Walk in with Confidence, Walk out with a Job at Meet the Firms

How to be successful at a job fair, well luckily, it is not rocket science and a fairly easy thing to do. All you need is a little bit of confidence, a sense of who you are, a thorough understanding of your resume (you wrote it so you should know it), and the ability to talk to an employer.

So how do you build all these skills? Well, the best way is to practice whenever and wherever. Firm recruiters are normal people that work for a normal company. Recruiters are no different than the people we meet day to day in our everyday life. So why do we get cold feet as soon as we start talking to an employer at Meet the Firms? One, you probably were not as confident going in, most likely a little unsure of what to expect. Second, you don’t really have a plan for where you want to end up in the accounting profession. Third, you don’t really understand your resume. All of these factors can be seen by a recruiter from the moment you start talking, so do something about it!

Before every Meet the Firms event, I would make sure I did a few things:

1. My Resume is up to date! Just in case I was asked about anything, I knew how to respond.
2. Plan my time at Meet the Firms! Look at the list and see who I want to definitely see, who I want to learn more about, and who I knew nothing about but seemed pretty cool.
3. Do my research! Every firm that I was going to see that day I made sure to check out there site, see where they are located, and what do they do. This is a key step to build confidence, and to show firm reps that you did do your homework!
4. Skim through current events. Make sure that you have a few small talk topics to get a conversation going. If you can’t think of anything the best way to start small talk is to talk about the weather!

How you present yourself has a big impact on what an employer thinks, so even if you did your homework, and have all the confidence in the world remember to dress like a Business Professional! You have one shot to make an impression, and you want to stand out in every way possible. So take these tips, and apply them for Meet the Firms on Monday, September 23! The better you prepare the more confidence you will have, and you will get a job because of Meet the Firms.

Now that you know the process, get to work on the list of companies!

• Becker Professional Education
• Bronner Group, LLC
• Caterpillar Inc
• CBIZ & Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C.
• Center for Economic Progress
• CNA Insurance
• CohnReznick LLP
• Corbett Duncan & Hubly PC
• Deloitte
• Freidman & Huey Associates LLP
• Frost, Ruttenbert & Rothblatt, PC
• ITW
• Legacy Professionals LLP
• McGladrey
• Mitchell & Titus
• National Futures Association
• Ostrow Reisin Berk & Abrams, Ltd.
• Prado & Renteria CPAs
• Warady & Davis LLP
• Weltman Bernfield LLC