If you don’t have a job in today’s job market it is because you don’t want one or your record is too bad to hire you. That was my takeaway at a recent job fair I attended as a carrier. I was working a booth for a friend of mine that was looking for owner operators for their fleet. I was amazed how many people not only didn’t know who was exhibiting at the job fair, but they weren’t prepared to move forward with a job if they had found the right one. 

For instance there were many drivers that came to our booth asking if we hired new truck drivers? Now in all of our material, website, and advertising we tell you we require three years of experience and we only hire owner operators. If you are a new driver with no experience and no truck then why are you coming to the booth asking if I have a job for you, I don’t! I spent a lot of time at the job fair referring people to the correct booths that fit with their experience. My question is why didn’t they know about those carriers, they are large carriers well represented in the industry. The drivers didn’t know because they are not doing their homework before the job fairs.

How can you avoid this for the next job fair? How can you streamline your process so that you talk to the right people in the room? How can you use your time wisely so that you get the job you want and not waste time wandering around the room? It’s called being prepared and ready to apply for that job on the spot. To do that you need to do three things, know who will be at the job fair, prepare yourself for the job fair, follow up after the job fair. 

Know who will be at the job fair:

If you are a new driver there are only certain companies that you can work for due to insurance reasons. So your options are usually a large carrier with a finishing program and one that has work for new drivers. If you went to a training school they should have taught you those things. If not the easiest way to learn who is looking for what type of drivers they are hiring by seeing who is at the job fair and then going to their websites to see what the criteria is for the job. They all have them listed online. Before you even get to the job fair you should know which carriers you want to talk to and why. 

Preparing for the job fair: 

Once you’ve done some research it is time to get yourself ready for the job fair. Do you have some resumes printed out in a folder for recruiters? Do you know how you will dress to impress? please don’t walk around in flip flops and track pants when job searching, first impressions count. Do you have 3-5 carriers that you want to talk to that fit your experience level? You should know the type of freight they haul, where they go, and the type of work they offer be it highway or local. Are they looking for new drivers or experienced drivers? These are all questions you should have answers for during the show. 

Following up: 

If you did your homework you should’ve had some good conversations with recruiters at the job fair. Hopefully you came away with any questions answered and some contact information from recruiters. You asked them when you should follow up with them correct? Unless they gave you a specific time-frame it is time to start following up with the recruiters of interest. Your goal with the follow up call is to try and book an interview with them. If you asked the right questions, left them a decent resume, and gave a good first impression then this should be an easy call. 

As you can see it isn’t hard to find the right job for you, but does take some work. You can do much of the work ahead of time so you can be successful at the next job fair. Good luck!