As Covid-19 and the social distancing epidemic has entered a less severe stage, hiring is increasing, but the talent pool is still lagging.

A trend that has not changed is that virtual hiring events and career fairs continue to grow and establish themselves as the new norm as a hiring strategy for many organizations.

According to Handshake, a career networking platform aimed at college students, 80% of hiring will remain virtual for the foreseeable future. A Gartner poll of 334 human resource leaders recently found that 86% of organizations incorporate new virtual technology to interview candidates and onboard new hires. While virtual hiring existed before the pandemic, employers have seen COVID-19 as a means for accelerating virtual recruiting overall.

Despite the obvious advantages of pre-screening candidates from your desk, why are virtual hiring events so effective?

After powering more than 3,500 events, Premier Virtual has proven to its clients that virtual hiring events are much more efficient than in-person events.  Being able to connect with candidates in our virtual platform increases the intention and maximizes the use of everyone’s time.  Being able to communicate with multiple candidates simultaneously and invite the right prospects into a one-on-one video interview, accelerates the pre-screening process and increases the odds of finding the best candidate for the position.

Our mobile-friendly platform allows candidates to attend literally from anywhere in the world.  As more jobs offer remote access, hosting a virtual hiring event positions your organization as forward-thinking, and candidates appreciate the flexibility; in fact, offering flexibility has quickly become the number on ‘perk’ your company can offer.

The physical cost-reducing benefits are a big win for many companies.  The cost associated with venue or travel becomes $0, plus the reduction in travel time often increases productivity.

Job seekers that have had the experience of waiting in long lines to speak to an employer love the ability to avoid all lines in a virtual event. Now they simply register, log in, and go directly to the employer’s booth they are interested in.  On our platform, they can research the company, view all the job openings, and enter into a chat in a matter of seconds.  If the employer wants to know you better, they can invite you into a video interview right then and there! We’ve seen job offers made and accepted on the spot!

A recent event for Spokane Workforce, which is traditionally held in person, was moved to virtual instead.  The director Mandy obtained 81 organizations and 387 attendees for this event with almost perfect attendance. There were also 272 resume submissions. It’s why we like to say that ‘Hiring Happens Here’.  Achieving these results in an in-person event is nearly impossible to recreate right now, and with this kind of success, why would you?

As Mandy tells us, candidates could easily register, log in, and ‘move about’ the event freely with no concerns about their safety or social distancing.  They could engage with employers, learn more about the openings and quickly enter into chats or video interviews.  The employers were thrilled with the results, many of which attended a virtual hiring event for the first time.

The Premier Virtual platform includes a dedicated Success Team to ensure your event runs as smoothly as possible.  Your company is trained on the platform and best practices to host and market your event from day one.  Premier virtual also offers live training for employers attending and a complete training video library. It’s all there in case you need it, but the platform is so easy to use and intuitive it only takes a few minutes to become a pro.

The results that we’ve seen from powering this many job fairs prove there is no need to go back to in-person only.  Some of our clients offer hybrid events that offer in-person access and leave the virtual door open for everyone else who prefers the convenience and efficiency of attending online.

No matter the option, it’s clear that virtual hiring events and career fairs are the new norm, and if your company wants to remain competitive in the job market, you need to add this tool to your hiring strategy today.

For more information or to schedule a free demo, visit PremierVirtual.com.