following up on career fair contacts 4

[jayken]

Recently attended an engineering career fair where I got a number of responses that were fairly to extremely positive. Those that were very positive told me I was a "strong" candidate and that they'd be sifting through resumes the next day, calling up the candidates they were most interested in within the coming days. I was also provided with contact information, which I found some booths reluctant to give due to the "volume" of emails and calls they risk subjecting themselves to.

This is the morning of the second day after the fair, and although I'm probably getting ahead of myself, I wanted to see what would be recommended as to a time to follow up on these contacts, assuming I get no feedback within the next few days.

I was planning on calling/writing the companies that were strongly interested in me by the end of the third or fourth day, the lesser interested within about a week.

 

[KENAT]

Sounds like a plan, if you didn't give them your resume at the fair then obviously include that with the letter. Customize it if applicable, though this can be a pain.

However be aware that just because the recruiter at the fair was really keen doesn't guarantee that once they get back to the office, talk to the department you'd work in etc that it will lead anywhere.

I once got a phone call very early on a Saturday morning from someone who was super keen to meet and interview me. I went to the interview, I didn't even meet that person till the end of the morning, by which time the people actually interviewing me had determined my experience etc was not well suited to what they were looking for.



KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[TheTick]

Write letters to any of the contacts you have an address for.

 

[MadMango]

I agree, forget the phone calls, forget the emails. Type out a nice letter, include your resume (again), and foot the bill for postage.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[csd72]

I would send them a resume "for their file" anyway just in case they have a future need for you.

I would recommend that you call or write, emails are seen as too casual and easy and also often never leave the electronic inbox.

 

[jayken]

thanks for the quick replies... yes a written letter sounds like a fantastic idea... gives me a chance to really personalize everything.

 

[ash9144]

Sounds like a reasonable plan. Be sure to Thank them for taking time to meet and talk. Manners go a long way even in the most industrial fields. I got my first job out of college over a "more" qualified candidate because I was nice to the admin assistant, he bossed around like she was an indentured servant.

 

[IRstuff]

Having been on the other side of that table at a career fair, I can tell you that we do try our best to sound enthusiastic, both as a marketing thing as well as to try and keep the prospects "up." Some of those people haven't had to look for a job in decades; it's a shock and depressing, so we try to be upbeat, but not mislead.

That said, after the fair, we rank order all the prospects, and sometimes, the guys that looked very interesting aren't as interesting as other candidates, or aren't that interesting at a second glance. Sometimes, both of our people talked to the same person, and came away with radically different impressions.

Anyway, the letter would be a reasonable thing, but don't be disappointed if nothing materializes. In the career fair that I went to, we talked to probably about 100 people, but only brought in 1 for an actual interview.


BTW, if you say that you're familiar with some obscure software package or whatever, make sure that you are. Nothing more annoying than to find out, "Oh, yes, I watched someone use that program once."

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[Zogzog]

I have a BS in HRM (Dont use it at all) and remmember from school that the written letter is the most effective, another tip print it on high quality resumepaper (Not white.

 

[Twoballcane]

I have also been on both sides of the table. And, what IRStuff said is true. I have gotten all three of my jobs (for the past 12 years) at job fairs and open houses. I have never sent a cover letter or thank you note to any company (even after the interview), but still got hired. I think in the Engineering field it is either you have the skills they are looking for or the resume goes into the round file cabinet in a blink of an eye. No amount of cover letters or thank you notes (even hand written ones) will tilt any favor your way. Some times, the resume is in the round file by the time the thank you note gets to person. I think the thank you notes are used in other fields like business or something that is customer base. But, in Engineering IMO it does not matter.

Now being on the other side of the table, we have taken in resumes and by the end of the day in our hotel rooms that night we’ll scan thru them to see if anybody has the skills we are looking for, if it does not stand out or buried in some code talker language, we throw it out. By the end of the night out of a hundred we’ll probably have 10 people.

So jeremykim, not to sound dark, but this is the real world, you should call back not to impress them, but to find out if your still in t he running (or even if you made it to the A list) with the other candidates that they have picked out. With today’s companies it is “don’t call us, we’ll call you” mentality.

Good luck on your job hunt! Just keep moving forward.


Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

 

[jayken]

I think I'll still take the time to write out a thankyou letter of sorts, but I'll keep in mind what you said tobalcane