University of Tennessee's Career Services will give students the opportunity to meet and network with recruiters from more than 200 different companies and government agencies at the Fall Job Fair Tuesday, Sept. 16, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Thompson Boling Arena.

Career Services Director Russ Coughenour has tips for prospective job seekers to ensure a successful job fair.

It is important to prepare yourself before going to the fair, he said.  Scan the list of companies and pick out those most important to you, and then research those companies and familiarize yourself with them. He suggested asking questions like:

• Where is the company headquartered? 
• What is their primary product or service? 
• Is it a regional, national or global operation?

Try to know a little about the organizations history and its culture, Coughenour said. This will help if you have questions when you meet each company’s recruiter.

If it is something as important  as a job fair or interview, you owe it to yourself to make an appointment to really sit down and make sure it’s perfect
-Russ Coughenour on the importance of good resumes

When researching companies, make a list of the firms that interest you, and then separate them out into lists of the top five most important, a middle five and a bottom five, he said. Once you know your priorities, do the most research on the top five companies, and work down from there, he said.

Job seekers should also bring more than enough resumes to hand out at the job fair and make sure they are critiqued and error-free before the event, he said.

“If it is something as important  as a job fair or interview, you owe it to yourself to make an appointment to really sit down and make sure it’s perfect,” Coughenour said.

Career Services offers resume critique walk-ins from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, but some resumes may require more work than others.

Making a good impression is another crucial element of getting called back for private interviews.

“A lot of students do not know what to say when they first approach the tables,” Coughenour said. "But it’s real simple, just tell them your name and that you want to thank them for coming out to interview today.”

Something as simple as this, “will blow them away," he said. "It would really get you off to a great start.”

Another important tip for talking to the recruiters is to know yourself: Why did you major in your field? What are your accomplishments? Knowing these types of questions will help job seekers sell themselves more successfully to recruiters.

“Show up looking like you are serious about your career,” Coughenour Show up looking like you are serious about your careerRuss Coughenour, director of Career Services  said. “And make sure you are dressed professionally.”

Another important aspect of getting a private interview is asking what the next step in the process is.

"Ask if the company is coming back for on-campus interviews and what do you need to do to get on the list for a private interview,” Coughenour said.

However, students should remember that college recruiters go from campus to campus and it's hard for them to do follow-up interviews immediately, he said.

"The job fair is not really about getting the job that day," he said. "What it is really about is the promise that you will have the opportunity to talk one-on-one in a private interview with a recruiter.”

For more information on the Fall Job Fair or to set up an appointment for career advice, students can contact Career Services at 865-974-5435. Their building is located at 100 Dunford Hall and hours of operation are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.