Standing out at a Career Faire can make a difference in your job search. Job Fairs are starting to pick up, and a major job search company is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a Bay Area Career Faire in early 2010, 10 companies as showing up, and a major job search company has 82 career fairs scheduled for 2010 across the States.

How do you compete at a Career Faire? The contention can be significant, but you can help yourself leap out from the herd with early homework. At AA-Careers, we have a simple 6-step process to prepare. Planning to go? Here’s how to prepare:

First, research the companies that are going and pick your targets. Use the internet to check out the organizations that are there before you even decide to go. Go to their web sites and see if they have their jobs posted. Pick a tenable number to go after, and get ready to spend an hour researching each one. It’s hard to do more than nine in a day, and four or five is a much more reasonable target. For each hiring company, you want to know: key product lines, recent news, and executive names. Try to see if you know anyone at the target companies. You will end up with with a page or two of research for each company/job.

Second, if there are job openings on the web, read them to see what the company is looking for. Create a mapping of your achievements and skills to the requirements of the job. Make the terminology match. If the hiring organization calls customers "clients", your resume should do the same thing. The accomplishments should be written in the style of the hiring company.

Third, create a ‘short sales pitch’ for each likely company/position combination. Write down a 90 second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat verbally showing why you are a fantastic prospect for that job. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet the team from the company at the job booth.

Fourth, modify your resume for each opportunity. The objective on your resume should exactly match the position you’re going after. The executive summary should be a written form of your “mini sales pitch” for the job. Then choose the accomplishments and skills that most clearly match the job description. Especially at a Career Faire, the purpose of your resume is a sales tool for you – to get you on-site job interviews. It should be obvious to see that you’re a match based on your resume.

Fifth, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress well and be well groomed. Don’t over do-it (this isn’t a date!) and don’t underdress (no jeans or t-shirts, no matter how much you paid for them). Avoid strong cologne or perfume.

Finally, rehearse your ‘mini-sales-pitch’. Collect your research and the resume for each spot - bring a couple of copies for each – and put each in a understandably tagged folder. Keep them in a light briefcase or folio.

Remember to smile, and good hunting!