16 steps to a great career fair...

Walton College has an amazing portfolio of services offered through our Career Center. Our placement rate is impressively high: 87% of Walton job-seeking grads are employed on graduation day, receiving an average of 3 offers during their job search. The WCOB Career Center has put together an outstanding Career Fair that will take place on September 25. Through our course Instagram (@mollyrapert) I asked former #rapertmktg students to offer their advice on how best to tackle the upcoming fair. Generous as always, they provided loads of ideas. THANK you to my former students for always helping my current students. I appreciate you!

·      Tyler Platt of WalMart: Have your elevator speech ready. You’ll be moving from table to table pretty quickly so having that rehearsed is helpful. 

Who you are, what you do, and what you are interested in. Also bring plenty of copies of resumes!!!

·      Alex Arsenis of Amazon: Always always follow up! The recruiters meet over 500+ students all in a two day span, make yourself memorable by simply following up by email and reiterating what you said during the career fair. (Recommend following up no later than the end of the career fair day)!

·      Kalyn Carroll of General Mills: Both of the above comments are great advice. Also, do some research on your top 5 or so companies before showing up for the day. It shows you are prepared and truly interested when you have some notes down about the position you’re applying for, the company’s brands and products, and that way you can share why you feel you are a good fit for the role. Don’t forget to smile :-)

·      Kaylee McCarthy of General Mills: My best advice is to dress for success and comfort too! It is really important to dress professionally but you want to be comfortable as well. Also, be confident and friendly to give recruiters your best first impression.

·        Jesse Lane of Pure Charity:

1)       be confident (or fake it if you have to) ??

2)       be humble ??

3)       look them in the eyes ??

4)       be natural not robotic ?? - make personal connections wherever possible “Do you know ______?” ?? - be creative to stand out.??

Here are 4 ideas:

1)    launch a podcast about your career goals.

2)    run Google AdWords on your name that links to your website or resume and suggest they google your name

3)    build a simple App that has your resume and a video of you.

4)    create a YouTube channel with a few videos of you telling about yourself so they can get to know you if they want.

-       finally, pray that God will connect you with the right person for his plan, and relax and trust him.

·      Heather Nelson of Seal Energy Solutions: Be yourself. Know that this is your time to learn about them as much as they are learning about you. Breathe. Thank you notes. A handwritten thank you note to those you meet is a big deal. Most don’t send them anymore. It will help you stand out. These are connections for the rest of your career so just because a firm isn’t your first choice, doesn’t mean it won’t be down the line.

·      Brittany Brunson of Southwest Airlines: 

1)   Do your research and have unique questions prepared. Everyone will ask your typical career fair questions, but stand out by being creative!

2)   LISTEN. Don’t be thinking about what you’re going to say next while the other person is talking. Think about what the recruiter is saying and be engaged. 

Y’all are going to do great! #BeEpic ??

·      Abbie Stalnaker of Property Group Real Estate Learn how to sell yourself, but do it genuinely. You have to have confidence in what you do and what you know, so focus on your strong suits! Especially in sales it makes people trust in you. If you don’t know something, don’t act like you know it. Be eager to figure things out but know you can’t always know everything. Marketing, business, sales is always changing so being eager to learn (& read a lot!) is key!

·      Leanne Pagan of Colgate Palmolive Do your research and know the companies that are going to be there! Bring the list, highlight all the companies you want to talk to and make tiers. The MUST talk to, SHOULD talk to, and NICE to talk to. Sometimes time is limited, have a plan walking into the fair. Walk in and execute that plan like a BOSS. Can’t wait to see all the #rapertmktg students there! ??

·      Kailey Reynolds of General Mills  Be confident! You know who you are & what you’re capable of, so go confidently. And, keep an open mind - don’t write off any company. Pursue the ones you’re interested in, but be open to those you may not have considered before. There are lots of hidden gems that could be a better fit than you realize! Woo!! Go you, you got this!! ????

·      Connor Flocks of McLarty Associates As others have said, do your research and use that to ask specific questions about companies. Then, when you follow up, note something about the conversation in your note. Whether it be thanking them for the specific answer to your question, general advice they gave, or (better yet) a random topic the conversation led to, this will help them A) recall meeting you and B) know you didn’t copy and paste 300 follow ups.  Oh, and don’t be a schmuck dudes- wear a tie.

·      Kate Sorrell of Johnson & Johnson

1)    do the research on the companies

2)    have a quick elevator speech on yourself

3)    be confident and approach everyone with a smile!

4)    you can never have too many resumes, it’s better to have too many than not enough

5)    plan out who you want to talk to because the time goes by quickly

6)    be yourself and things will go great!

7)    career fairs are such a great opportunity so do yourself a favor and take full advantage of it! Not all schools have such great opportunities to network like this!

·      Grant Heyman of FedEx Confession: I never attended a Walton Career fair as a student??That was a mistake. However, my advice is to

1)       Have a clean and precise resume

2)       Act like you’re genuinely interested in the company... make them believe it’s your dream job

3)       Be a great storyteller. This is one of the biggest things I’ve learned since joining corporate America. People LOVE hearing a good story. Storytelling skills are underrated, and very important. Sell yourself with a great presentation/story

·      Anna Tovar of KraftHeinz

1)       Expect a line to get in. It will be hot and you will be sweaty.

2)       Talk to smaller companies you don't care about FIRST to build your confidence.

3)       The "top" companies have the longest lines and the most applicants competing for the same job...

4)       Keep your options open.

If they have any questions about what to put on their resume send them my way. I will be working the Kraft Heinz booth this year so stop by!!!

·     Ivy Jeong of KraftHeinz

1)       find out which companies are attending and whether they are hiring interns/graduates and what major to narrow down booths to visit.

2)       if there is a company you like but they aren't hiring someone with your background, don't be discouraged. stop by the booth and offer them your resume. both my internship at Hershey and full time job at Kraft Heinz started with me simply insisting they take my resume.

3)       don't forget to apply on handshake or the company's website after the career fair.

4)       come stop by the Kraft Heinz booth! I would love to meet Rapert Marketing students!

·     Reid Armstrong of Nestle Purina

1)            Go to random companies first to build confidence, get the nerves out, and get familiar with how the conversation will go.

2)            Give a firm handshake

3)            Do your research on the companies you want to interview with

4)            Have an elevator pitch ready if they ask you “so why should we interview you?”

5)            Get everyone’s business card and write them a thank you email within 24 hours

So much great advice for my current students to absorb. But what I hope you absorb more than anything is how very generous people can be. Thank you to my former students for sharing your thoughts and impacting the lives of others. Hope these tips are helpful and don’t forget to #beEPIC! 

 P.S. More details on the services provided by the Walton College Career Center can be found at https://walton.uark.edu/career/