You’ve just spent 8 hours talking, schmoozing, and interacting with hundreds of recruiters, now what? The follow-up after a career fair is just as important as what happens during a career fair. Once the recruiter leaves the room they are inundated with resumes and business cards from everyone they’ve met and encountered. Shuffling through this endless stack could take weeks and yours might be one that finds it’s way at the bottom. In order to prevent being one of those left on the bottom of the stack, we’ve come up with ways to guarantee that you’ll get right in front of the recruiter.

Steps to Put your Resume at the Top

While at the actual career fair, ideally you’ve gather a long list of names of recruiters whom you can contact later. If you haven’t garnered a list of recruiters from your career fair experience you’ve pretty much failed. The number one rule when attending a career fair is your experience is not over until you’ve followed up after the career fair. If you didn’t gather any type of list, you can go back to the company, do a little research and find out which recruiter was at the career fair you attended. Once you’ve compiled as much data as possible follow these easy steps to put your resume at the top of the stack.

Send a Thank You. Most people at your career fair aren’t going to send a follow-up thank you letter. Make sure to cite something specific that you talked to the recruiter about to spark their mind about who you are. This type of follow-up will make you memorable and show that you have drive that other prospects don’t have.

Follow Directions. If the recruiter gave you any type of next step (i.e. apply online, look at other company divisions, contact another recruiter, etc) make sure that you’re continuously updating them on your progress via email. This will again demonstrate your willingness to persevere and show that you are interested in the organization. Being serious about your job search is something that recruiters take personal because it’s what they do day in and day out.

Show Passion. Recruiters can see through fakeness. When following up with a recruiter make sure you are showing them you have passion for their company and that specific job, not that you want any job you can get your hands on. It’s hard, but wasting a recruiter’s valuable time could have ripple effects down the line in your job search. Recruiters talk.

Be prompt. Recruiters will start to sort through the numerous resumes they’ve received after a career fair so staying on top of things will make sure they don’t forget about you. Send your Thank You letter, follow-up via email, or give them a phone call no later than 24-48 hours after a career fair. This shows drive and ambition and it’s likely you’ll be one of only a handful who do this.

Don’t forego one of the most important aspects of a career fair, the follow-up! Hopefully these tips give you a good starting point in following up with recruiters based on your interactions with recruiters. Remember, there are a few of them and many of you. Do you part to stay on top!

Do you have any follow-up secrets that have worked for you in the past?