Among hundreds of job seekers who are just as ambitious as you, it's important to find ways to stand out at career fairs. Below are ten steps to make a great impression at a job fair. The steps can be divided into three sections: before, during, and after the fair.

Before the fair

Step  1. Do your homework

You should know which organizations will be at the fair, and what organizations are looking for in job candidates. Visit the companies' websites and read what they have to say about themselves. Look up recent news articles to see what others have to say about them. Find out what positions are currently available. Find out the problems they're facing and think about how you can address them given your background, interest, and skills. If you're well-prepared, you will have a fluid conversation with employers about the organization and their products and services. Employers will undoubtedly try to test your knowledge, so be prepared by doing your homework in advance.

Step 2. Create a game plan

Whatever you do, always have a plan. You should plan to arrive early so you can be one of the first people to impress the recruiters. As a result, the recruiters will compare everyone to you if you set the standard. You should plan to speak to a specific number of companies, and plan to ask a few specific questions. When you have a strategy, you are more organized, more confident, less stressed, and you won't waste anyone's time. 

Step 3. Dress for the job you want

You should dress as if you are going to an interview, because that's essentially what a career fair is: a mini-interview. You should error on the side of formality when it comes to your attire. It's okay if you're the best dressed person at the fair, that's an easy way to stand out. It shows that you're a consummate professional with good judgment and decision making skills. Ensure that your hair is well-groomed, your nails are manicured, and your breath is fresh. When you look good, you feel more confident, which can go a long way in the job search.

During the fair

Step 4. Introduce yourself

Your introduction will largely depend on the situation, but in general, say who you are and what you do for a living. From your research, you should know what kind of opportunities are available, so you should let the recruiter know what you're looking for and why you're interested in exploring opportunities at their company. Be sure to give a firm handshake, maintain eye contact, smile, and speak clearly and audibly.

Step 5. Deliver your elevator pitch

If you were on an elevator with a key decision maker in a company you want to work for, what you would you say to leave a positive first impression? Your elevator pitch is a 20-30 second speech whereby you talk about your immediate career goals and something about your background that has led you to having this career goal. Make it personal, but be sure to touch on a few key points in an organized manner. Talk about a few of your relevant experiences and relate them to the skills that are necessary for the kind of job you're seeking. Be specific in what you want because it's easier for someone to help you. Even if you don't know exactly what you want to do at the moment, choose something specific for the circumstance, you'll look and feel more confident.

Step 6. Anticipate possible questions

You should be prepared to answer a wide range of questions during the job fair. You should be prepared to answer general questions like, “tell me a little about yourself” and “why are you interested in working with our company?”  You should use these opportunities to elaborate on things you've mentioned in your elevator pitch. When answering any question, try to tell a story. Recruiters are more likely to remember your story as opposed to recalling bullet points from your resume. Connect the dots for the recruiter so they can fully understand your logic in applying for positions available at their company. By the way, you are not truly prepared for conversations at job fairs until you've rehearsed your answers to the top 50 interview questions.

Step 7. Ask great questions

As a job seeker interested in a specific industry or company, it's expected that you are abreast of current trends, so ask about recent stories that have garnered attention, but be careful not to make any mention of negative press. Don't ask any questions in which you can find out the answer on Google, this makes you look like an amateur. Your questions should demonstrate that you've done your homework. They should be thoughtful and provocative. If you make the recruiter think long and hard about the answer to a particular question, she will remember you long after the fair is over. Remember, the questions you ask are more important than the answers you give. Keep this in mind and you won't have a problem standing out.

Step 8. Provide the proper paperwork

After you've made a good first impression you need to make sure your paperwork is just as dynamic. You should have a folder full of resumes to give each recruiter. Your resume should be polished and current. When you hand it over, you should encourage the recruiter to take a peak to see if you meet the qualifications for the position. If they seem interested in you and mentioned that you meet the qualifications based on your conversation and resume, you need to move on to the next step.

