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Guest blogger for Re:e-learn - Anna Höglund IT Recruitment Consultant

I attended one of these networking events a while ago. The event was on a boat - a small and awfully rocky boat. Of course the rain was pouring down outside. I was also tired, hungry and didn't feel at all like socializing. I was this close to leave and blame it on seasickness but then the lecture started.

It was a great lecture about creativity and slowly but surely I forgot all about what a bad time I was having and how terribly seasick I was. Instead I got more and more interested in this lecture and soon I actively took part in the ongoing discussions.

During the break I met a girl who asked me “Okay, so, who are you?” And my immediate reaction was to answer “Well, my name is Anna and I work as a Recruitment Consultant and ...” but instead I said “Well, I’m not going to tell you what I do, instead I will try to describe who I am.”  

After that I was silent. For a long time. God how difficult! Who am I when I’m not describing what I do for work? After a while I managed to utter a few carefully worded sentences and I thereafter asked her in the same way. Ten minutes into the conversation it felt like I had known her for much longer. I saw the person beneath the role. The role that we all, for different reasons, tend to act when in public.

Imagine applying this approach to your everyday life. Is it possible for you to describe yourself based on who you are without mentioning what you do?

A parallel can be drawn to the individuals without a current employment or education. Most of us have at some point been unemployed - how do we then describe ourselves? Who am I without my job? Who am I if I don’t mention what I have accomplished?

By writing this blog post I would like to illuminate the following questions: What defines you? Are you something more than your profession and your accomplishments? Wherein lies your value?

Some people find job fairs as a great place to start their future career, expand their network and get more insight of how the industry works as well as what is expecting them once they graduate.

For others it is just a headache - they have to talk to people, ask questions and spend a day going around "repeating the same thing all over again"!

If you are in the second group - it is time to change sides! Because sooner or later you will have to face a job interview or the need to do your thesis at a company and you will regret missing the opportunity to network and ask questions!

So - let's get to it! Read on for my tips of three imoprtant things you should not miss on the nearest job fair!

WHAT: GÖSTA job fair 2013
WHEN: Wednesday March 13th, 10-16h
WHERE: Kuggen Lindholmen

Gösta is an IT job fair at the University of Gothenburg. This year the fair will host around 30 companies, you can find the complete list here

An important note before the fair! Tomorrow March 11th is the last day to apply for a personal talk with Ekan. 

Ekan is a management consulting company that works with management consulting, business development and supports the process of purchasing and implementation of IT Systems within organizations.

If this sounds like something you would like to know more of or just meet people for the company send your CV, Personal Letter and Contact details to Den här e-postadressen är skyddad från spamrobotar, du måste ha Javascript aktiverat för att visa den

A second tip is to stop by Sweco they have a trainee program which is very interesting and for which they just started recruiting. So talk with them on the fair if you are interested.

Don't forget to attend the dinner afterwards at which the companies' representatives will be present as well.

And finally check out my interview with Sanna Anjou and get some tips of how to get the best out of job fairs!

Haven’t we all had those days when we leave school or the library disappointed (but also surprised) at how we spent so much time working but yet didn’t seem to get anything done?

Managing your time efficiently and effectively is challenging — may I say very challenging!

It’s not like you didn’t want to get things done, it’s just that you got a very imprtant e-mail, your friend called you, something more important came up and — poof! — the time magically disappeared.

If you find yourself in this kind of situation (like I did, and still do from time to time) I think the Pomodoro technique might help you. 

How Does the Pomodoro Technique Work?

First, the Pomodoro technique suggests that you need to have a to-do list for each working day. (Yes, yes quite familiar but keep reading.) I usually try to form a list like this a day or two before implementing the technique, just to make sure I have all the required things for the tasks with me. Prioritize your tasks (and here is when the fun part starts) then take your timer (which for Francesco Cirillo, the inventor of Pomodoro, was a kitchen timer in the shape of a tomato, therefore the name Pomodoro, meaning “tomato” in Italian) and set it to 25 minutes. Now, tackle your to-do list in order of priority.

While you are crushing your to-do list over the next 25 minutes, you are not allowed to interrupt yourself. No important calls, no “Oh, I need to do this” moments — you just keep your focus on the designated task.

Of course, we get interrupting thoughts the whole time, so the Pomodoro technique is smart and tells you to write down your thoughts because some of them might be relevant!

Finally, when your timer rings, you stop, no matter where you are in the task. You take a three-minutes break, re-evaluate your list, and you start again with the next task.

After four rounds of going through the Pomodoro technique you take a 15-minutes long break.