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Preparing for an Accounting Career Fair
1. Register for the event so that we will be able to provide you a name tag at check-in.
2. Familiarize yourself with the different career paths in accounting. This will help inform the conversations you have with employers and it will help you figure out which employers you may want to prioritize spending time with. You can read more about the main career paths in accounting here.
3. Do Your Homework on the Employers attending to help determine who you'd like to meet with.
If you're looking for a job or internship in the near future, prioritize employers that are currently hiring.
Conduct brief research on any employer you plan to visit. Great things to be familiar with are where they are located, the services they offer, and any specialized clients or unique programs they have. This information can be found on their website and in their bios on the event registration page.
4. Have a game plan.
Create a list of the employers that you KNOW you want to see, and the ones that you will visit if you have extra time.
Budget the approximate amount of time you can spend with each firm (e.g. if you have 12 employers you want to visit, know that you can spend about 10 minutes with each).
5. If you're interested in public accounting, know your CPA Exam Eligibility date. Public accounting firms use your CPA exam eligibility date to determine when you are able to intern or start working with them full time. This is the date that you have ALL the educational requirements met for your CPA license. Unless you are completing a master's degree, your CPA exam eligibility date will be the same date as your graduation date (post-baccs: most of you will be CPA eligible when you complete the certificate).
6. Develop an "Elevator Pitch"
An elevator pitch is a 30-60 second “sales” pitch that describes who you are, your skills, qualifications, and your goals.
While you don't want to just regurgitate your elevator pitch to the employer, the goal is to have a few go-to talking points that you can draw from when you are speaking with professionals.
The more you practice, the more natural it will feel to talk about your skills and what you are looking for! Here's a helpful resource to use as you are crafting your pitch.
If you are new to accounting, or are just going to the event to figure out if you are interested in accounting, it's okay to let the employer know that! They can give you helpful information about the career and why they chose accounting
7. Draft a list of questions: familiarizing yourself with a list of questions that to ask professionals during the event will give you a nice reserve to pull from throughout your networking conversations. Avoid questions that can be answered with a “yes” or “no” and instead ask the professionals about their personal experiences in accounting. Here's a list for inspiration and a few examples:
Why did you choose [Company Name]?
What is your favorite thing about your job?
How does [Company Name] support employees as they grow in their careers?
I saw photos of [volunteer, diversity, or social event] on the company’s Instagram account. Can you tell me more about that program?
What does the recruitment/hiring process look like at [Company Name]
Did you always know what you wanted to do with your career?
Do you have any advice for me as I go through the recruitment process?
8. Update your resume if you're applying to positions in the near future.
Carefully review our resume guidance and use VMock for an automated resume review to make sure your resume is ready to give to employers!
Carry your resumes in a padfolio or black folder.
Resume paper is great, but computer paper is also fine.
Some employers will not be able to take your resume due to their privacy policies, so do not take it personally.
9. Try on your outfit: Make sure everything fits properly and will be comfortable enough for you to wear for 2+ hours. Business casual is required, but it never hurts to wear Business Professional attire if you can. If you're in need of business casual clothes, be sure to stop by PSU's free clothing closet in KMC 410.
Being Social at an Accounting Career Fair
Networking can be a little intimidating sometimes, so here's a checklist to help you dust off the 'ole networking skills at the event:
Practice Your Elevator Pitch
You don't want to just regurgitate your elevator pitch to the employer, and the more you practice, the more natural it will feel to talk about your skills and what you are looking for!
If you are new to accounting, or are just going to the event to figure out if you are interested in accounting, it's okay to let the employer know that! They can give you helpful information about the career and why they chose accounting.
Review the list of questions you prepared for the event and remember that you don't just have to talk about accounting. The event is about building connections, forming relationships, and learning more about the opportunities that are out there.
Embrace power posing to ease any pre-event jitters. It is completely normal to feel nervous, uneasy, and even insecure prior to a networking event. Power posing and breathing exercises can help alleviate this. Before you leave your house, or even in the restroom at the event, run through some power poses and breathing exercises to put you in the right headspace for the event. If you need a hype-up, check out the bicycle kid.
Detach from your friends. It’s ok to approach a few booths together, but try not to cling to your buddies during the whole event. Be sure to be inclusive and respectful of any peers that you might be sharing the professional with, but for the most part, you want to have one on one time with the professionals so they can get to know YOU.
Be Confident. Let's be real: even though you shouldn't be, you are probably going to be nervous. The trick is to appear like you aren't. Try to tap into the way you felt during the times when you've been at your best and felt most like yourself. Whether or not you realized it at the time, these are the moments when you were most confident and you can channel that confidence into your conversations! A few tips:
Good posture: Keep your shoulders back and stand up straight.
Smile: Smiling can release endorphins and lower your heart rate to encourage a calm demeanor. You don't have to fake a smile all night, but try to make a conscious effort to smile during your conversations.
Firm Handshake: Discreetly wipe your right hand on your pant leg to get rid of any sweat, smile, make eye contact, and give a firm (not bone-crushing) handshake.
Eye Contact: Try not to stare at the floor, the ceiling, or around the room during your conversations. On the other hand, locking eyes without blinking for the entire conversation is a little too intense. Find a balance and maintain regular eye contact throughout the conversation.
Speak at a slightly slower pace and avoid filler words: By pacing your speech, you are giving yourself time to breathe, which will naturally calm you down and allow your brain to catch up with what you are saying. This will help you appear well-spoken, even if you don't feel like you are.
Talk yourself up. These conversations are prime opportunities to highlight different accomplishments and experiences that you've had. Employers want to know what is great about you! You do not want to dominate the whole conversation- but try to weave in as many of your accomplishments and experiences as you can into your conversations. They do not have to be accounting-related either! You all have really interesting and varied backgrounds that make you stand out, so be sure to mention those things as well.
Ask insightful questions, but steer clear from taking a rapid-fire approach. You want the employer to get to know you, but you also need to get to know them! Use the questions you drafted before the event (see above) to gather meaningful information from the employer. Be sure to ask follow-up questions if necessary and relate their answers to your own personal experiences and skills. Make sure that when you ask questions you are carefully listening to the employer's response and not just thinking of the next thing to ask them. Remember- this is a conversation, not an interrogation.
Don’t feel obligated to “talk shop.” Sure, accountants have to stay on top of all of the technical topics out there, but that doesn’t mean it’s all they care about. Employers want to see your personality, so feel free to discuss the world at large and your personal interests/hobbies, but try to stay away from "hot button" topics.
Exit the conversation at the appropriate time & get their business card. Throughout the night, you'll have conversations that feel very natural and others that are a real struggle.
If you find yourself in a great conversation, try to exit once you feel that you have made a solid connection, but before you have exhausted all of your talking points.
If you're having a particularly tough time speaking with a professional, try to get a few questions in and then politely thank them for speaking with you and get their business card.
Either way, a great way to exit the conversation is to say something along the lines of: "It was so nice to meet you tonight! Would you mind if I have one of your business cards so that we can keep in touch?"
After they give you their business card, shake their hand and thank them for their time.
After the conversation, you can jot down a few notes on their business cards, which will assist you when you are crafting your thank you notes.
Say thank you afterward & connect on LinkedIn. Whether you send an email or handwritten note, the thank you after the event is KEY, along with sending a connection request on LinkedIn. Not only does it show that you’re a gracious person, but it’s one more time for the recruiters/professionals to see your name in print and your picture on LinkedIn! The more they see your name, the more they remember you. Here's a guide to crafting your thank you note.
Have fun and be yourself! At the end of the day, you'll gravitate towards employers that you enjoy being around most, and they will do the same.
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