Step 9. Ask for an interview

This is a bold move that will make a lot of people uncomfortable, job-seekers and recruiters alike. The entire purpose of going to a career fair is to get an interview. Why leave it up to chance and wait for them to give you a call back? Take it into your own hands and request an interview. At this point you've spent some time with the recruiter and developed a rapport with them, and if things seem to be going well, you have good reason to request an interview. If they don't give you a firm answer after you've made your request, ask what it would take to get an interview with the organization. If you are bold enough to downright ask for an interview, recruiters will have no choice but to respect you. If the recruiter continues to avoid the request, no worries, you've done what you come to do, and that's to stand out from the crowd. Not many people are bodacious enough to ask for an interview at a job fair, and this alone will make you one of the most memorable candidates at the event.

After the fair

Step 10. Follow-up

After you've made a positive first impression, asked great questions, and capped off the conversation by asking for an interview, you would have likely solidified yourself as one of the most memorable job-seekers at a career fair, ever. Your follow-up is the icing on the cake and can seal the deal. How and when you follow-up is extremely important in securing the interview. You should follow-up as soon as possible. Each recruiter should have an email from you before they leave the fair. They will be thoroughly impressed when they pick up their phone after the fair and see an email from you, someone who already stood out in their eyes. The email will confirm their impressions that you are one of the people they will invite for an interview. In your email, you should mention that you met at the career fair and that you are writing to reiterate your interest in a position, and to ask for an interview to further discuss your qualifications and fit for the role. Be sure to attach your resume for their review.

Recruiters encounter three types of job-seekers at career fairs: the bad, the good, and the great. The bad job-seekers are the ones who are memorable for all the wrong reasons and will never be called for an interview. The majority of job-seekers are good. They will probably do a decent job if they were hired,  but they don’t stand out, there's nothing special about them. Then there are the greats. The great job-seekers usually follow these ten steps to some degree, and they are the ones who usually land the coveted interview.

Confidence is extremely important in the job search process, and equally important in life. Some refer to confidence as a state of being, personality trait, belief or conviction. It’s often referred to as chutzpah, gumption, bravado, or guts. Confidence is a non-cognitive variable, something you don’t have to think about. Whatever you prefer to call it, it’s absolutely necessary to be successful in the job search, and an essential ingredient to be successful in life.

It’s better to define confidence by describing some of the qualities confident people possess. Self-confident people are deliberate and intentional in their actions. They act with a degree of certainty in everything they do. They’re confident in their speech which makes people think they’re right, even when they’re wrong. They have good posture, walk with a pep in their step, and speak clearly and audibly. Confident people are typically accomplished in their own right. They are rarely wrong because they do their due diligence to make sure they know what they’re talking about. They take risks. They know what they want out of life and get busy getting it. People don’t become confident by happenstance, but life experiences and a lot of preparation leads to their becoming confident.

I was fortunate enough to develop confidence early in life. As a youngster, my uncle would take me and my twin brother to the mall. Whenever we would walk past a mirror, he would make us pause and say, “damn, I look good!” Going to the mall with my uncle was one of my earliest memories, so I had to be about five or six years old. As kids, we were embarrassed because we didn't want to curse, and we thought it was ridiculous to make any mention of how good we looked. Our uncle didn't allow us to leave from in front the mirror until we said it. We would say it in the lowest voice possible, which was good enough for him. He didn't do this to be callous or cruel, but he did it because he knew we needed to become more confident if we wanted to get ahead in life. Mall after mall, mirror after mirror, we said “damn, I look good.”  We said it so much we started to believe it, and, eventually, didn't need to say it any longer.

Self-confidence is necessary throughout the entire job search process. When you’re persistent in looking for jobs, you display confidence by taking the risk of being rejected. Conversely, you display a lack of confidence whenever you play it safe. When it comes to interviewing, confidence is the name of the game. Why would a company hire you to represent them if you can’t represent yourself with confidence? You even display confidence when you’re negotiating your salary by knowing your worth and being willing to fight for it.

The good news is that there are ways to build confidence so it comes naturally. Below are five tips to help you build confidence that will prove beneficial throughout the job search.  

1. Accept your imperfections

This is the first step in becoming more confident. We must understand that no one is perfect. Even the person who looks like they have it all figured out are usually far from it. Being confident is not reserved for people with a specific body type or who look a certain way. Some of the most confident people I know are morbidly obese but no one notices because they are extremely comfortable in their own skin: they've effectively accepted their own imperfections. Of course, if there’s something you don’t like about yourself, you can change it in due time, but for now, OWN IT and move on. Don’t overcompensate for your shortcomings by being bodacious in other ways, it’s easy to detect.

