Have your resume critiqued before the career fair. You may have your resume critiqued by attending the Career Center's "Resume Critique Days" (see the Career Center website for dates) or by visiting the Career Center during Walk-In Hours
(12:00pm-2:00pm Monday-Friday).

Bring 10 to 15 copies of your resume to the fair, but be aware that some employers cannot accept hard copy resumes and will ask you to apply online. This is to comply with federal regulations requiring employers to maintain data on applicants.

In essence, Career Fairs are your first interview. A well-pressed dark suit is always appropriate. Wear comfortable, professional, and polished shoes!

Cologne, Perfume, & Cosmetics:
Be conservative with perfume and makeup; when in a small space, even a little perfume may be too much (particularly if someone is allergic), so consider not wearing any.

Backpacks:
If you can go without your backpack, do so. Carry a portfolio with a notepad, copies of your resume, a pen, and any other pertinent information. If you are also carrying a purse, keep it small.

*Avoid visible piercings and tattoos*

*Turn off your cell phone*

*Do not chew gum*

Step 1.
Review employers attending the fair at:
www.career.uga.edu

Step 2.
Preview job descriptions and targeted majors.

Step 3.
Identify your top 5 - 10 employers.

Step 4.
Do some research on these employers! Find out their main products/services, mission, current news, main clients/customers, and competitors.

*It is CRITICAL that you THOROUGHLY understand the company and positions for which employers are hiring*

Prepare a 30-Second Commercial:
This 30-second "Elevator Pitch" introduces you, states your interest in the organization, and communicates your experience related to the position(s) in which you are interested.

Network Independently:
If you go with friends, identify a space outside the event to meet after the fair.

Be Patient:
Do not interrupt the employer or jump into a conversation he/she is having with someone else. Wait your turn; you might even pick up some valuable information as you wait!

Show Enthusiasm:
If you are interested or excited about a position, let the company representative know! You can do this by mentioning the company research you conducted while completing the sentence, “I’m really interested in your company because…”

Bring Pertinent Questions:
Your questions will depend on your goals and interests (career exploration vs. job search).

Examples of Appropriate Questions:

• "What are the characteristics of an ideal candidate?"
• “What are the staffing needs of your organization at xyz location?”
• "What are the travel opportunities/requirements?"

Examples of Inappropriate Questions:

• "What jobs are you offering?"
• "What is the salary for this position?"
• "What benefits do you offer?"

1. Collect business cards

2. Ask about next steps in the hiring process

3. Send an email or written thank you letter within 24 to 48 hours

Networking happens in formal settings like information sessions or career fairs, as well as informal settings, like when you run into a recruiter on an elevator or find yourself unexpectedly speaking to a potential career resource. How can you make a positive impression in a short amount of time?

Having a planned response that highlights your experiences and strengths in a concise (30 second) blurb will help you portray yourself as confident, prepared, and memorable.

In your commercial, you want to include:

• Your name, major, and year in school at UGA
• The skills and experiences you have that connect you with that employer (for example: a related internship, leadership experience, or class project).

Example:
You know that Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta will be at the Career Fair. You decide to approach the recruiter to discuss research positions. You don’t know much about the exact positions available, so you take the approach of describing your overall research qualifications.

“Hi. My name is __________. I’m a third-year Microbiology student at The University of Georgia. I’ve completed (and enjoyed) numerous science classes with labs, including biology and chemistry. Last summer, I volunteered at Emory University’s Clinic and became familiar with the hospital environment. I understand that Children’s Healthcare may have some undergraduate research opportunities, and I would be very interested in learning more about these positions.”

• Research the position and organization thoroughly.
• Confirm the time, date, and location of the interview.
• Identify your skills that relate to the job; review your resume and be able to elaborate on it.
• Practice interviewing and request feedback from others for improving your interviewing skills; do a mock interview!
• Prepare questions ahead of time – write them in your portfolio.
• Know the general salary range for the position.
• Plan what to wear and make sure your suit fits properly.

• Arrive early (10-15 minutes).
• Bring extra copies of your resume.
• Listen closely to the interviewer’s questions; ask for clarification if needed.
• Be concise in your answers; give concrete examples to back up your claims and stay positive.
• Never slight a former employer or colleague.
• Be aware of your posture and body language; watch your grammar.
• Be sure to ask about the next steps in the hiring process before you leave.

