A virtual career fair is an informational event that links job seekers and recruiters in a virtual space. This form of job recruitment is ideal when the firm practices social distancing. With the Online career fairs, job seekers can connect with any recruiter across the globe as they only require a smartphone, laptop and network connection. The online career fair mainly was used during the covid 19 pandemic period as the company could reach out to many job seekers without putting their health at risk. The company can offer online career fairs in different formats. These formats include organized chat rooms and on-the-spot video interviews.
This new platform enables even the disabled to have access to job seekers worldwide. Most companies notify potential candidates about their events on their career page online. Whenever the candidate gets a chance to participate in the forum, they maintain eye contact whenever possible and use a clear voice.
Most job seekers desire to know what is a virtual career fair as it is commonly used in the modern business world.
Here are some of the benefits of an online career fair
- Easy access
Potential job seekers can easily access the platform. Barriers related to geographical regions are significantly eliminated. Job seekers can quickly join an online career fair with the click of a button from the comfort of their homes as it makes it easier to link with the best talent beyond your immediate region. Busy job seekers can easily participate as they will not be required to travel to the company for any interviews. They can manage to set time for the online recruitment compared to when it is conducted physically. Attractive passive job seekers benefit from the online option as they can undertake the recruitment while still in their current jobs.
- Cost-saving
The cost of an online career fair is relatively lower compared to in-person events. There are no venue fee charges or travel expenses incurred in this form of recruitment.
The firm can host the recruitment with a maximum of two recruiters. In other instances, it will depend on the number of candidates the firm is expecting. Since no refreshments are required during the recruitment process, a lot of money is saved. Renting equipment or supplies is unnecessary for this form of recruitment, increasing the firm’s savings.
- Time-saving
The in-person career fair can consume a lot of time compared to the online career fair. The in-person career fair can even take weeks or months before the recruitment is completed. The organization will have to secure a venue for planning schedules to market the event as it is a time-consuming activity. On the other hand, the firm can quickly set up online career fairs by ensuring a good network connection and creating invitation links. The firms only need to decide on the theme of the event, add video, equip the booths with high resolution and then decide on the nature of the information collected from the candidates. The data can include resumes or even the past job experience of the job seeker.
- Increased connections
The online career fair allows the firm to have multiple private conversations with the candidates. The recruiters become more engaged with the candidates even before the interview, ensuring that the company gets the right fit. The candidates can also view the documents they have submitted via video or chat. Since the entire activity takes place online, one can easily converse with numerous candidates at once, resulting in increased connection with the candidates compared to the in-person career fair. In an in-person career fair, the recruiter only connects with one client at a time. Limitation of time when talking to the candidates in online career fairs makes it easier to ask the vital information as it also saves time.
- Helps in building the brand image
The online career fairs are highly customized to enhance the organization’s brand. For instance, a photo of the actual office lobby can be used as the online career fair lobby to give the candidates the feel of the corporate atmosphere. You can easily create and share content that targets potential candidates.
- Improved recruitment marketing
There is an improvement in the efficiency of the recruitment marketing efforts. Invitations can be to the targeted list of job seekers in your talent database, and the results will be excellent compared to in-person. The candidates are aware that the online option is more convenient. The attendance rate of the online career fair is higher hence making it easier to select the talent pool of your choice.
- Easily track ROI
Rating the candidate’s performance is much easier in the online career fair as it is easier to track the ROI of the event and gather any vital information. This information is ideal for the improvement of the conversational recruiting strategy. Within this platform, management of the candidates becomes much more accessible.
- Secure live chat
Talent can quickly drive long queues at the event venues and even at the booths. The online career fair provides booths with their chat features, allowing candidates to reach out to booth representatives. The recruiters can also use the technology for a quick interview to select candidates.
- Measurable results
Real-time data is used to identify the ideal candidate. Providing the perspective of ROI, recruiters can easily track how the candidate’s virtual event. This data will be of great help when organizing recruitment policies in the future date. Performance indicators can be supplied, for instance, the number of visits to a booth, webinar attendees and even video views to determine the return on investment. The company can Confirm whether the candidates downloaded content from the website is also a performance measure.
Wrapping up
In conclusion, there are many benefits of the online career fair. The above article gives an overview of some of the benefits. Companies need to adopt this form of recruitment as it may help them avoid unnecessary expenses. It also helps in saving time and enhancing the interaction between the recruiter and the candidates.