Etiquette After a Career Event

By Marian Li, Toppel Peer Advisor

Job fairs and Meet-Ups provide you with an opportunity to make face-to-face contact with many employers. At some fairs, you also have the opportunity to interview for open positions. Our Toppel Career Center brings over 100 employers and graduate schools every semester to give us students as many opportunities to get our foot in the door with our future potential employees.

A lot of the concerns students have usually concern the preparation prior to the actual career event but a lot of times, students tend to forget to tie up loose ends that really can make a difference in their career goals. So after the event, give yourself a pat on the back, but you’re not done JUST yet!

Stay organized – During the event, employers have a ton of handouts so keep track of business cards and promotional items! The backs of cards are an easy place to write a few notes of your conversations with recruiters while the memory is still fresh in your mind. Review your notes and process what you learned about the different organizations. Some students benefit from creating an Excel sheet to keep their job search organized.

Follow up – Within a week of the event, write thank you notes/emails to recruiters from companies that are of particular interest to you. Hand written notes are a classy touch if you’ve invested in stationary. Regardless of the medium, express your interest in learning more about the company and possible positions. If recruiters ask for you to send a resume or other information, do so as soon as possible. Follow up on leads by calling the recruiter if you haven’t heard from them within two weeks.

Evaluate your experience and plan for the next step – What was positive? Negative? Did your research help you? What questions were difficult to answer? What would you change for future career events? Were you able to articulate your career goals well? How was your elevator pitch received? Take advantage of Toppel’s many handouts and workshops for interviewing or even resumes! The more feedback, the better you’ll get at this.