4 Tips For Employers On Virtual Job Fairs Success

By Elana Goodwin on June 30, 2016

Summer is a great time for colleges to host virtual job fairs, which connect hiring employers and students looking for jobs, using online tools. Employers can recruit some great talent from these fairs if they’re smart about it.

Here are some things employers should be aware of in order to be successful at virtual job fairs.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

1. Update your website and social media. Students and potential employees will undoubtedly do some research before attending the virtual job fair and it’s important that whatever information they read about your company be current. Make sure your website is up to date and your social media accounts are active and illustrate what your company does and stands for.

Your business’s accounts on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and other sites, are powerful tools you can use to get potential employees interested in working for your company and educated about what your business does. Of course, this isn’t just good practice for virtual career fairs but should be something your company is committed to throughout the year, as your website and social media presence says a lot about your business and is the first thing people will look at when they want to find out more about your organization.

2. Be interview-ready. Virtual career fairs can be very well-attended so you may luck out and find a student or multiple people you’d like to learn more about to see if they’d be a good fit for your business, which means you’ll want to be ready to conduct interviews immediately. Video interviews are commonplace at virtual job fairs, especially since your business may not be close to the university that’s hosting the virtual career fair online. Be prepared to interview potential employees and set to make an offer if one of them is especially promising and seems like they’d be the type of person you want working for you. You’ll also want to have some questions ready to help you quickly weed out the qualified candidates from those who don’t have the right experience and wouldn’t be a good addition to your business given their background.

At virtual career fairs, because employers are able to immediately interview people and can readily offer someone a job, you want to act quickly if a really outstanding candidate is interested in your business because they may be applying to or interviewing with more than one employer and you don’t want another company to snatch them out from under you. However, there’s something to be said about in-person interviews, so don’t feel pressured to hire a person without meeting them and doing a live interview first, even if it means you may possibly lose them to another business.

3. Check your equipment. Since the career fair is virtual, making sure your computer equipment works perfectly is crucial. Before the fair even starts, you’ll want to check that your software is up-to-date and that you have the necessary programs and tools (like Skype, etc.) to enable you to successfully attend the career fair.

Do a practice run before the virtual career fair is held and test your equipment. Does your sound work? Is there a delay or glitch when you’re using video? Do you have the right program to attend the fair? These are some of the things you’ll want to check beforehand and be certain they’re in working order so nothing is undermining your ability to be a part of the virtual career fair and to conduct interviews of promising candidates.

4. Do some self-promo. While the university or organization hosting the career fair will likely publicize the list of companies attending the fair, it doesn’t hurt to do some self-promotion to get potential attendees thinking about your company. Advertise on your social media, website, etc. that you’ll be attending the virtual career fair and announce what positions in particular you’re looking to hopefully fill at the fair. Releasing some qualifications and responsibilities linked to each job may also help you get more qualified people interested in your company and visiting your “booth” at the virtual job fair.

When self-promoting, make sure you talk about the atmosphere at your company, the perks you offer employees, and even some quotes and soundbites from current employees about why working for your business is so great. You want the job fair attendees to be educated about your company and fired up to potentially work there.

Being proactive and prepared are the biggest practices a company should implement before attending a virtual career fair to find some talent. You should approach the fair with the same mindset you would an in-person fair, and be prepared to talk to and interview those interested in your company. If you make sure to follow the above advice before being a part of a virtual job fair, you’ll definitely be more successful in your endeavor to interview and hire qualified candidates.

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