Tips for Parents: How to Help Your Grad Shine at Career Fairs and Networking Events

Guiding your young adult in the business world takes know-how. Help your young career seeker stay on top of their game by offering these tips to help them shine at their next career fair or in-person networking event:

Fine-tune their resume.

1. Encourage your son or daughter to clearly list out their career objective. Every detail they list on their resume should somehow speak to that objective, from education to computer skills to career history.
2. They should list their education as the last item on the resume. Education is less important to prospective employers than relevant experience.
3. Have your son or daughter carefully proofread their resume. A poorly written resume gives a bad impression - that’s the bottom line.
4. Make sure your young adult prints their resume on resume-quality, plain paper. No graphics or leopard print paper!
5. Have them take a folder full of their finalized resumes to pass out at in-person networking events.

Rehearse their one-liners.

1. Have your young adult capture what they want to achieve in their career and what their skills are in a 1 minute synopsis. They should be able to relay this message quickly and comfortably to anyone who asks at a moment’s notice.
2. Let your son or daughter practice their ‘canned’ speech on you until it rolls off their tongue without giving it a second thought.

Perfect their interpersonal skills.

1. Encourage your son or daughter to work on his or her professional persona. Making a good first impression is critical in landing a job they love, so make sure they work on:
a. Offering a firm, professional handshake
b. Looking people in the eye during conversations
c. Speaking up with confidence
d. Smiling
e. Dressing appropriately

2. Support your adult child in networking so that they get their name out there, in the circles that will most likely land them a job they love.