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Standing out at a Career 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 San Jose Area Career Fair in January, 10 companies as showing up, and Dice has 82 career faires scheduled for 2010 across the States.

How do you rise above the crowd at a Career Fair? The rivalry can be noteworthy, but you can help yourself surpass from the crowd with early preparation. At AA-Careers, we have a simplified step-by-step process to get ready. Planning to go? Here’s how to prepare:

First, research the organizations that are going and pick your objectives. Use the internet to check out the organizations that are there ahead of time. Go to their internet sites and see if they have their jobs posted. Pick a sensible number to go after, and get ready to spend about an hour researching each one. It’s hard to do more than nine in a day, and five or six is a much more reasonable target. For each hiring company, you want to know: recent news, key product lines, and contacts you know. Try to see if you know anyone at the target companies. You should end up with a page or two of research for each company/job.

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

Third, create a ‘short sales pitch’ for each potential organization/position combination. Write down a sixty second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat out loud depicting why you are a good prospect for that job. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet the company at the job stall.

Fourth, modify your resume for each opportunity. The objective on your resume should exactly match the job you’re aiming for. 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 description. Especially at a Career Faire, the purpose of your resume is a sales tool for you – to get you on-site job interviews. It should be a no-brainer to see that you’re a fit based on your resume.

Fifth, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress nicely and be well groomed. Don’t over do-it (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 position - bring a couple of copies for each – and put each in a distinctly labeled folder. Keep them in a lightweight briefcase or folio.

Remember to smile, and good hunting!

Mothers day just around the corner, and it is the ideal date to show your mum just how much you care. However as mothers day looms millions of individuals all over Britain are feeling the pinch of the current recession, so splurging on Mothers day may be out of the question. Don’t worry though as moms are very understanding and you don’t have to buy her anything expensive. Just spending some time with her and letting her know how thankful you are of her is the best way to spend mothers day. There are plenty of things you can do that don’t cost any money like making her a meal, helping with chores or even bringing her breakfast in bed.

Cheap gifts for mothers day under £10 are a common thing, infact there is some much to choose from you may just have difficulty choosing. Even some chocolates or flowers (or both) will do the trick, infact she will probably enjoy either of those two more than anything else. However if you are not feeling the squeeze for mothers day then you may want to get your mom something special, then there are plenty of amazing gift ideas for mum like pampering days, or some expensive beauty products are also a good present for mothers day.

You could also get your mum something practical, no this does not mean a lawn mower but something enjoyable like digital photoframe. Whatever gift you decide to get your mum for mothers day this year, just make sure to put some thought into it, afterall your mom will probably be the most important woman in your life.