: At this point if you do not have a resume….get what ever you have to me as fast as possible and I will do what I can to help!

 Cynthia