[Nfbnet-members-list] How Job Fairs Work
Dick Davis
ddavis at blindinc.org
Tue Jun 24 19:25:09 UTC 2014
How Job Fairs Work
By Dick Davis, Chair
NFB Employment Committee
Â
This is a brief primer for those of you who have
not attended a job fair before, but plan to come
to the one at our 2014 NFB Convention.Â
Â
When you enter the ballroom, you will find that
employers are seated at tables in the middle of
the room and around the outside
periphery. Since the tables are distributed on
a first come, first served basis, we will not
know before the convention exactly who will be located where.Â
Â
I sent out a list of employers on the NFB
listservs, so bring that with you. If you have
the time, use the information on the list to do
some research on the employers and develop a list
of ones you want to talk to. We will have a
limited number of Braille and large type copies
of the employer list at the Job Fair for
jobseekers to look at (but not keep, as we
donât have enough for everyone).  Â
Â
We will also have a limited number of sighted and
blind persons cruising the room, and they may be
able to direct you to specific employers, but
they will be too busy to lead you around from
table to table, fill out job applications,
etc. If you need that service, it is a good
idea to bring a sighted reader with you.  Â
Â
Now comes the adventure. Explore the tables,
ask which employer is at each one, and talk to
them about what they do. (You should know
something about them if you did your previous
research.)Â If you are interested in working for
them, offer them a resume and a cover letter
(both personalized if possible) explaining why
they would be interested in hiring you. Â You
might want to ask for their business card in
return. That will enable you to follow up with them more easily.
Â
Do not expect a full job interview. They will
look at your resume, probably ask you a few
screening questions, and decide what they want to
do next. Itâs perfectly permissible and
desirable to ask them what will happen next. Here are some possibilities:
Â
·       If they plan to stay at the
convention, they may set up an interview with you later in the week.
·       They may take your resume and
others they have collected back to their office,
screen them more thoroughly, and set up a phone
interview with you at a later date.Â
·       They may explain to you how to
apply at their online site, and assuming you pass
the online screening, contact you for an
interview at a later date (this is common with state and federal agencies).Â
·       They may hire you on the spot
(not too likely today, but it could happen).Â
·       They may decide not to interview
you, and may send you a letter thanking you for
your interest and saying they will keep your resume on file.Â
Â
Always send them a follow-up letter thanking them
for visiting with you at the Job Fair and stating
your interest in working for them. If the
chemistry in the meeting at the Job Fair seemed
good, you might want to follow up in a couple of
weeks to learn the status of your
application. You can contact them once after
that if you want, but do not pester them.Â
Â
Finally, be patient! It can take months to get
a job in this market, and the fact that you
donât hear from an employer in a month or two
doesnât mean they are not interested in
you. In any follow-up contacts with them,
always be pleasant and polite that goes a long way.Â
Â
If you are unable to attend the Job Fair, is it
still okay to contact the employers? Yes, it
is. I would recommend waiting until after the
convention. Just explain that you were unable
to attend the Job Fair, but still are interested
in working for them. Contact information is on the list I sent out.Â
Â
Are you on the Jobs listserv? If not, you
should be, as you will learn about more job
openings that way. Go to
<http://www.nfb.org>www.nfb.org, search for
âlistservâ and find âJobsâ partway down the list.Â
Â
I hope this information helps you during the Job
Fair and that you get a good job as a result.Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Content-Type:
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document;
name="How Job Fairs Work.docx"
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="How Job Fairs Work.docx"
X-Attachment-Id: 9b7fa338b1d39f3d_0.1
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbnet-members-list_nfbnet.org/attachments/20140624/d47849d9/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: How Job Fairs Work.docx
Type: application/msword
Size: 18543 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbnet-members-list_nfbnet.org/attachments/20140624/d47849d9/attachment.doc>
More information about the NFBNet-Members-List
mailing list