No matter what your field is, a job fair may become a great opportunity to find your dream job in a reputable institute.
Even if you are a teacher, it may be the best place to land a job or at least get shortlisted for an interview.
You should make the most out of this opportunity to meet and mingle with potential decision-makers for hiring a teacher.
It’s a platform to widen your network to open doors to new opportunities and socializing with counterparts from the education sector.
Teaching job fairs and exhibitions offer job positions and may offer some benefits as well. It’s an ideal platform to know the hiring trends in the teaching profession.
You may see yourself going through screening tests or processes with certain schools, colleges, and universities without an interview.
It gives you an additional pondering point to add some value to your credentials to land a better job in the near future. Such fairs give you a wide range of options to drop your resume for many positions.
Know Details about Participating Schools, Colleges, Universities
Make thorough research rounding off details about participating schools, colleges, and universities at the teaching-fair. Ensure you know their requirements and what they have to offer.
As most of them may ask this intriguing question, what brought you here to work for our school? Your response to this question can make or break your impression. So, reply to it in the best manner to suffice their search in this question.
You should know about their demographics, mission statements, and key personnel conducting this exercise. Moreover, you should search for what profile or credential they are looking to hire?
All this pre-hand information will prepare you for the interview and improve your chances of landing a job. This way, you know what type of teacher they are looking for during short-listing or an interview.
Preparing for Teaching Job Fair
The foremost part is your teacher resume for orientation purposes. The more information you gain, the better resume you can create. A resume workshop for student teachers can help you build an impressive resume.
Many fair organizers go for Online Registration
Many organizers would give you an option to upload your resume online prior to a fair day. You should do it – this makes a good impact on that school’s organizing team taking part in the fair.
Portfolio – Your Resume and Cover Letter
You may ensure your resume and the covering letter represent you as the best candidate for the position you are applying for.
It should cover your experience, passion, and personality besides the credentials. In a manner, these documents should make you look like a valuable addition to recruiters.
Highlight your achievements, results coming from your academic papers. Tell them unique methods or show your can-do attitude. Your resume should include some tangible perspective for an employer to remember about you.
It is important for a teacher to show their recruiter they have produced certain results through different methods and skills. Mention the challenging task you had to deal with, how you resolved it, and achieved improved results.
This will prepare you for the big day.
Related: Elementary Teacher Resume
What are your goals for attending the Teaching Career Fair?
What goal will you achieve by attending a Teaching Career Fair? You should set an aim if you intend to get success in the teaching job fair.
You may set certain targets about how many introductions you may able to make during the visit. A shortlist of participants will help you prepare better for the big day. You may get resume betterment advice if you are a new teacher without experience.
Related: School Counselor Resume
You are at the Teaching Job Fair
After all the homework, you are all set to go to the event. But you still have to take care of certain things and ensure to leave the best impression on the recruiters. For this, you have to follow the tips mentioned below.
Remember, even simple things can still make a lot of difference once you are at the fair.
Early arrival
You should reach early to ensure you get the most out of this opportunity than others. This may help you avoid long queues. Early arrival will ensure you are reaching the potential hiring people before others.
Fresh presentation
Early arrival works equally well for you and the recruiters. Fresh mind, positive attitude, and well-preparedness may help you do exceptionally well at the interviews.
Professional Attire
You should present yourself in the best manner and dress up professionally. Casual dressing won’t help you leave a lasting impression.
That means you should:
- Wear clean Ironed clothes with no wrinkles that fit well
- Choose colors like gray, navy blue, or black suit with a white or light-colored shirt
- Women can wear a skirt or slacks, blouse. A button-down shirt is also a good option
- No strong perfumes or colognes
- Wear simple jewelry
- Wear minimal or natural makeup
- Wear comfortable shoes
Your professional dressing will make it easier for you to grab the recruiters’ attention and precisely stay on their employment option. Wearing distracting, bright, or fluorescent colors will not serve the purpose.
Related: Professor Resume Samples
Self-confidence
Walkup to the recruiter directly and offer an assertive, firm handshake, even if you know that the school is not hiring teachers for the subject you teach.
Introduction
Introduce yourself, and tell them about the subject you can teach, your aim, your knowledge about that school, and your teaching experience, of course. Maintain eye contact with the interviewers and respond to their questions politely.
Follow up
Before leaving,
- Check with them about their in-house process for hiring and the deadline for applying for the position.
- Establish your interest in the vacant post.
- Get the contact details of the person who is managing the hiring process. You can send thank you emails to your preferred employers for arranging this job fair.
- Personalize the messages by mentioning how your skills align with their mission and why you are the best candidate.
Miscellaneous
Don’t forget to keep a pen, notebook, list of target schools, copies of your resume, etc., in your bag. You must also have other documents you may need to fill out forms or applications.
Conclusion
Teaching fairs are job hunting places for you and draw a big crowd. Thus, if you want to stand out, you should bring your best, most organized, current teaching portfolio for all recruiters.
A resume is your career-making tool, so make sure it covers all important information that may help you land a job.
In the pre-fair preparedness stage, familiarize yourself with such methods as well. This will enable you to show the best about your teaching capabilities.
Dress up professionally and maintain a positive attitude during interviews. Most importantly, don’t forget to follow up.
Try attending more teacher job fairs; this will multiply your chances to land a job in a school offering better terms.