Industry specific job fairs or career fairs like those held at conferences or festivals can be an excellent source of job leads. To get the most out of a job fair, prepare carefully before you go. Here are tips about what to do and what you can expect from a job fair.

What a Job Fair is
A job fair is a huge recruiting event where you can talk to many employers in one day. Be prepared for a crowd. According to Connie Woods Winn, vp, career services specialist for The Art Institutes, and vp, career services specialist — Western Group, Education Management Corp., and co-chair of the ACM SIGGRAPH Job Fair says more than 3,000 applicants attended the job fair at SIGGRAPH in 2004 and 5,000 applicants are expected this year. Last year about 30 companies participated in the job fair at SIGGRAPH. This year 55-60 companies are expected to participate. Because all job fairs feature a large number of employers, they will attract an even larger number of job applicants.

Why Companies Participate in Job Fairs
“Companies are looking for top talent,” states Winn. “They can meet with people from all over the world in one place.” Rachelle Lewis, manager of recruitment, Digital Domain, adds, “Companies participate in job fairs in order to meet with a lot of artists and technical candidates all in one place and in a short amount of time. It’s an incredibly efficient way to build your talent pool.”

Why Job Applicants Attend
Because there are many employers in one location, a job fair is an efficient way to make contact with dozens of hiring companies from all over the world and possibly get an interview.

Should I Attend?
I already have a job in the industry — should I attend the job fair?

If you’re unhappy in your job, or frustrated by lack of opportunity for advancement, a job fair is a good place to investigate other companies and meet other prospective employers.

However, employers as well as prospective employees attend job fairs. Even if your current employer does not attend, it is certainly possible that you will be recognized by someone, and your attendance might be reported to your boss. If you value your current job, a job fair may be a risky place to causally investigate other opportunities.

Companies come to job fairs because they are an incredibly efficient way to build the talent pool.

What to Prepare
Immediate contact information: In case an employer wants to contact you immediately, include your cell number and pager number (with area codes) and hotel contact information on your résumé. You want the employer to be able to reach you at any time. Include your name, permanent contact information, and email address on everything you give an employer as well so they can contact you at a later date.

Disposable portfolio: Create a disposable portfolio which will include screen shots from your demo reel, your résumé, and the best work of your portfolio. Every page should have your current contact info on it, including email addresses and websites if you have one, as well as your phone number with area code. This disposable portfolio is often called a “leave behind” and you should have enough copies so that every employer participating in the job fair can have one.

Reel: “Applicants should have plenty of copies of their résumés, demo reels and shot breakdowns,” states Suzanne Datz, head cheerleader, Zoic Studios. “Shot breakdowns are important because without them we cannot know what portion of a shot the applicant was responsible for.” A shot breakdown is a list describing what you did on every shot on your reel. If you did everything, say so. Some people put slates on their reel before each shot describing what they did. Some companies like Zoic prefer DVDs while others prefer VHS cassettes. But everyone agrees that you must put your best stuff up front, keep your reel concise and include only high quality work, label your reel with your name and contact info, and always include a shot breakdown.

Pitch/Introduction: You must be ready to pitch yourself in 15 seconds. Write down five strong reasons why someone would want to hire you (what makes you special and unique). Pick the strongest one and pinpoint accomplishments or experiences in which that asset was instrumental to your success. If you have trouble with this, ask family, friends and former employers to help you identify the one or more qualities that set you apart from others competing for jobs. Once you have identified an exceptional quality that goes beyond the basic qualifications for the job — something that sets you apart from other candidates, you need to communicate this to potential employers in your 15-second sales pitch.