After the Career Expo

The Career Expo at UT Dallas is an exciting event, and for many students, it’s a brand new experience. Much time is spent time prepping for the big day, however some students may not be considering what steps to take AFTER the expo is over.

Just because the tables are packed up and the recruiters are gone doesn’t mean your job seeking efforts are done. Here are some ideas on what you can do to build on the great connections that happened at the event.

Reflect on Conversations

Conversation skills are not a strong area for everyone, and that’s OK! The only way to get better at having meaningful and informative conversations is to reflect on the things you said, and make changes for the next time. Here are some questions to ask yourself to help sort out the positive and negative details of your career expo conversations:

• Did you ask the right questions?
• What would you have asked differently?
• Did the conversations seem positive?
• Did you feel like you talked too much or too little?
• What did you learn about the companies?
• Did any company have a big impact on you?
• Did you discover a new company that you hadn’t considered before?
• Are you still interested in your target companies?
• Did you learn about any inside information that can help you get an internship/full-time job?
• Did they ask you to complete any additional steps to apply?
• Did the conversations end the way you expected?

Having a great conversation with a recruiter means that you are asking the right questions. If you’re not asking the right questions, you probably aren’t getting the information that you’re really after.

Follow Up

Now that you’ve reflected on the conversations you had with recruiters, it’s time to connect and follow up. It never hurts to ask for a business card or a LinkedIn connection before you leave their career expo booth. Some companies may decline to give specific contact info, and instead ask you to apply online. In those situations, send your application in (if you haven’t already), and be patient. In other cases, you may get permission to send a connection request to the recruiter via LinkedIn. Two questions that often come up regarding this are: When do I send a request, and what should I say in the message?

Don’t make this more complicated than it needs to be. During my time as a recruiter, I was always surprised by the amount of students who said they wanted to connect but waited weeks before they actually did. Send the LinkedIn request as soon as possible, and if sending a message along with it, make it unique and personal. This is another reason why it’s important to reflect on those conversations! Try something like this:

“Thank you for meeting me at the UTD Career Expo today! I’m the student who mentioned my passion for volunteering, and I enjoyed the information you gave me about ABC Company and their efforts in the community! I’m looking forward to learning more about your internship program!”

The main idea here is to remind the recruiter of something unique about you and the conversation that took place.

If your elevator pitch and communication skills were on point during the expo, you most likely left that recruiter with something special to remember you by.

Check Social Media

Many UTD students are great at snapping pictures at the expo, and sharing their experiences on social media. On LinkedIn, you may find recruiters doing the same thing. Some will share pictures from the event with a “thank you” message to the university and the students. That’s a great opportunity to connect, but to also post a comment about your own experience with them.

“Thank you for coming to UTD! I appreciate you taking the time to talk about your company with me!”

A simple comment like that, followed up by a connection request and a more personalized message can help you stand out from the crowd.

Final Thoughts

The search for internships and full-time opportunities can be a long process. In fact, while you’re in school, it’s never really “done” until you get the final job offer. But even then, it’s important that you continue networking, building relationships, and asking the right questions. To help you with that, the JSOM Career Management Center has some great resources for you here: https://jindal.utdallas.edu/career-management-center/student-resources/

Jason Cirilo is a Career Development Specialist and Lecturer at the Naveen Jindal School of Management @ The University of Texas at Dallas. He serves students through classroom instruction, workshops, and one-on-one coaching sessions in order to share his knowledge of corporate recruiting strategy and professional development. Learn more at JasonCirilo.com