• Write a thank you letter to the interviewer(s) within 24-48 hours.
• Evaluate your performance by asking yourself questions such as:
  • “Did I use clear, concrete examples?”
  • “What points did I make that seemed to interest the interviewer?”
  • “How can I improve my next interview?”
• Follow up with a phone call to find out the status of your application (if the employer has not contacted you within the stated time frame).

• "Tell me about a time when you had to resolve a difference of opinion with a co-worker, customer, or supervisor."
• "Describe the way you handled a specific problem involving a person with differing values, ideas, and beliefs in your current/previous job."
• "Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done."
• "Describe a situation in which you used persuasion to successfully convince someone to approach things your way."
• "Tell me about how you worked successfully in a team and the role you played."
• "Give me a specific example of a time when you had to address an angry customer? What was the problem and what was the outcome? How would you assess your role in defusing the situation?"

Tip: Use the STAR technique

Situation: Describe the situation. For instance, if using a class project describe both class and project. How many people were in your group? When did it happen?

Task: What was the problem? What was your role? Using the class project example, what was your specific role in the group? What was the assignment?

Action: How did you handle the task? Focus on your own actions, not those of your group.

Result:What was the result of your efforts? This is a VERY important part of the answer!

• "Tell me about yourself."
• "What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?"
• "How would a friend or professor describe you?"
• "What two or three accomplishments have given you the most satisfaction? Why?"
• "Why did you select your college, university, or major?"
• "What do you know about our organization?"

• "How many golf balls can you fit in a swimming pool?"
• "How many pennies, standing end to end, would it take to reach from the ground to the top of the empire state building?"
• "How many telephones are there in the U.S.?"
• "How would you redesign an ATM machine to make it more user-friendly?"

Tip: Don’t worry about getting the question right. The goal is to demonstrate how you would logically try to solve the problem.

• Greet the host of the event with a smile and a firm handshake. Introduce yourself with your full name, major and your university if it is a mixed business reception.
• Appropriate conversation topics include the organization of the person with whom you are speaking, industry news, current events, asking for career advice, and other general topics.
• Avoid topics that involve religion, politics, marital/family status, and other subjects that evoke strong opinions.
• If you are talking in a group, try to include everyone in the group in the conversation.
• Do not dominate the conversation.
• If food or drink is provided at the event, choose one and hold it in your left hand. You want to keep your right hand clean and ready for handshakes.
• Be sure to thank your host(s) in person and shake his/her hand before leaving.

• Address your emails with “Dear Mr./Ms.___.”
• Have a professional email address (no brewdawg@uga.edu or iluvsoccer@ymail.com). Make an address that is a combination of your first and last name.
• Be sure to check your email regularly while job searching. Company representatives may ask for an interview in less than 24 hours.
• Do not use emoticons like smiley faces and hearts, and do not overuse exclamation points.
• Use complete sentences and check for grammatical errors. While spell check may be helpful, it may not catch every error. *NO text talk.*
• Conclude your email with a professional signature that includes your full name, university, graduation year, phone number, and email address.
  
  Optional: clubs you are involved in and leadership roles you hold, professional website, professional social media accounts liked LinkedIn, or an online portfolio.
  
  *Do not put a quote at the end of your signature*

• Leave a professional greeting that states your full name, what message you would like the caller to leave you, and how you will follow up.
• Take off all ring-back tones.
• Do not have extraneous noise in the background of your message.
• When leaving a voicemail with a potential recruiter, clearly state your full name and spell it if necessary. State your purpose for calling concisely (30 seconds or less). Slowly state your phone number and consider repeating it along with your name.

• Keep your elbows off of the table.
• Watch how you hold your utensils to ensure you are not intruding on someone sitting beside you with your elbows.
• Cut between one to three bites of food at a time.
• If you have a roll, break off pieces and butter them individually.
• Open your napkin below the table and place it in your lap with the fold closest to your waist.
• If you have to get up during the meal, leave your napkin in your chair.
• Place your napkin to the right of your plate, not in your food, at the end of the meal.
• Often the person who initiates the meal will cover the cost. Always be sure to thank your host.

• Choose a meal that is easy to eat (i.e. entrees without a lot of sauce or things that can drip) and you do not have to pick up with your hands. The purpose of the meal is to converse NOT to eat.
• Select an item in the mid-price range. If you are unsure of what to order, it is appropriate to ask your host for their recommendations.
• Do not order alcohol unless offered by your host. It is perfectly acceptable to politely decline the offer. Have no more than one beverage if you decide to partake.

