Job Fairs

[visualkei]

Alright, I went to my first job college job fair today. A College of Education Job Fair. I also know that the representatives there were mostly people from Human Resources, and not really principals who were conducting interviews. I also knew that most schools were looking for people to fill secondary teaching positions. Though I think I have a pretty good resume, but I also felt like I was being overlooked. Kinda passed through the assembly line of recruiters.

The only time someone showed interest was because I mentioned I was taking classes that would prepare me for English Second Langue certification. Then he wanted to squeeze me into teaching secondary, and that's not what I was looking for. I was invited to attend another job fair hosted by that particular district, and it's a mighty district. Pretty big.

Now there will be principals at the next job fair, and I am afraid that I will make the same mistakes I did today. So I want to be more assertive, and verbally bring up my qualifications instead of just handing a resume and expecting someone to look through it.

I would like to hear some advice from any of you that got jobs in a similar way, things that I could do to make me especially stand out positively. Even bad experiences you've had and reflected over. Any little bit helps. I need to be pumped up and land a job! Thanks.

[Sara]

[color=#b0000b][size=1]Relax! Be confident in yourself. Realise that you are an intelligent, enthusiastic person, and that any [i]one[/i] of your potential employers would be [i]lucky[/i] to have you.

The best thing you can do is ask questions. Make a list?mental or written?of things you'd like to know. I don't know where you are or what kind of teaching position you're looking for, so some of these questions might not apply to you (and some are better suited for a one-on-one interview than at a job fair) but you get the idea:

How big is the school? Does it have an ESL program? About how many students are enrolled in that program? (Is the ESL program content-based?) What is the ethnic make-up of the school? Are there a lot of extracurriculars? Does it have a special-ed or honors program? How big is the staff/what is the student-teacher ratio? Are there monthly or annual events that you'd be expected to help with? What kind of special facilities does the school have? "I've heard that every school in the district has a different personality. What's the personality of _______?" How long has the other person worked there? Where did they work before that? What are the differences?

Asking questions is incredibly important! It shows people that you are intelligent, that you've thought about the position, and that you want to know more. It gives a chance for a conversation to spring up, and it marks you as an interesting and competent person.

If you're looking for a teaching position, I assume you've already gone through a period of student-teaching. Use your contacts! Ask your fellow teachers (or even the principal) for advice on what questions to ask, what you should know about a school before working there. If you talk to the principal, ask what he or she looks for at job fairs, and what's the best way to make yourself stand out.[/color][/size]

[Ol' Fighter]

My advice to you is...BE ASSERTIVE show them your mighty ambitions threw your character, show them who's the greatest, and make them lick the prints that your shoes make. :smirk:

[Sara]

[quote name='Lonley Fighter']make them lick the prints that your shoes make. :smirk:[/quote][color=#b0000b][size=1]I feel like that might not have the desired effect.[/size][/color]

[Ol' Fighter]

[quote name='Sara][color=#b0000b][size=1]I feel like that might not have the desired effect.[/size'][/color][/quote]

Oh yes it will they will taste his might from the soil he steps upon like a god they will think of him BWAHAHA...but seriously I think your chances of landing a good job will dramatically increase if you have a certain aura of assertivness and confidence in yourself and being ambitious, although slightly frightening for the employer because they could think your a lil\' too ambitious but I personally know that it works.

[visualkei]

alright so i went to the next job fair. lord, it was discouraging when i realized how many people were there! there were about 24 schools, and 10 people in line to talk to each school, so at first i felt like someone just passing by every time i handed in my resume and gave a short speech about myself.

then when someone showed interest in me, i answered one of their questions all wrong! so, i got back into another line. but what i did get from that person was that she told me she liked my firm handshake and how assertive i was, so i'm going to keep that up.

by the time the job fair was more than halfway through, someone noticed that i had a specialization in reading, and i got a mini interview. thanks for the advice on questions, but after i got to the fair, i realized i left all my questions at home, and when the assistant principal asked if i had any, i pulled one question off the top of my head about team teaching. i realized i might've seemed a little careless, and should've prepared the questions before i stepped in the door.

people began dwindling down, and the lines got shorter, and i guess this gave representatives more time to notice me, and i got more positive feedback as more people noticed my specialization. though i mentioned the specialization to everyone, it wasn't until the last half hour of the fair did i start getting feedback and questions about it. goes to tell me that a lot of times they don't really notice things and you've got to be more clear and assertive about it. so next time, i'm going to bolden that part on my resume, and talk more slowly when i introduce myself.

unfortunately, the fair was ending when i got introduced to one of the last principals, so i couldn't get an off-the-spot interview. i squeezed in some last resumes to a few schools, and was able to get one more positive feedback after that.

this time when i left the fair, i felt more relieved. the last 30 minutes there made the 2 hours of waiting and wandering worth it. i was glad to get a short interview and more individual attention, so my outlook is more positive now. =] i'm going to remember what worked and how i need to further prepare myself for a "next time." hopefully, i can follow up on the people i met and my experiences that day.