In the era of the global workforce and gig economy, virtual career fairs are a new reality. Bolstered by the Covid-19 pandemic, most jobs have now become remote resulting in a sizable increase in the share of the job market. The hiring strategy factors into virtual career events or virtual job fairs, as they are called in most organizations.
Even though many companies have made the move, misconceptions surrounding virtual career events loom large, which inhibits their ability to maximize gains. Let’s understand the nuances of hiring online and how to make the most of virtual career events.
What is a virtual career fair?
A virtual career event takes place online through event platforms that support the live stream, RTMP (real-time messaging platform), teleconferencing, email exchange, job postings, and chat rooms among numerous other features.
The practicality of having two principal stakeholders on one platform overcoming geographical barriers and travel expenses is a big pull for both parties. Employers are also able to streamline their hiring process with in-built tools presented by virtual hiring platforms. At a given time, the whole hiring team can engage the candidates directly, either one-to-one or in a group.
For candidates, virtual career events offer a chance to network professionally, share their resumes directly with employers, and showcase their skills. Since time and place are not a constraint, they can attend the event from anywhere from any time zone.
Why are virtual career fairs gaining traction?
Virtual hiring opens up opportunities for both candidates and organizations to go beyond the local market and improve their hiring outcomes. One analysis found that 49% of companies in the US conducted remote interviews and onboarding sessions since January 2021, reflecting the change in hiring strategies.
The gig economy on the other hand is also witnessing a surge growing at a CAGR of 17% to more than double in the five-year period to reach $455 billion globally. Nearly 44% of gig workers in the US believe freelance as their main source of income.
With virtual career events, organizations can lay one of the most challenging aspects of hiring—filling positions on time—to rest. The advantage to accelerate hiring at the desired speed effortlessly with virtual hiring platforms imparts greater flexibility while shortening the whole process.
Expert tips to employers for a successful virtual career fair
Embracing new ways of creating an in-person experience through virtual event platforms make up the tool kit of a successful career event.
- Technology
Undoubtedly, technology is the most important element of a virtual career event. Going deeper than the plain vanilla video conferencing, event technology platforms pack a host of features that encompass event promotion, execution, management, and post-event actions.
A robust platform event technology platform for a successful virtual career event should support:
- Excellent Video quality
- Registration
- Live chats
- Virtual booths
- Presentation downloads
- Real-time polls
- Breakout sessions
- Gamification contests
- Event guide and app
Most virtual career fairs last over days covering many different forms of online interactions. Holding a large event means you should be able to support HD quality video over a longer span consuming a chunk of bandwidth capacity.
Nunify’s native live stream can equip as many as a million attendees with < 0.3s HD+ lag. The option of picking up RTMP studio stream, or streaming a 4K HD video live takes your event several notches over the basic platforms. To keep the millennial candidates hooked, vibrant social walls, audio bites, and live emoji reactions act as glue.
Depending upon the virtual career event focus, interest-based matchmaking and AI-powered speed networking aid in filtering candidates as per the requirement.
- Candidate profiling
With a job board and quick resume search using an event technology platform, employers can shortlist and perform candidate profiling even before the event.
If candidate profiling is out of the way, employers can divide the group into batches as per the functions and job fit.
- Outreach
Creating a buzz on social media and a dedicated event website form integral elements of a successful virtual career event.
Outreach activities through event technology platforms also allow users to attain insights with curated reports. Overcoming low attendance levels with planning and coordination, using an event app is one way of reaching out to candidates. Targeted push notifications and chatbots provide an in-person feel to event attendees.
In the wireframe there was tips for candidates – Could we enlist 5 tips for candidate also in a virtual event fair
Use Case: Amazon sees 1 million applications in a virtual job fair
Many corporations, educational institutions and even governments organize virtual career events from time to time.
Leading US-based e-commerce player, Amazon attracted over a million candidates from over 170 countries in its annual 24-hour Career Day. In the virtual hiring event, more than 2,000 recruiters from the company interacted with 30,000 candidates. The scale and support could only be achieved by a robust technology platform.
Make virtual hiring work for you!
There is no shortcut to success, but event technology platforms offer a gateway to shorten the hiring cycle, cut costs and expand your search geographically. It is better to employ tested tactics used by millions for a seamless experience from start to finish, for your virtual career event.
