The recent global pandemic resulted in many layoffs across the globe. If stats are to be believed the percentage of furloughs & layoffs is equally proportional to active hiring opportunities these days. Many organizations worldwide are actively hiring and updating new job opportunities every other day, giving a sigh of relief to candidates. If the job database is to be checked, approximately 40 career sectors are updating new job openings every day.
As time has changed, so does the recruiting tactics. Restrictions imposed on traveling and public gathering resulted in a spike of virtual events. Today the internet is overloaded with several virtual event platforms that offer the best services and features. With the effectiveness of social distancing practices enforced by the government, a gathering of employers and job seekers under one roof for face-to-face interactions is nearly impossible. With the advancement in technology, you no longer have to wait for a lift from the ban of public gatherings to schedule an interview with the right candidate.
Virtual job fairs are becoming immensely popular among employers and job seekers recently. Recruiters and hiring managers are inclining towards organizing a virtual job fair to find the potential and most qualified candidates globally. With the change in the time, it’s not wrong to say, virtual career fair or job fair has become an integral part of the recruiting industry to search the right candidates. Organizations that have never thought about moving their job fairs online are now planning to host a virtual job fair. Organizing a career fair on an interactive virtual career fair platform makes it easy to search & network with the most qualified candidates suiting the job role.
Many virtual job fair platforms offer hybrid event solutions as well to bridge the gap between on-ground and virtual job fairs. Hybrid event solutions bring on-ground attendees and virtual panels or candidates together in the same frame. Attending a virtual job fair is an exciting opportunity for busy job seekers as well as recruiters and hiring managers. It enables them to connect & network from the comfort of their own spaces to discuss qualifications and open positions.
In this article, we will briefly share what is a virtual job fair and how to host one. To have an insight, scroll down:
What is a virtual job fair?
Virtual job fairs work on the same format of conventional career fairs, but on a digital virtual job fair platform. Job or career fairs are used by organizations, recruiters, or hiring managers to source and hire top talent. It allows job seekers to connect with employers and have a discussion about industry, qualifications, and open job opportunities.
Virtual job fairs enable organizations and busy job seekers to connect in a virtual environment irrespective of geographical locations. It helps the recruiter to hire the most potential candidate in a short period of time. However, it has become the most popular recruiting practice with time and an integral part of the recruiting industry.
Geographical constraints, space or venue limitations, traveling, etc. all get resolved with virtual job fairs. 3d virtual event platform that offers interactive features to network with candidates globally makes the work easy by creating a seamless branded virtual environment.
How to host a virtual job fair?
To host a successful virtual job fair and reach the right candidates globally, one must follow the steps listed below:
1. Set your goal
Firstly, determine the goal of hosting a virtual job fair to acquire positive outcomes. Know the purpose of hosting the one. Whether you want to host a virtual career fair for branding purposes or hosting it to find the top talent and most potential candidates for the specific job roles. Whether recruiters will conduct interviews during virtual job fairs or just screen the job seekers and have discussions. Deciding on the goal is a must before hosting a virtual career or job fair.
2. Select a virtual event platform
Choosing the right virtual event platform to host a virtual career fair comes next. Go with the platform that offers interactive and engaging features to connect with the audience while holding them throughout the fair. A virtual event platform that enables 3d virtual event set up helps in delivering immersive event experiences, however closely replicating on-ground job fairs. Live audio/video chat functionality offered by the platform enables recruiters to connect with job seekers in real-time.
3. Customize virtual booths
Once you select a platform to host your career fair, now comes customizing your virtual booth. You can simply customize your virtual booths depending upon what you want to share with your attendees. Virtual booths allow you to creatively display the company information in front of your attendees. From branding to adding creativity in your layouts, you can simply customize your virtual booths same as traditional on-ground booths.
4. Keep the sessions short
Keeping sessions short help in expediting your process by gaining and giving relevant information to busy job seekers. Short sessions prevent the falling of potential candidates amid sessions, as they might be packed with current job commitments. These are the type of employees you want to hire, right!
5. Develop a marketing plan and promote it
Promoting it across various channels is a must to make the job seekers aware of the upcoming virtual job fair. You might have selected the best platform to host a virtual job fair and have very exciting and promising open positions in hand, but it’s of no use if your desired attendees are not aware of the same. Promote your virtual job fair consistently by sending direct mails, advertising, social media, public relations, and so on. You can even try on integrated marketing campaigns to promote your virtual job fair.
6. Launch a virtual career fair or job fair
Now when you are done with the above steps, you are all set to launch your virtual job fair. If your platform enables downloading and sharing content, add some downloadable content to your job fair. It helps in amplifying your reach resulting in generating better leads.
7. Analyse performance
Unlike traditional job fairs, virtual job fairs are fully trackable and help in measuring the performance metrics of the event. In virtual job fairs, attendees are in a controlled environment where their every move is tracked. Right from login to clicks, shares, views, downloads, booths they interacted, etc. everything is measurable. It helps in evaluating the performance and success of the event. It helps the organizers to understand which part of the event holds audience interest and which did not.
8. Follow-up
Follow-up is the crucial step one should not miss to make the most out of virtual job fairs. Follow up with the potential candidates your recruiters interacted during virtual job fairs and found most promising.
Conclusion
Hosting virtual job fairs has become a trend in the recruiting industry. It helps in tapping the top talent worldwide in a shorter time span. Today organizations are hosting students virtual job fairs to hire freshers with potential calibers from universities across the globe. If you have not yet planned to host one, what are you waiting for? Gear up time is running out. Walk with the recent trends and host a virtual job fair to tap top talent worldwide seamlessly.