Work On It Wednesday: Career Fair Frequently Asked Questions
By Emily Young MA ‘16
Career fair networking is different than an interview; it’s more like speed dating. Instead of a half an hour or hour for a typical interview, you have two minutes to break the ice and determine if you are interested in the company and if the company recruiter is interested in you. Luckily, company recruiters (who do this for a living) are friendly and genuinely want to get to know you. They’re not going to make hiring decisions on the spot, but leaving a lasting impression will help pave the way for later hiring interviews.
Since career fair networking is brief, most of the questions you will be asked are generic, broad-encompassing questions—which are sometimes more difficult when they catch you on the spot. Thus, with the USC Career Fair tomorrow, this Work On It Wednesday is dedicated to tackling those pesky questions and leaving a lasting impression with the company recruiter.
The 9 Most Common Career Fair Networking Questions:
1. How would you describe yourself?
Since you’ve already introduced and explained what you do, it might come as a slight shock when a recruiter asks you to describe who you are. Ex. I would describe myself as dedicated because I spend 30+ hours practicing each week and have put in the time to get good grades.
2. Is there a certain position you are interested in knowing more about?
Some companies have multiple job openings, so this is strictly a question for the recruiter to determine what position they should talk about. Luckily, for the USC Fair, jobs that companies are recruiting for are posted online. SO LOOK! Ex. Yes, I was interested in knowing more about Oracle’s one-year training and sales program.
3. What are your career goals?
You don’t need to have your entire life mapped out. Just have a general idea of what kind of
internship or job you are looking for.
Ex. I am interested in working in the entertainment industry and hoping
to find a PR job this fall.
4. What are your weak points?
You’ve been selling yourself and boom, “What are your weaknesses?” My best tip here is to address it as an area of development. Ex. I am working on developing my public speaking skills. I am in a public speaking class right now and it’s still nerve racking to have all of those people staring at you. My teacher says I am getting better though.
5. What are your strong points?
Strengths are a little easier to discuss than weaknesses, but when someone asks for say three or four, you don’t want to pause to think about it. Ex: I would say my greatest strength is communication. I enjoy talking to people and really enjoy my job as a SC tour guide. I also have great time management, am very detail oriented, and have a strong work ethic.
6. How did you hear about our company? (Smaller Companies/Start-Ups)
It’s okay to be honest and say that you didn’t know about their company until you looked at the career fair list IF you follow it up with a research question. Ex. To be honest, I was unaware of SendUs before last week. I didn’t know SendUs was responsible for the Singapore Airlines: How I Fly Campaign. Could you tell me more about that?
7. What interests you about our organization?
This is where being prepared really comes in. The best way to ace this question is to do your homework and research the company. Ex. I am interested in Pom Wonderful because not only do they offer a great product with organic ingredients, Pom Wonderful’s creative marketing strategy is unique because they create socially responsible campaigns to advertise.
8. What experience do you have?
Experience does not have to be strictly internship experience. If you haven’t had an internship, or your internship isn’t a good match for the company position, use experience from class. Ex. Last semester I ran a Google Ad Words Campaign for a client for my Communication Methods class. I’m really hoping to build on that experience this fall by getting a job involving data analytics.
9. Do you have any questions for me?
Normally, this is a closing question so if your question has already been asked or the recruiter catches you off-guard about the next step. Ex. Would it be possible to get your company card? I am really interested in following up about the sales position. Do you know then HR is looking to make a final decision?
By practicing your responses to some of these questions, hopefully you will not be caught off-guard and leave a lasting impression with the company recruiter. Even if you aren’t currently looking for a job, career fairs are a great place to practice answering these tough questions and learn more about prospective companies you are interested in. I highly encourage you to check it out tomorrow!
It’s not too late! RSVP for the USC Career Fair Tomorrow Here: http://careers.usc.edu/students/info/careerfair
~Emily
