It happens. You go to
the career fair dressed in your slightly uncomfortable yet professional outfit,
you’re greeted by one of the many company representatives trying to bring in a
passerby, and you find yourself at a loss of words. Time slows down to a crawl as the sweat
starts to build on your forehead, your outfit starts to feel ten times stiffer
than ever before, and you’re racking your brain for something, anything to come out. Whatever jumble of words you manage to get
out, you instantly regret.
Stage fright doesn’t just happen on stage; it comes in all
shapes and sizes. It can happen when you
have to give a speech in front of a group of people, when a professor asks you
a question you don’t know the answer to in front of the entire class, or when
it’s time to talk to companies about internships, co-ops, and jobs. Yes, stage fright is a very real problem for
more than just actors.
Despite this, you don’t want stage fright to hold you back
from letting companies know how awesome you are and why you should be
hired. Although my only acting
experience comes from school musicals and theatre classes in high school, I did
learn a few tricks to deal with stage fright.
One of the best tips I learned has really helped me with career fairs:
know your script inside and out.
When you meet a company representative, your first
impression is an important and could be the deciding factor in whether or not
they take your resume and recommend you for an interview. To make your best first impression, you can
give the representatives what is called an elevator speech. An elevator speech is in essence a pitch
where you are both the pitcher and the product you’re trying to sell. In this pitch, you have about thirty seconds
to share important information such as:
- Your name
- Your class and major
- What you’re looking for (ie, an internship, a
co-op, a full time job)
- When you’re looking to work (are you looking for
an internship for summer? A co-op for the spring semester?)
- Any relevant activities or accomplishments
-
Relevant personal strengths
- Useful information showing that you’ve
researched the company (if you have done so)
Remember, this is an elevator speech. The name comes from the idea that this speech
should only be so long that if you were in an elevator with the recruiter, you
would be able to give your whole spiel by the time the elevator door opens back
up. Thus, you don’t want to overwhelm
the person you’re speaking to with irrelevant details or your life story. So keep it short, clean, and to the point.
Here’s an example:
“Hi, my name is Ariel
Cohen and I’m a senior in computer science.
Right now I’m looking for a full time offer when I graduate this May. I’ve always had an interest in helping
people, leading me to become both the president of the Association of Women in Computing
club here at Virginia Tech as well as create a mentoring system for our
computer science department. I read on
your website that you have a software development position for new graduates. As someone who both wants to help build
things that will help people and to get a chance to be creative, I was
interested in your position and wondering if you could tell me more about it.”
Short, clean, and to the point. I start with the basic information such as my
name, class, and major, then move on to the more personal details that gives
the recruiter a better idea of why I specifically chose to talk to them. Of course, if you did not research the
company ahead of time, don’t be afraid to ask about what opportunities they
have available. Recruiters talk to students to recruit, so they’ll be more than
happy to provide you with information.
So before you go to your next career fair, take the time to
create an elevator speech for yourself.
Not only will you have a conversation starter, but the recruiters will
get a better idea of what you’d like to talk about. Good luck and remember- stage fright happens
to everyone. Give it a little practice and you’ll make it through.
