Be prepared for law fairs

October sees the start of the law fair season. Firms from across the country will be visiting your university on the look-out for next year's trainees and vacation place students. How do you stand out? The advice from firms - in fact all employers - is simple: you need to prepare.

The firms you meet at fairs really do recognise the students who have prepared - and those who haven't. If you approach a firm and ask, "What areas of law do you practice?" just because you want the same freebie that your mate got, then you will achieve one of two things. Either (i) you will annoy the recruiter, who has probably been up since the crack of dawn to travel to your city to meet you; or (ii) the recruiter will feign interest, take your name and forget you instantly.

With firms receiving at least 64 applications for each role (according to the AGR Graduate Recruitment Survey 2013), the annual law fair is one of the few chances you have to be more than just another applicant. And while you might think you know the drill, firms' feedback following these events would suggest that a significant number of students aren't prepared. Or if they are, this isn't being turned into a 'quality conversation'.

At the University of Leicester, we believe so strongly in the power of preparation that we have decided to adopt a 'no prep, no entry' policy for our annual Festival of Careers. Our aim was simple. It wasn't just about getting students to prepare; it was about helping our students to understand the power of a quality conversation.

What was the impact? Employers didn't just have great conversations (87% of those who attended our Festival rated their conversations with students as 'good' or 'excellent'); students actually made a tangible impact. In fact, 75% of employers at the Festival identified at least 10 students they wanted to recruit.

As we move into our second year of our 'no prep, no entry' policy, we have listed some of the tips that we share with students at our prep sessions - the workshops that help students plan, execute and follow up their conversations with employers. Use the guidance below as a guide and don't be afraid to take the notes you make with you!

Before the fair

• Identify what you want out of the fair - Think carefully about what you want to get out of your conversations and the impression you want to leave someone with. Who are you targeting? What do you want to know? How will your questions help you write a quality application? Asking yourself questions like this will provide the foundation for your conversation and what you ask and on the day.
• Do your research - All too often this translates into a cursory glance at firms' sites and recruitment pages. You need to go a lot further. We're not talking about remembering key dates and the names of the founding partners, but information that will help you understand firms' business areas, their specialisms and the characteristics they're looking for in applicants. Also don’t forget things like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. More firms than ever are using social networking and you can learn a lot about what’s going on in a firm by using the platforms on which it has a presence.
• Prepare your conversation - This doesn't mean having a carefully prepared speech; it means taking your research and developing questions that will help give you an insight into what each firm is looking for. It's also important to think carefully about how what you're asking is going to help you go further than the research you've already done. It sounds obvious, but if you're asking questions that can be answered by the firm's FAQ section or their LC.N profile, you have to ask yourself whether you're really asking the right questions. You also need to ask yourself whether these are really the types of questions that are going to help you stand out!

Here are some examples of good and bad questions.

When you're at the fair

• If you're nervous - It's natural to feel intimidated, but try not to let your anxiety show. Take deep breaths and remember the person you're speaking to was also in this position once upon a time. One sign of confidence is simply modulating your voice. If you speak slowly and calmly, you will appear more confident than would otherwise be the case. The same goes for making eye contact instead of looking at the floor or what's go on around you.
• First impressions - Seven seconds, according to researchers at New York University and Harvard, is how long we get when we're making a first impression. This might sound daunting, but it simply means dressing appropriately and thinking about your body language and conduct - smile, look people in the eye and hold your head up. This is the minimum that firms expect, but these points are often forgotten by even the most prepared candidates.
• Don't, whatever you do, ask, "Why should I apply to your firm?" - This highlights the importance of reflecting on the questions you're going to ask and considering how these might come across."Why should I apply to your firm?" sounds arrogant rather than confident. Leading firms' graduate recruiters confirmed this at the TARGETjobs Law 2012 recruiters' forum.

After the fair

• Take action - This is just the first step. Take all the information that you've gained - the brochures and the notes you made with your new pens - and put it to good use. If you’ve asked the right questions, then hopefully you will find completing the applications much easier.
• What have you learned? - Unfortunately, a great performance at the fair isn't going to get you fast tracked. Recruitment isn't like The X Factor. However, the conversation you've had should help you take the next step. You may have found that talking to recruiters has helped you to identify gaps in your skills - maybe you need to improve your commercial awareness or need stronger examples of teamwork. The LC.N MySelf tool is another way to audit your employability skills and experiences so far, but it’s important to follow this up with a visit to your careers service. They’ll help you think about how you might address the gaps that you’ve identified.
• Follow up with anyone who offered you their card or contact details - Contacting the recruiters with whom you built a good rapport with at the fair shows initiative. This could simply mean a quick email or phone call to say thank you. And when you are filling in your applications, do mention the name of the person you spoke to at the fair. When these are being reviewed in a few months’ time, it will help jog the recruiter’s memory.

Megan Davies and Rajesh Patel are respectively a career development consultant and engagement manager at the University of Leicester.