Recently, I had the opportunity to attend one of the largest Job Fairs here in the Seattle area. No, I wasn’t LOOKING for a job… I was helping a business partner staff their booth. It was eye-opening to me because I’d never attended one before. Yes, certainly I had the basic idea of what occurs in one, but having never attended, I wasn’t certain.

My business partner is in the “business” of providing career development services to individuals and organizations. And, because of that, “we” were in the position of giving candidates advice on their job search. As a content-development partner for them, I had a first-hand look at how the advice I give professionals about their social skills is truly a strategic tool in their job search, and, frankly, at any point in their career.

Some of it is SO basic, or should be. Yet, too many people just don’t have the right tools. For example, it takes 27 seconds to make a first impression. I had several job searchers approach our booth and the first sentence out of their mouth was, literally, “What jobs are you hiring for?” Uh, where’s the foreplay? You could at least start with “hello” or introduce yourself. Of those valuable 27 seconds you had to make that impression, what picture did your opening sentence present to me? It is so simple to just use a few different words, a slightly different approach, and you’d have a better chance of getting a foot in the door.

Others asked what advice I could give them about being more successful at the job fair. Well, it became patently obvious that with 3600 job seekers coming through in a 4-hour span, not a single person was going to get hired on the floor. And nearly everyone was there to try to get their foot in the door with a prospective employer. It was gun-shot fashion.

So, my best word of advice was: don’t do what others are doing. Everyone is there pitching themselves, and as I explain in my book, people have a natural aversion to being “sold.” So, don’t go to the Job Fair with the plan of trying to sell yourself.

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