Help yourself prepare for the job fair!
-Lay out your clothing the night before. This way you don’t have to scramble trying to find something in the morning. Check to make sure it's clean and wrinkle-free. Check out some tips on what to wear to the interview or job fair [here] (https://www.jobcase.com/conversations/60d77b2f-6640-5331-8816-dca310ec58bf?from=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.jobcase.com%252Fcommunity).
-Grab those resumes. Print and pack at least 50 copies and place them in a folder, or notebook and then tuck them away in a bag. Just make sure your resumes are easily accessible when an employer requests a copy, so you don't have to go digging for it! Not sure where to print them? Check out your local library which can offer you copies for 10 cents a page (though the price may vary).
-Eat a good breakfast the morning of. It’s true what they say, breakfast IS the most important meal of the day. It will fuel your brain/body first thing and last until lunchtime! When in doubt bring a snack if you think you will be hungry.
-Get some sleep. Even if you’re a night owl, put on those pj’s and climb into bed early enough the night before so you get a full 8 hours. You will look rested tomorrow and feel much calmer and focused.
-Get to the fair early. Plan how you will get there and how long it will take with Google maps. If you can, arrive a little bit early to calm your nerves and take a lap around the room.
-Practice your pitch a few times that morning. Whether it’s in the shower or on the ride over, say it a few times so you build up that confidence! What will you say in 20-30 seconds to grab that employer’s attention?
-Know what that company’s mission/culture. If you haven’t researched it yet, take some time to see what they are all about and jot down some notes! Remember, your pitch should be tailored to what YOU bring to that company based on what they do.
-Nervous and not sure what to say to break the ice? Practice a few of these [conversation starters] (https://www.jobcase.com/conversations/6d46f61d-c53b-5ec5-9d7c-69cc61713f6a) to get things rolling.
Wishing you the best of luck in finding a new job : )
Please let me know if you have any questions by commenting below!
I would like to commend the Chicago Urban League and Jobcase for sponsoring a wonderful Job Fair it was very informative, there were quite a number of potential employers that I was able to meet and hopefully land a position very soon, there was a separate forum that was held in a conference room conducted by the State of Illinois-CMS which was very enlightening I was able to gain insight into the process and procedures in order to obtain a job with the State of Illinois. Also, thank you for the free Headshot it was greatly appreciated.
When the Chicago Urban League works on your behalf, they really get results! Wow. The jobcase team will have a pretty version of Employers attending out today (with logo's etc), but I can't wait to list all the employers that you can choose to meet in 1 spot! (make sure to do your homework - figure out 5-10 to focus on and do a little research today on Jobcase/Glassdoor/google to get some questions ready for them too!).
Here they are:
Accenture
Action for Children
Admin IL State Toll Highway Authority
ADP
Allstate Insurance
Amazon
ATT
Barilla
BMO Harris Bank
BNSF
Broadway Electic - PATRICK
Brookfield Zoo
CDW - Cherice
Cintas
City Colleges of Chicago
City Year
Combined Insurance
Cook County Sheriff's Dept
Cook Dupage Transportation
Country Financial
County of DuPage
CTA
Driving Academy
Exelon Corporation
F.H. Paschen
FBI
Georgia Pacific
Golden State Food
Hilton
ICStars
ighthouse
Illinois Central Bus - PATRICK
Illinois DCFS
Illinois State Police
Illinois Tollway
Indiana Tech
McHugh Construction
Michels
Monterrey Security
Navy Pier
Pace
PHP Insurance
Pipefitters Union
Republic Services
Rosebud Restaurants
Rush Hospital
SCR Medical Transportation
Seville Staffing
SOS Village
South Suburban College
Southern Company
Teamwork Englewood
The Nature Conservancy Center
Uber
Union Pacific
United Parcel Services
US Bank
Verizon Wireless
Waste Management
WB Marketing
YMCA
So.. We have a group called "Enterprise Solutions" in Jobcase Inc. Their job is to welcome in great employers into the community. We have a platform called "Streetsmarts" for them to do this. When you look at the company page of each location of Home Depot for example, usually those are driven by our great partner at Home Depot.
One way of welcoming others into the community is by participating in these big conventions around "HR Tech" (human resource technology). There is one in Chicago this week. We signed up to be there. It cost about $10k just to get a spot. Then we found out that the booth we needed to put up would cost $20-30,000!!! Every jobs company you can think of does this. But to us that seems crazy. What a waste of resource to put $25,000 into a booth just so human resource professionals can see your salespeople in front of a pretty backdrop. We decided it goes against our belief and mission of "putting people first".
So heres what we did instead! We'll pony up the $25G's but we are going to spend it where it makes a difference. Since we are in Chicago we looked at all the problems Chicago Jobcasers and others face in their worklife and we looked for non-profits who help them. Turns out The Chicago Urban League has some great workforce development programs that help people. Even better - they are celebrating their 100th year of helping people right now! So instead of spending $25k on a booth, it's our privilege to instead give it to the Chicago Urban League to help them serve more people.
Putting people first. Using resources wisely. Empowering Americas workforce. We'll keep building this platform and looking for partners who share this mission. We are stronger together and its only gonna get better!!!!