Medical Careers Fairs
There are many benefits to attending a medical
careers fair. Many of which are described below:
- For career exploration! This is your chance to find out more
information about the specialties that you are most interested
in.
- You can ask questions about what it’s really like to work in a
particular speciality and/or location
- This is a chance to practice marketing yourself in a positive
way
- You can make some very useful contacts (if you refer to these
in an application form this will show interest)
- You can find out about interesting and useful information
resources
- Many medical careers fairs run workshops that are designed to
help you with your career choice
- It will help you if you have completed some of the interactive
tools that can be found in the self-assessment stage of our four
stage career-planning model. That way you will have some ideas
about which specialties you are most interested in, so that you
don’t simply blindly go around the careers fair, without any
focus
- Check out and plan which specialty area you would like to see
in advance. You can find out in advance to see what specialties
will be represented at the fair. (Prioritise these as you may not
have time to talk to them all)
- It’s a good idea to practice what you are going to say about
yourself – about who you are and what you have to offer, in
preparation for the question ‘Tell me about yourself’. You don’t
have to go into too much detail, you should focus on why you are
interested in that particular specialty and in what experience and
skills you have to offer.
- You can also analyse your own skills and see if you can make
any of these relevant to the trainee role. You can talk about some
of your transferable skills such as communication skills; team
work; problem-solving skills; leadership potential and your
clinical competencies.
- You should prepare some questions about the different
specialties. It’s a good idea to find out some basic information
about the specialties that you are interested in before you go to
the fair. If you ask ‘What does this specialty do?’ - it’s not
going to leave a very good impression. Also avoid asking solely
about pay and annual leave. You should make your questions relevant
and direct. Example questions:
- How many training places are there in this particular specialty
area?
- How competitive is this specialty?
- What is a typical day like in this specialty?
- What sort of things could you do to increase your chances of
getting into this specialty?
- Dress casually, but smartly. Be courteous and show your
enthusiasm and motivation
- Have a pen and paper ready, so that you can make notes. Before
you leave a stand, make a note of the person you talked to – you
may wish to follow up on this contact at a later date
- Collect a floor plan on arrival so that you can easily find
where everyone is located
- The programme will give you the information about any of the
additional workshops that may be worth attending.
- Do talk to people on the stands; don’t just pick up the
leaflets and freebees.
- Be prepared to queue up to see some of the more popular
stands
- If you feel a bit nervous, it may be best to talk to a few
people who are not on the top of your target list, as that will
give you a bit of practice.
- Remember that specialty trainees are often invited as
representatives at these fairs. You will often find that you can
have a more meaningful conversation by talking to them and then you
can come away with the added detail to help you with any
applications
- Note the closing time and don’t approach stands right at the
end when the representatives are tired and likely to be starting to
pack up.
- Use the valuable information you have just collected. You will
have had an excellent opportunity to talk to people about the
career choices that you are exploring. One suggestion is to make
some brief notes on how you felt about each of the specialties that
you visited. Another idea is that you could perhaps write a list of
pros and cons about working in each of the specialities that you
are considering
- Think about which specialties attracted you most. Were there
any specialties that were not represented at the careers fair but
that you think it may be worth finding more about, to widen your
options?