Attending your first trade show as a young professional

I'm excited for tomorrow's CIFST Coast to Coast Showcase. One reason I volunteer wholeheartedly with Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology (CIFST) is that through past CIFST events, I was able to create my own identity as a food scientist. Now, when we see the acute workforce shortage, we need to attract and retain food manufacturing professionals more than ever, and we need to encourage young professionals to have a sense of belonging and value to the sector. Food scientists often become the technical management within food establishments and have an influential role to play in workforce management. Part of skills and workforce development is visualization, role modelling, and observing skilled mentors to gain knowledge and competency to be ready to work. Youth need visibility for the careers they may want to enter. This is why I feel it so vital for students and young professionals to attend trade shows and conferences.

For most people, trade shows are about making a sale, hopefully lots of sales, and sourcing the technical solutions they are after. Students are not going to be part of that sales proposition. But I can guarantee they will remember the impression they got from the experience. Make sure, if you are out there focused on sales, remain courteous and encouraging, while keeping your attention on your sales targets. You may be selling products and services, but you are also selling a profession, and a sector, so make sure the impression you leave is positive. When that student graduates and gets into the sector, they will remember that experience.

I remember attending my first CIFST Table Top almost 25 years ago as a teenaged freshman in university, and the excitement of seeing real food scientists talking about the food products they were working on. It was transformative, and something I recreate for my own students now. I love that many of my Niagara College alumni are now exhibitors at the show, and see the importance of giving back to grow forward in their own careers.

Attending a first trade show is hard. As a student, you might be shy and not know what to say. You may be anxious, thinking about looking for coop placements, or graduation jobs. Here is my strategy plan for students and new professionals:

1. Check out your Linkedin Profile, especially if you are preparing for coop or graduation. Make sure it is professional, and has a good branding statement about who you are and what your goals are. Make sure it shows a skills based representation of the work, schooling and volunteer activities you do. Why? As people are online networking, guaranteed they will do a double check online who you are, and Linkedin is search-engine optimized to usually be the first thing that pops up. Make sure your first impression says "I'm a young professional wanting to be in the Canadian food industry! Here are the skills I can offer your company."

2. Plan to have some good networking phrases. Networking online is a bit more awkward than in person. I'd recommend having some good conversation starters. The people you interact with on the networking session are mostly likely sales and marketing. So here are some conversation starting suggestions:

-What sets your company apart as a leader in food ingredients, or food technology services?  (Remember you are likely talking to sales people! They are trained to talk up their products and services, features and benefits.)

-What is the most interesting ingredient or technology that your company sells? Tell me more about this! Do you have a sell sheet or a technical specification that I can download and read to find out more about this? (Be naturally curious about the products and services they have.)

-How did you get into the food science field? What did you study?  (People like to talk about themselves!)

-Are there skills that you think new food science professionals should have to be successful in the workplace? (Transition to digging into your own growth and development, how to be better and meet the needs of the industry.)

-What are some good resources for learning more about ........... (fill in the blank based on the cues you get from the speaker) (Show you are learning from them!)

-Is there anyone that you think I should meet or connect with through CIFST to learn more about ............. (fill in the blank - could be about a tech topic, or a career topic) (People who are at CIFST events usually appreciate the networking aspect, and many people who are there are well connected to others. Use the network effectively!)

3. If people are not warm to your conversation, move on respectfully. The sales professionals there may be focused on sales targets and may not have the bandwidth for student chatter. In some trade shows they may be assistants hired just for the show and may not have the technical background to answer your questions. In general if you are curious about the products or services, make a note, take the sales literature, and research the company online later, using Linkedin or your professors to find the right lead at the company to ask your questions.

4. Note I didn't lead in my questions with "Does your company have coop or graduate jobs?". Don't start the conversation with the jobs question. Warm up the conversation, make a good connection first before discussing jobs. Note trade shows are usually sales showcases, first and foremost, so most of the people are sales, and may not be hiring managers. In an online platform it will be harder to meet the product developers and hiring managers. They are there, but usually they are walking the floor, not representing at the booths. If you make a good connection in the conversation, and have conversed for a bit, that's a better time to ask, "Does your company have student coop jobs, or recent graduate jobs?". If you make a good connection, reconnect through Linkedin and continue the conversation there. Also check in with your professors or your school's coop and employment services to find out if this company typically hires students or graduates.

5. In the online tradeshows I've seen, there has been everything from avatars, video chat, and typed chat boxes. If you are networking by video chat, make sure to be presentable and professional. Take a look at the background in your camera, no dirty laundry piles or things that might be questionable in a professional environment. I highly recommend finding a firm chair to sit in, don't sit in bed or a squishy chair as it's too easy to relax and slouch. Easiest plan, find a plain wall, and sit against it. I recommend finding a way to secure your camera so it doesn't bounce and jiggle around while you are talking. Either set your laptop down flat on a table, or if you are working from a phone, find a handy way to prop it up securely on a table or other surface so your conversation partner does not feel seasick talking to you as you wobble around. In chat boxes, take a moment and check spelling and sentence structure before clicking send. Be professional in the chat box, use full sentences, not text shortforms that look too casual (LOL, OMG!)

6. Main thing, be mindful and curious, have fun, and explore. I realize that CIFST Table Top Showcase is usually a highlight of the fall season. We all have to make the best of this situation, and in some respects, given that it's online, we can increase accessibility to even more to participate.

I would love to hear from you and hear how your CIFST Coast to Coast Showcase goes, so we can continue making great events that build up each other, and build up our sector.

Hope to see you there!