Dick Gaither travels the country conducting seminars for students to improve their interviewing skills, and on Wednesday, he came to the MSU-Detroit College of Law.

Gaither said he gets all sorts of questions.

"They will come and ask me 'I got that tattoo with the tongue of the snake going into my ear, will this stop me from finding work?'" Gaither, president of Job Search Training Systems Inc. "You're not going to be as valuable a candidate as opposed to someone without the tattoo."

Gaither gives students advice on how to go into an interview prepared, confident and ready to answer tough questions.

He explained if someone asks, "Why should I hire you?" a person answering they will be asset to the company is not enough.

"If they say they will be an asset, I ask them to give me five ways," he said.

Gaither was the keynote speaker in Wednesday's Career Conference put together by MSU-DCL.

The daylong event consisted of four panel presentations from different areas of the law field, an etiquette lunch and ended with a recruitment fair.

"This conference is designed to give students practical skills to use in job searching," said Michelle Mitchell, assistant director for career services.

The etiquette luncheon teaches students to relax and concentrate and be more effective in an interview, Mitchell said.

"Students eat a three-course meal and I talk them through every course," Mitchell said. "I try to make them feel comfortable when they are in a formal situation."

The fair also gives students a chance to practice their interviewing skills with potential employers.

"A lot of times I get nervous before I call law firms looking for jobs," third-year DCL student Susan Dona said. "This helps get a lot of the nervousness out by going and talking to different employers."