How Employers Can Stand Out at a Virtual Career Fair
When COVID-19 hit, companies faced the dilemma of how to continue to recruit and connect with job seekers while in-person events were canceled across the world. Enter the rise of the virtual career fair.
The pandemic has shifted many recruitment tactics and made virtual career fairs the new norm. And according to a recent survey by Yello, virtual career fairs may be here to stay even post-pandemic.
The survey revealed that nearly 80% of recruiters plan to leverage virtual strategies in spring 2021, and 31% reported that their hiring strategy will be exclusively virtual. In addition, 63% of recruiters plan to use a mix of virtual and in-person recruiting strategies after the pandemic.
The rise in popularity of virtual career fairs isn’t surprising -- they’re a convenient way to find and hire the best candidate for your company. However, to stand out at a virtual career fair, you must do more than just “log on and show up.” And you have to approach the event differently than an in-person career fair.
Follow these tips on how to successfully prepare and navigate a virtual career fair before, during, and after the event to attract and hire top talent:
Before the virtual career fair
Without the lure of a fancy booth to draw in potential candidates, you must do a little more prep work. Here’s what you should do before you log on:
- Recognize and identify your ideal candidate
Some virtual career fairs will send you an RSVP list ahead of time; use it to see which attendees fit your job description. Send the potential candidates an email ahead of time to personally invite them to your “booth.”
Getting a head start on proactively engaging with potential candidates puts you in a competitive position and can capture the attention and interest of attendees.
- Perfect your message
Before the virtual event, identify and decide what you want your message to be. It’s important to know exactly how you want to interact with the attendees in order to maximize your time, their time, and to improve your brand's impact.
For example, according to a NACE report, college students ranked service to the community, diversity consciousness, and opportunities to develop job-specific skills as some of the most important considerations when looking for a job. These would be great topics to highlight during a virtual career fair.
The benefit: Although you may have to do a little more prep work for a virtual career fair setting, it still saves you time and cost because you don’t have to worry about travel expenses and schedules.
During the virtual career fair
This is your time to flex your creative muscles and not just rely on organic brand exposure to stand out. Once you log on, be sure to:
- Make your “booth” fun!
Implement fun and different ways to get attendees to “visit your booth” so that you stand out from other companies.
For example, the first 15 people at your booth can attend your company's next free event/webinar or receive company swag. Also, since travel time and expense is not an issue, maybe invite a “surprise” guest to your “booth” from your company, such as a VP or stakeholder to talk with potential candidates.
- Maximize your time
The National Press Club reported that an hour and a half is about the maximum amount of time you can keep someone’s attention in a virtual setting. Be transparent and open up dialogue early to maximize everyone’s time.
If you’ve done your prep work, you will know the right questions to ask to filter through the crowd and find qualified candidates.
- Leave an impression
According to Jobcast, job posts that use video content get 36% more applicants! Many virtual career fairs have tools so that companies can share videos and webinars. Some even have chat options.
For example, if the virtual career fair offers a video option, take the opportunity to show a video of your company to help attendees can get a better sense and feel for your brand. These tools can totally elevate and enhance the virtual experience.
The benefit: Participating in a virtual career fair can provide a private and distraction-free setting to communicate with potential new hires. They also offer a bigger candidate reach since anyone from anywhere can join the event.
After the virtual career fair
The virtual career fair is over and it’s time to log off. Now what?
- Follow up with candidates
Keep the momentum going with candidates who impressed you. Reach out to them with a follow-up email on next steps if they are interested in your company.
- Evaluate your own experience
Many job seekers don’t know what to expect when they attend a virtual career, and to be honest neither do many recruiters. After the event is over, it’s a good idea to evaluate what worked and what didn’t work. That way, you can improve the candidate experience the next time you participate in a virtual career fair.
The benefit: Virtual career fairs are still a fairly new concept. Both job seekers and employers are navigating their ways through virtual events. By participating now, you are one of the first to adopt virtual recruiting methods and set the standards for future virtual career fair events to come.
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What do you think? What's are you doing to reach top talent?