Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, both job seekers and employers are turning to various digital platforms to connect with one another. Digital hiring solutions are secure, cost-effective, and provide a great way to connect with a wide range of people. Virtual career fairs are one of these remote hiring solutions.
Here’s everything you need to know about virtual career fairs and how they can help you reshape your recruiting strategy.
What are virtual career fairs?
Virtual career fairs, also known as virtual job fairs, are online events that help potential job seekers and employers connect and interact with each other. Such events are intended to help both parties with their hiring needs. Moreover, such events also allow them to network from the comfort of their own homes.
How does virtual career fairs aid in recruiting?
Virtual career fairs have a number of advantages in addition to being cost-effective and secure. Here’s how virtual career fairs can help with recruiting.
Expedites the hiring time
Virtual career fairs, as opposed to traditional ones, are online events that help save time. With virtual career fairs, job seekers do not have to be concerned about commuting time in order to apply for a position at the firm of their choice. Furthermore, they are not required to wait in line to talk with recruiters. All they have to do is be accessible during the time window allotted to have a word with potential employers. As a result, virtual career fairs expedite the hiring process for both candidates and employers.
Accessible across locations
Virtual career fairs connect job seekers and recruiters from all around the world. To take advantage of a virtual career fair, all you need is a stable internet connection. This means that as a Hiring Manager, you can engage with qualified candidates regardless of their geographical location.
Helps filter and target qualified candidates
Recruiters can request candidate applications and resumes before the actual event. This helps them in evaluating and shortlisting candidates who may be a good fit for the available positions. The ability to pre-qualify prospects streamlines the process, focuses your attention on the best individuals, and cuts down on recruiting time.
Here are some tips that will help you host virtual career fairs:
Choose a suitable virtual career fair platform
Choosing a good digital platform is the first step in conducting a successful virtual career fair. Consider your target audience and the features you would like to offer them before making your choice. These could include things like chat rooms, customer service, interactive tools, and so forth. Before making a decision, compare several digital platforms, their features, and pricing. You can choose from some of the best-known virtual meeting platforms such as Zoom, Google Meet, and vFairs.
Understand your requirements
Before you begin, make sure you understand why you are hosting a virtual career fair. This will help you in determining the resources you require and, also in putting together a recruiting team. Start by creating a detailed plan. This can include crucial facts like your target audience, the total number of attendees, and the recruiters you will be working with. Having a plan ready will also help you prepare a budget accordingly.
Using ATS software can make each of your tasks easier and less time-consuming. Such software can help you in efficiently tracking candidate applications and quickly shortlisting them.
Partner with recruiters
Get in touch with recruiters and employers and explain your purpose for conducting a virtual career fair and how they may benefit from it. Help them understand how the virtual career fair will help fulfill their hiring needs. You can contact and confirm the participation of recruiters via an official email. Alternatively, you can also employ the services of an agency to prepare a mailing list. Once you have recruiters on board, you can decide on the number of attendees and the number of days the career fair will be held.
Promote the event
Once you have the virtual career fair plan in place, work towards promoting the event. You can market it on various social media platforms and even job boards. This will help you get in touch with a wider audience. However, before you begin with marketing, identify your budget and platforms wherein your target audience is most active.
Keep the participants in the loop
Once you have completed all of the virtual career fair preparations, be sure to keep the attendees up to date about the same. Engage with the participants and send them timely reminders about the guest speakers, workshop details, or any other vital information. Engaging with attendees will automatically promote their participation in the virtual career fair.
Gather feedback from both attendees and partners
Request feedback from recruiters and job seekers on the virtual career fair. You can ask them to fill in a questionnaire post the event or send an email invite to take a survey. Doing so will help you in determining the overall event’s success. You can utilize the suggestions and feedback to improve future events.
These tips will undoubtedly help you in organizing a virtual career fair, but leveraging ATS software will greatly enhance your efforts. An applicant tracking software like Jobsoid can help you screen candidates based on your job needs. It can also help you market the event to a wider network as it is integrated with some of the leading job boards in the market.
Furthermore, you can cut down on your expenses. signing up for a 14-day free trial.
