Utilize career fairs at other schools

Every college's career center will want to say that it is attracting the best companies to campus. This is simply not possible, as companies have limited recruiting resources, and they will pick and choose only the schools they feel would produce the most number of qualified candidates.

What should you do if the companies you are interested in are not coming to a career fair in their school? In this case, in addition to attending your school's career fairs, consider going to another school's career fair if you feel your school's career fair does not attract enough good companies. Typically career fairs are open to everyone, so do not worry about that you do not attend that particular school. Chances are good that nobody will check ID at the door, and the recruiters will always be happy to talk to you. I have attended several career fairs as a recruiter, and I have spoken to a number of qualified candidates from outside of that particular school, and some of them have been hired as a result.


Find out the nature of the interview

Companies who do on-campus interviews fall into two categories: Those who have specific positions open and are looking to fill them, or those who are merely collecting more resumes. Unfortunately, it is often impossible to find out before the interview which category the company you are interviewing with falls into.

Therefore, you need to find out which category the company you are talking to falls in. This can be accomplished easily by asking the interviewer whether there are specific positions the company is trying to fill. After all, if all the company want out of the recruiting trip is some nice resumes, there is no need for the interviewee to sweat too much during the interview. The general rule of thumb is that the bigger the company is, the more likely the company is simply looking for resumes to put into its database.


Know The Company

Spend time to learn about the company - but not too much time. I would suggest spending 30 minutes on their web site. If the company is a publicly-traded company, find out its recent news. During the interview, the interviewer would not expect the interviewee to know everything about the company, but the interviewer would expect the interviewee to know the basics of the company, such as the industry the company is in. In fact, there is nothing that turns off the interviewer more than having someone walking into an interview with no idea of what the company does. For example, if you are interviewing with Ford Motors, you should know that the company is in the car manufacturing business.

Be able to describe your thesis work in 2 minutes

This applies to the Ph.D. and the Masters candidates who have completed a thesis. The tendency for the interviewee here is to get into too much technical detail and hence spend too much time. The interviewer, however, will not be able to remember, or even understand, most of the technical details, so it's wise to leave the nitty-gritty details out. Instead, be prepared to mention what is so great about your thesis work and what you learned from it.

Remember, the interviewer will remember is (1) whether you have the ability to make her understand your thesis in a short period of time, and (2) the level of importance of your work.

Admit It When You Don't Know Something

It is usually a mistake to pretend to know something that you do not, because chances are that the interviewer will follow up with questions regarding that exact topic. If the candidate cannot answer these follow-up questions, it tells the interviewer either a) the candidate does not know his/her stuff, or b) the candidate lied about knowing the topic. Either way, it is a big turn-off.


Be Energetic

Interviewers, whether they are from HR or from the actual department you'll be working, want to recruit people who are energetic. Imagine for yourself: Would you rather have someone who is always on the go or someone who looks sleepy allthe time? In addition, if a person does not show much energy during the interview, the interviewer will think, "Geez, if this person cannot get excited about an interview, how is he or she ever going to be excited about the job?"

There is one area where being energetic really pays off: Many interviewers start with the question, "Tell me aboutyourself." If you cannot enthusiastically talk about yourself for at least five minutes or so, the interviewer will wonder if you'll be interested in your future job for much longer.

Dress well

Dress weel is to show professional courtesy. The interviewer is dedicating his or her time for this interview, and he/she would expect the candidate to give the interview at least an equal weight. A well-dressed candidate leaves an excellent impression and projects the image that he or she really cares about this interview.

This rule applies even if you are interviewing for a company known for its casual dress policies (such as many of the internet companies). Even in such cases, dressing up cannot go wrong. I have never heard any recruiter complaining that a candidate dresses too formally for an interview. However, many a candidate has been hurt by not properly dressed for the interview.

Be prepared for behavorial questions

Behavorial questions are the ones that are open-ended, the ones designed to find out about your experience. This type of questions, common during mid-level interviews, have been on the rise for on-campus interviews as well. An example of the behavorial questions is, "Tell me a time when you were under extreme pressure, and how you handled it?"

Preparation makes a big difference in how you'd perform in answering this type of questions. Also, before you walk into the interview, think about the different situations that you have gone through, whether it be pledging for a fraternity (I personally find this a great one), completing a project, your part-time job, or any other situation you can think of. This way, when the questions come up, you won't need to come up with the example right then and there.


Do not get discouraged

After several interviews without an offer, it is easy to get discouraged. However, it is important to remember that all you need is ONE job offer. After all, you have only one body, and therefore will only have time for one full-time job.

Having said that, it doesn't mean that you should sit back and continue doing what you have been doing. Perhaps you didn't get to the next round because you weren't prepared? Perhaps you didn't dress properly? Perhaps you were unable to answer some basic questions during the interview? Think about what happened during the interview, and make sure you rectify whatever that went wrong. Better yet, find someone who is already in the work force to give you a mock interview, and see what the feedback is.