Large companies will send representatives here to swipe top talent, they most likely won’t accept your resume when you hand it to them but will ask you to sign up online from their sign up tablet. I suspect each sign up from that tablet marks the candidate as being from that university and thus giving the candidate a higher chance of being selected. If you want to get noticed by a large company then it depends less on being remembered and more on having a resume better than your peers.

Small companies might send representatives but most of the time will send someone of decision making power. Sometimes the CEO/president/founder will show up in order to gauge the current landscape of hires. What you want to do is research them immensely before hand and try to be as memorable as possible when speaking to them. At the conclusion of your career fair chat with them, ask if they have the time to later to discuss the company and any opportunities. Most of the time they will say yes and have you sign up for what is essentially an interview slot. Sometimes I’ve only gotten interviews because I asked for them. It’s hard to do intensive research on many companies so it’s advised that you only go after a handful that you are really interested in.

Don’t feel pressure to stay the whole time, career fairs can last upwards of six hours at some universities and there’s no point staying later to talk to companies that you haven’t heard of or researched. You do want to get there as early as possible though before all their interview slots get filled up. Ideally, you would have a list of all the companies that will be there so you can pick and choose which ones you really want to work at. Don’t talk to those companies first. Especially if you’re nervous or this is your first career fair, talk to a random company that you don’t care much for first, in fact talk to three. This helps settle you into the “career fair” mind set and helps you get comfortable with your “tell me about yourself” elevator pitch (or realize that you don’t have one). Once you feel comfortable then go talk to the companies that you really want, just think of the first three companies as practice rounds.

The “So, tell me about yourself” / “Hi my name is” Elevator Pitch Template:

Hi, my name is _____ and I am studying ____. I graduate in ____ and my strongest skills are in ___, ____, and ____. I also have experience in ____ … ____. I have worked at ___ doing ___ as well as working on ____ in my free time. If you would like I can go further into detail in any part of my resume. [Optional: I am particularly interested in your company’s _____ product/department and I think that ____, I am very passionate about that technology and would love the chance to work with it.] I am seeking a job/internship for the ____ time period, does your company have any openings for that time?