These are bits of advice I wish I could’ve received when I attended the ALPFA Convention in 2017 and 2019. Here they are:

Walk away from assholes

Woah – there are assholes in ALPFA, Nick? Yes, there will be some huge assholes that work across multiple firms and multiple functions.

I’ve personally met assholes from one particular big 4 firm – not sure what the fuck is up with them. The nicest people I’ve met have worked at Accenture, BNY Mellon (except for one weirdo), Bank of America (not even trying to plug my employer haha), Microsoft, and RSM. Accenture by far has the best people at the convention – every interaction I’ve had with them has been pleasant.

The best way to deal with an asshole is to thank them for their time and walk away. As a candidate, you have leverage when it comes to interacting with employers. You literally have so many employers at the convention that they’re competing with one another to recruit top talent. If an employer is at the convention, that means they paid top dollar to get a booth for the career fair. If they go back to their offices with little to no candidates, they’re going to look like weirdos.

Therefore, don’t pay mind to assholes – simply walk away. Make them look like weirdos.

Have a plan

Don’t go to the convention looking like a weirdo. Look at the list of companies that’ll be present, and see which one is hiring for what you’re looking for.

I’d say to narrow it down to at least 3 employers. You don’t want to limit yourself to just one firm because you’re only hurting yourself. Never put your eggs in one basket. Also, there is such a thing as having too many – not every company will be a fit for you.

Once you have your list of targets, see which workshops they’re hosting and do your best to attend them. The more they see your face, the more interest you’re demonstrating. Now, don’t be following them like a weirdo, but attend one or two of their workshops.

Network your ass off

Nearly every interaction you have at the convention can be a difference maker. You could be speaking with someone who could possibly get your resume seen by the right people.

Be sure to follow up with them if the conversation goes well.

Also, you’re always meeting people at the elevator, pool, or even the local nightclubs (see next part).

Don’t get too comfortable

I’ve seen some shit at the convention. Some of these professionals get one or two drinks and be getting crazy out here. I remember I spoke with this one Amazon rep, and he told me to not work there and to work at a Big Four firm instead. Shit was hilarious for me because he was pretty drunk.

Anyways, you’ll likely be invited to go to nightclubs or bars, or even have to attend the parties hosted through the convention. Have fun, but don’t be having too much fun. Liquor in a professional setting can either be a good thing or a bad thing.

Dress professionally

Wear a nice fitting suit or set of professional clothing. You’re making a bunch of first impressions at the convention because you’ll likely be meeting people you’ve never met before.

Prioritize your employers

When you go to the career fair, you will be fucking nervous. It’s overwhelming to be honest because you got a lot of heads in one room.

From my personal experience, I was nervous as fuck when I first entered the career fair. However, I had a “strategy” to make sure I didn’t fuck up the way I conducted myself in front of the companies I cared for.

I’d visit the employers that I didn’t really care about first to get the jitters out. All that stuttering and nervousness would go away after one or two employers. I didn’t care for them so any bad first impressions didn’t really matter to me.

Once I got that out the way, I was calmer and would then visit the employers I truly cared for.

Elevator pitch

You honestly got to get this ready. You’ll be using it like a hundred times that you’ll get fucking sick of saying it. The more you say it, the better you’ll have your elevator pitch be.

Personally, I used something like the following in 2017:

I’m a first-generation college student in my junior year majoring in accounting at Lehman College. I recently wrapped up my summer internship at PwC, where I worked with the Procurement team as a Start Intern. Apart from that, I serve as the President of my school’s ALPFA chapter. Through my experiences with PwC and ALPFA, I’ve had the opportunity to network with accounting professionals and I’m leaning towards audit as a career I’m interested in pursuing.

It’s not perfect by any means, but conversations always went well from there. Feel free to use a similar approach or add your own twist to it.

Don’t memorize it either – simply have key points of what you want to mention when answering this question.

These are the bits of advice I’d pass to anyone attending the convention. It’s nothing special, but it’s to serve as a reminder of some things to keep in mind.

All views are my own – I do not represent any organizations mentioned in this post.