Working a Job Fair

By Stephanie Clark.
For four years, I have volunteered at the Halton Region Job Fair providing free resume critiques – for the last three with fellow CPC-er, Elizabeth Grin of Sunshine Design. Everyone loves “free” and the line-ups are incredible! My husband, Richard, is the congenial gate-keeper and he has the difficult task of turning away a lot of people. We always end up staying longer, so as not to disappoint the last few.
This year, on my way home from the job fair, I jotted down a few ideas to implement next year.
Although my husband kept a tally of how many lined up, how many Elizabeth and I assisted, how many gave up, and how many were turned away, next year I will keep my own tally of the major issues. I want to know what issues exist such as: lack of focus, wordiness, brevity to the point of being terse, or devoid of context? Knowing this will give me fodder for new articles to post to Ezines, my monthly newsletter, and three blogs.
In addition, I plan to ask if I can take a copy of each person’s resume, with email address, in order to email them a free resource. Once I have those, I will evaluate which of the more than 100 articles I have written would be of most value to each person. This measure may lead to a few actual clients.
Asking for the resumes will also give me a chance to catch those funny mistakes that we all make – the grammatical error that gives an unintended meaning, the miss-spelled word that would make a mother blush, or a sentence so devoid of context that it baffles the reader. These examples make great article hooks that pique the reader’s interest and keep him or her reading!
While I wish that I had thought of these before, but I’m glad that they’re now committed to paper. I am ready for next year.
Oh, by the way, Elizabeth, Richard, and I always wrap up the day at an award-winning Thai restaurant. That way, we get a chance to reflect on the rewards of our volunteer activity while nurturing our friendship!