• As a general rule of thumb, use the utensils on the outside and work your way in.
• Your drink will always be on the right and your bread on the left.
  • Tip: Make a circle with your hands by touching your thumb to your forefinger on both hands. Note how your left hand resembles a “b” (bread) and your right hand resembles a “d” (drink).
• Always taste your food before seasoning.
• If bread or another item is directly placed in front of your seat, offer the item to your left before passing to the right.
• Place your knife horizontally at the top of your plate with the sharp edge facing towards you after you are done using it.
• Leave some food on your plate and take small bites; remember the purpose of the meal is to have a conversation.
• To signal to the waiter/waitress you have finished, place your fork (tines down) and knife at the angle of 10:00 o’clock and 4:00 o’clock on your plate.

• Clean up social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.). Remove questionable items (political views, religion, marital status, controversial pictures or other items) from your site and make your accounts private while job searching. Consider keeping them private after you get the job.
• Google your full name in quotes to see what information recruiters could find about you.
• Do not “friend” on Facebook (or connect via other social media sites) employers with whom you have interviewed.
• Do not post about your interviewing experience on Twitter or Facebook. Employers may be able to access information you posted even though you made the content private.
• Regularly check your privacy settings because they may be modified or lost with new updates.

Nicole Lechene

Career Consultant for UGA Alumni
Career Consultant

Sonya Leak

Career Consultant for CAES
Career Consultant

Chuck Perry

Career Consultant for Ecology
Career Consultant

Bethany Bagley

Career Consultant for the
College of Education
Career Consultant

Sonya Leak

Career Consultant for the
College of Environment & Design
Career Consultant

Sonya Leak

Career Consultant for the
Faculty of Engineering
Career Consultant

Christie Sanders

Career Consultant for the
College of Family & Consumer Sciences
Career Consultant

Sonya Leak

Career Consultant for the
College of Forestry & Natural Resources
Career Consultant

Marian Higgins

Career Consultant for
Journalism & Mass Communication
Career Consultant

Michelle Carter

Career Consultant for the
College of Pharmacy
Career Consultant

Chuck Perry

Career Consultant for Pre-Health
Career Consultant

Shaistha Begum

Career Consultant for Pre-Law
Career Consultant

Sonya Leak

Career Consultant for the
College of Public Health
Career Consultant

Christie Sanders

Career Consultant for the
School of Social Work
Career Consultant

Shaistha Begum

Career Consultant for the
School of Public & International Affairs
Career Consultant

Laura Ledgerwood

Career Consultant for Computer Science
Career Consultant

Erica Walbert Ely

Career Consultant for Economics
Career Consultant

Nikki Smith

Career Consultant for
Fine & Performing Arts
Career Consultant

Chuck Perry

Career Consultant for Hard Sciences
Career Consultant

Shaistha Begum

Career Consultant for Humanities
(Including Foreign Languages)
Career Consultant

Sonya Leak

Career Consultant for
Mathematics & Statistics
Career Consultant

Lisa Lowe

Career Consultant for Social Sciences
Career Consultant

Nikki Smith

Career Consultant for
Undeclared/Undecided Students
Career Consultant

Michelle Carter

Career Consultant for Accounting
Career Consultant

Erica Walbert Ely

Career Consultant for Finance
Career Consultant

Bethany Bagley

Career Consultant for HROD
Career Consultant

Laura Ledgerwood

Career Consultant for
International Business
Career Consultant

Laura Ledgerwood

Career Consultant for Management
Career Consultant

Andrew M. Crain

Career Consultant for Marketing
Career Consultant

Laura Ledgerwood

Career Consultant for MIS
Career Consultant

Laura Ledgerwood

Career Consultant for MIT
Career Consultant

Andrew M. Crain

Career Consultant for MMR
Career Consultant

Andrew M. Crain

Career Consultant for Real Estate
Career Consultant

Andrew M. Crain

Career Consultant for RMI
Career Consultant

UGA Career Center

Clark Howell Hall, 2nd floor
Athens, Ga 30602
Open Monday through Friday, 8am until 5pm
Walk-In Hours, 12pm until 2pm
when class is in session

The University of Georgia Career Center is the sole provider (except for MBA and Law students) of centralized career services to undergraduate, graduate students, and alumni at The University of Georgia. Career Center staff work collaboratively with faculty and staff of all departments to enhance the career success of University of Georgia students and alumni.