2. Be prepared

To a great extent, your confidence lies in your preparation. Abraham Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.” Whenever  I interview with an organization, I’m extremely confident because I’m well-prepared. I can recall from memory my answers to the top 50 interview questions, as well as the examples I use to support those answers.  By the time I interview, I've gathered as much information as possible about the organization in the event they try to test my knowledge about their products, services, customers, or competitors. As a result, I walk into any interview with supreme confidence and am rarely caught off-guard.

I was caught off-guard once, though, when I had a phone interview. The interview was scheduled to last 30 minutes and the interviewer told me we would use that time to answer any questions I had about the role. This was the first interview in which I was asked no questions. I wasn't prepared to ask questions for 30 minutes, but this experience didn't shake my confidence because I anticipated the unexpected. Now, I have at least ten questions to ask the employer during any interview. The more prepared you are for the curve balls life throws at you, you’ll step to the plate with confidence.

3. Dress to impress

Jerome Bettis said it best, “when you look good, you feel good; and when you feel good, you play good.” When you go to an interview or networking event, or anytime you come in contact with a recruiter or someone with the power to hire you, your attire should represent the best you. You’re always interviewing, so you should always dress to impress. Invest in nice clothes; but be careful not to confuse ‘nice’ with expensive.

During interviews, or in any other situation in life, there’s no such thing as being overdressed. In addition to my preparation, I’m confident during interviews because I know I look good in a suit. I make sure it’s a good fit, I make sure my shoes are polished, and I do my best to look presidential, which is why I only wear white shirts and blue ties to interviews. When employers see me during an interview, I want them to envision me representing their organization. If I’m prepared and well-dressed, it’s easier for them to create that mental picture.

4. Win, Win, Win

To build confidence, you should do things you’re good at, or things you can become good at. Anyone can become good at exercising, for example. When you exercise on a regular basis it’s impossible not to notice your progress. Even if you don’t notice a difference on the scale, you’ll feel much better about your overall health and well-being. Exercise is a sure way to build your confidence; it gives you energy and makes you look and feel more youthful. If you’re good at shooting pool, you should find the time to play a couple of times a week. If you’re good at writing, write. Winning begets winning. When you win at one thing, you understand the formula to win in other areas. You have no choice but to be confident because you know you can win time and time again.

5. Think positively

Before you become confident, you must think confidence. Before any act of confidence was displayed, a confident thought preceded it. Confident people typically have a very positive outlook on life. They’re optimist who create opportunities as opposed to waiting for them to happen. It’s hard to convince someone else that you’re worthy of being hired when you habitually think of yourself as small and common. Overcoming negative thoughts about yourself is the key to becoming more confident.  

I fully acknowledge that it may be difficult for some people to grasp this concept but here’s a good place to start: when you wake up in the morning and look in the mirror, say “damn, I look good.” After a short while, you’ll start believing it and confidence will saturate your life. 

Who I am

I'm the Founder, CEO, and Head Coach of Hire Level Coaching. I'm also a husband and father of three. I take pride in being born and raised in Detroit and I love everything about it. I graduated from the University of Michigan and played football there so I'm somewhat fanatic about my alma mater. I like to read a little bit of everything. I hate writing but I love having written. I am a follower of Christ. I look for the beauty in everyone and everything. I need to continually develop my mind in order to survive. At the end of the day, I'm really just trying to make my mama proud. I started Hire Level Coaching so I can help people find their dream job. What I want for myself, I want for others.

I've had my dream job ever since I graduated college. At 23 years old, I began working as an International Recruitment and Marketing Coordinator for the University of Michigan at Flint. I got the opportunity to travel the world to recruit international students, attend conferences, and develop new partnerships. I've visited China, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Mongolia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Oman, Ukraine, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and a few other countries. I didn't have to pay for a thing except for souvenirs. We stayed in five-star hotels and dined at the finest restaurants the country had to offer. While abroad, I've had awesome experiences like meeting US Ambassadors, riding horseback through the mountains of Mongolia, floating in the Dead Sea, and tasting bizarre foods like Stinky Tofu, sautéed Black Fungus, grilled Cow Heart, Ox Tongue, and Mutton Soup. I got the opportunity to visit the Great Wall of China, Mt. Corcovado, and Petra. Most importantly, I got to meet great people from all around the world. Being an International Recruiter wasn't my dream job only because I got to travel the world, but because I got to help young people reach their goals of living the American dream along the way.

