I think I do pretty well at career fairs. I've worked on being more light-hearted over the past few years, I guess, and that seems to play pretty well at such an event. It kind of allows you to brag without seeming like a massive jerk.
Anyway, I think my biggest success was with one of the recruiters from SunGard. I started talking to two of the recruiters who were at there table, but for no apparent reason ended up just talking to the one that was standing on my left side. Of course I regaled her with the Jeff C story to the best of my ability -- math and statistics, China and Cambodia, master's in theoretical computer science, actuarial exams, maybe even mentioned that I got a perfect score (wow!) -- and I could sense that I was definitely getting a positive reaction. She was about 30 years old maybe, probably Chinese but I didn't want to take a guess while I was there, and pretty cheerful demeanor in general. We talked very briefly about the different styles of piano music that we were into playing, then eventually got down to talking about what kind of stuff might be appropriate for me at SunGard.
Towards the end, in the obligatory "next steps" part of the conversation, I asked for her business card. She told me, "I think you're the first person to ask for my business card all day!" I said something to the effect of, "Seriously? That's like standard etiquette." And then after she gave her card to me, I said, "So I'll email you a copy of my resume and tell you I'm the guy who.....," clearly leaving a blank space for her to fill in with something along the lines of "asked for my card first" or "talked to me about piano."
Instead, she responded pretty slyly with -- quote -- "Oh, I'll remember you."
Score.
Peace out.
Anyway, I think my biggest success was with one of the recruiters from SunGard. I started talking to two of the recruiters who were at there table, but for no apparent reason ended up just talking to the one that was standing on my left side. Of course I regaled her with the Jeff C story to the best of my ability -- math and statistics, China and Cambodia, master's in theoretical computer science, actuarial exams, maybe even mentioned that I got a perfect score (wow!) -- and I could sense that I was definitely getting a positive reaction. She was about 30 years old maybe, probably Chinese but I didn't want to take a guess while I was there, and pretty cheerful demeanor in general. We talked very briefly about the different styles of piano music that we were into playing, then eventually got down to talking about what kind of stuff might be appropriate for me at SunGard.
Towards the end, in the obligatory "next steps" part of the conversation, I asked for her business card. She told me, "I think you're the first person to ask for my business card all day!" I said something to the effect of, "Seriously? That's like standard etiquette." And then after she gave her card to me, I said, "So I'll email you a copy of my resume and tell you I'm the guy who.....," clearly leaving a blank space for her to fill in with something along the lines of "asked for my card first" or "talked to me about piano."
Instead, she responded pretty slyly with -- quote -- "Oh, I'll remember you."
Score.
Peace out.
