National Job Fair

The National Job Fair, in Toronto, wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

After I got the insert from The Sunday Sun, I found the list of companies that would be attending, along with the floor plan. I put a tick mark next to the names of all the companies I was interested in -- including the ones I'd never heard of.

Then, I spent the better part of Monday googling them. I whittled the initial list of 43 companies down to 8. This included 5 high tech companies and 3 placement agencies.

I spent the whole of the next day updating my résumé, printing out enough copies, and developing a covering flyer. Yes, a covering flyer -- not a covering letter. I would write a covering letter if I were applying for a specific job but, with this situation, I thought I needed something more generic. After all, I wasn't even sure that they needed technical writers or editors. I ended up with:

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Hi,

I am a writer and editor with over twenty years’ experience, including:

· computer manuals (especially for novice users)

· software changes

· telecommunications

· user manuals for manufacturing equipment

· ISO 9000 documents

· newsletters

· publicity

My specialty is helping small to medium sized companies with documentation problems. I work at your site or mine, for anywhere from a few weeks to a few months – depending on the project.

I’ve attached my résumé so, even if you don’t need a writer or editor now, you’ll have it if you need one in the future. Should that day come, I hope you’ll think of me.

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Wednesday morning was cool, windy, and sunny. I parked my car at the TTC lot and took the subway downtown to Union Station on Front Street. I decided to take the indoor route because of the wind tunnel effect of all the office towers. What a mistake! I think I walked to Mississauga and back by the time I found the right place. Fortunately, I had worn comfortable shoes.

When I finally got into the right building, I had a view of the show from the level above. It was a seething mass of humanity, and I nearly turned around and went home right then. I hate crowds. I truly do. But having spent almost 3 days getting ready, plus the gas to drive in to Toronto, I thought I'd better give it a try.

I was daunted by the line up just to pay to get in to the show, but it moved fairly quickly. At $4.95, the advertised cost of entry to the show included tax -- a pleasant change. Inside the Job Fair itself, it didn't seem so bad. People bumped, of course, but everyone was very polite and civilised.

I went to all eight booths, and talked to people at each one. A couple of them have no need for technical writers or editors, which was fine. I just kept going.

In less than an hour, I was done.

The covering flyer had worked, too. I had two companies show an interest in me -- one of them quite keen on the fact that I had worked with the ISO 9000 standard.

Now to see if this effort translates into a job offer.