1. Prepare. If you don’t know what you want from the fair, how are you going to get it? There is no point turning up to an engineering event if your degree is in medieval drama. Find out which employers will be there, and, if possible, what posts they are recruiting for. The University of Central England’s (UCE) career service suggests that you ring companies and ask for application forms in advance (see box).

2. Prepare your CV. Better yet, prepare several CVs. Rob Spurgeon, of the National Graduate Recruitment Exhibition, advises having enough copies to leave with all the companies you’re interested in. Stand out from the crowd by using targeted rather than generic CVs.

3. Think interview. This means being dull but professional on the day: arrive early, wear a suit and polished shoes (black marks for polishing them on the back of your leg when you arrive), know what you’re talking about, and have considered questions ready to ask.

4. Don’t fit the student stereotype. This should follow naturally from the point above. No hangovers; no curry stains on your paperwork; no staying in bed and ignoring the whole palaver.

5. Don’t be a sweetie stealer. “Wandering around picking up free sweets, pens and mouse mats without speaking to anyone is not going to impress,” Spurgeon says. (Though I am tempted to add that if they don’t know your name, it’s not as if it will count against you . . . unless you later apply for a job and the HR manager remembers your face.) At least say thank you.

6. Be open-minded. Accountancy graduates don’t have to work for one of the Big Four. Consultancies aren’t the only places to make it as a marketeer. Don’t limit your options by assuming that certain companies won’t be interested. Good preparatory research can unearth interesting positions in unexpected places, says UCE.

7. Ask intelligent questions. “This shows a sign of interest and that you are enthusiastically pursuing a career in that company,” Spurgeon says. UCE cautions against asking questions that are answered in the company’s brochure. Questions should show that you’ve done some research, not that you need to.

8. Beware the exhibition coffee shop. This is not the place to tell your mates to check out the tight-trousered looker on stall 12. Anyone could be listening, including your preferred employer.

9. You’re a commodity. Companies don’t come to these events to improve their sales targets (well, most of them don’t). They come because they want to find the best young graduates to join their staff — and that’s you. “Sell yourself. Tell them what you have to offer,” Spurgeon says. Make them want you before you start asking what they can give you.

10. Hold your own recruitment fair. If the companies you want to work for don’t come to fairs, take the fair to them. Call them up, ask for information, talk to their HR department. Ask your friends and family if they have contacts there. If they do, make use of them.

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