I was fortunate enough to realize my purpose in life at an early age, which is to help people reach their full potential. I am qualified to be in this business because I was able to realize my dream job almost immediately after graduation, and I've perfected my career coaching and consulting skills throughout my career. After about three years and 30 countries, I decided to make a career change. Traveling taught me a lot about myself, the world, and other people, but I desired to know more. My sons were getting older and I wanted them to know their dad. So I retired my passport for a while and found a new job that would challenge me in new ways and allow me to continue to work in my purpose.  

After my first job as an International Recruitment and Marketing Coordinator, I took a job as the Outreach Program Coordinator at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, one of the best business schools in the world. I knew I would learn a lot simply by being in the mix. I didn't know exactly what I would learn, but I knew I would learn invaluable information that will help me in my career and life. I also wanted to help young people reach their goals of being admitted to the university and the business school. In this role, I coordinated outreach initiatives for the undergraduate business program, primarily for students from underrepresented backgrounds. I personally advised a number of first and second-year students on course load, study skills, and life in general, while helping them gain admission to the business school. I loved going to work every day because I knew that I was adding value in young peoples' lives.

Why I’m blogging                                                                                                                                                              
Not many of my friends are unemployed, but most are underemployed. Most have jobs, but they're not fulfilling. I feel badly for them because they are devoting their time and energy to a job that's neither mentally nor emotionally stimulating. They go to a job every day that doesn't bring out the best in them, instead, it brings out the worst. A bad job is like a cancer; it spreads throughout your life and before you know it, it's sucking the life out of your life. If you're going to choose to spend your time anywhere, it should be in an environment where your opinion and ideas are welcomed and valued. You should spend your time on a job that's challenging and rewarding. You should be excited to go to work because it presents new challenges and opportunities and because it brings out the best in you.

I started this business and blog for young professionals who want to find their dream job now, like I did. I want to teach you what I've learned over my career so you, too, can be in a position to land your dream job. In essence, I want to teach you how to communicate more effectively throughout the entire job search process.

As a young professional, I can relate to your struggle. I graduated with a BA in Sociology in 2008, in the middle of the economic downturn, no one was hiring and everyone was firing. I didn't believe I stood a chance in the job market with such a general degree. After all, employers wanted three years of experience for an entry-level position, and I had none. Immediately after graduation, I took a job as an admissions intern in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions making about $28k a year. When my internship ended, I was applying to a job a day for three months straight. I applied for secretary jobs, entry-level sales jobs, grocery store manager positions, truck driving positions, and anything else I could find. I was willing to take whatever I could get. The jobs forecast was bleak, and even more dismal for a Sociology major with a sub-par GPA. I ended up getting an interview for the International Recruitment and Marketing Coordinator position and the rest was history. I'm writing this blog so you can gain some insight as to how to convince employers to pay you for what you would do for free.

I will blog about my past experiences, insights, and stories from my clients – given their consent of course. I will also answer recurring questions in my blog post. I will write about broad topics covering the entire job search process, and I will also go into detail with regard to specific scenarios you may face. As I mentioned earlier, I'm a coach, so I will also blog in hopes to motivate you to act. I will post a blog at least once a week. I want to keep you engaged with what I produce and will always aim to add value in your life; therefore, I promise to be my best.

Keep in touch

I welcome and value your feedback. Be sure to leave a comment on any given blog post. I would appreciate your immediate reaction, good or bad. I will also rely on you to tell me what I should write about. This blog is for my readers, and if you want to hear my opinion about something related to the job search, I will be more than happy to write about it. This blog is as much yours as it is mine. As much as possible, I will keep this blog relevant to information about careers and becoming a better professional and individual.

If you believe the information shared in any of my blogs is valuable, please share with your network. Please tweet, re-tweet, ‘like’, download, upload, backload, sideload, and whatever else you consider appropriate in sharing the information found here. My purpose in life is to help others reach their full potential, and you can help me do that by sharing anything you think is valuable with your family, friends, and loved ones. I look forward to sharing this journey with you. Thank you for your interest, time and attention, it is greatly appreciated.