Standing out at a Job Fair can make a difference in your job hunt. Career Faires are starting to pick up, and Dice is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a SF Bay Area Job Fair in early 2010, 10 companies as showing up, and Dice has 82 job fairs scheduled for this year across the US.

How do you get to the real interviews at a Career Fair? The rivalry can be significant, but you can help yourself stick out from the herd with advance preparation. At AA-Careers, we have a straight-forward 6-step process to prepare. Plan to go? Here’s how to prepare:

First, research the organizations that are going and pick your targets. Use the World Wide Web to check out the organizations that are there before you even decide to go. Go to their web sites and see if they have their openings listed. Pick a small number to target, and get ready to spend about an hour researching each one. It’s hard to do more than 10 in a day, and four to six is a much more reasonable target. For each hiring organization, you want to know: recent news, key product lines, and exectuve names. Try to see if you know anyone at the target companies. You will end up with with a page or two of research for each company/job.

Second, if there are job postings on the web, read them to see what the hiring manager is looking for. Create a mapping of your accomplishments and skills to the demands of the job. Make the language match. If the hiring organization calls customers "clients", your resume should do the same thing. The accomplishments should be written in the style of the hiring company.

Third, create a ‘brief sales pitch’ for each likely organization/job combination. Write down a 60 second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat verbally describing why you are a fantastic prospect for that job. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet the company at the job booth.

Fourth, modify your resume for each position. The objective on your resume should exactly match the job you’re want. The executive summary should be a written form of your “mini sales pitch” for the job. Then choose the accomplishments and skills that most clearly match the job requirements. Especially at a Job Faire, the purpose of your resume is a sales tool for you – to get you on-site job interviews. It should be obvious to see that you’re a fit based on your resume.

Fifth, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress well and be fittingly groomed. Don’t overdress (this isn’t a date!) and don’t underdress (no jeans or t-shirts, no matter how much you paid for them). Avoid strong cologne or perfume.

Finally, practice your ‘mini-sales-pitch’. Collect your research and the resume for each spot – bring a couple of copies for each – and put each in a clearly marked folder. Keep them in a light briefcase or folio.

Remember to smile, and good hunting!