Sergio , Author at Premier Virtual

In-Person vs. Virtual Career Fairs

Sergio on August 6, 2021

Over the last year and a half, the virtual job fair has seen amazing growth as people worldwide embrace the concept of increased online communication. Premier Virtual is the number one virtual career fair platform in the workforce development industry and has powered thousands of in-person career fair events over the past 18 months. They give some insight into the two different types of career or job fairs.

An in-person event is typically an event where all the attendees are physically in the same location. A virtual career fair takes place entirely online; everyone attends from where they are. Both have their advantages and some drawbacks.

In-person, face-to-face, human connection is still the most effective way to communicate with others and has long been considered the norm. The tone of voice, eye movements, body movements, nonverbal ways of sending messages all are part of communication and are often lost over a video and internet connection. In-person communication has long been considered more honest; it enhances credibility and trust, builds solid relationships, and is motivating to foster collaboration with others.

In-person job fairs have their drawbacks, Steven Edwards CEO of Premier Virtual points out that often there are misconceptions at in-person events, a long line at a booth can make people think it is a great place to work, and they can spend much of the time waiting to talk to someone, only to find out there are no jobs or not jobs they qualify for or would be interested in. Additionally, in-person events are expensive to host and can be hard to pull off efficiently, even before COVID-19.

Virtual job fairs were around pre-pandemic; however, they gained traction starting in mid-2020. As people stayed home and companies still needed employees, the virtual job fair became the go-to format to connect with prospective hires and require far less time and money on the part of the host. Virtual career fairs are far more versatile, easier to plan, and operate on a more efficient level than in-person events, not to mention they save a ton of cash for companies.

Virtual career fairs allow more qualified candidates from a wider candidate pool to connect with potential employers and allow for more accessible data collection and reports for companies. Virtual events are not impacted by weather, traffic, or building issues, giving candidates far more flexibility on when and how they can attend. The virtual platform allows for the screening of candidates and recruiting highly qualified candidates for specific positions.

Virtual job fairs can be overwhelming, with so many booths to choose from, and they lack that in-person connection and pose the risk of attendees being distracted. Despite these concerns, virtual job fairs are only growing in popularity and might be the new standard procedure of many companies. A hybrid career fair melds the best of both worlds and is possibly the best way around reaching the maximum number of qualified candidates.

The innovative and proprietary platform developed by Premier Virtual has powered 2,500 virtual job fairs to date, connecting 25,000 employers to over 250,000 job seekers. Helping companies and job seekers across the country, they act as a parachute to help stop the freefall of the business world and keep qualified candidates working, even in the toughest of times.

A veteran-owned company, Premier Virtual is dedicated to changing people’s lives through its groundbreaking virtual career fair platform. Learn more on their website.

Virtual Career Fairs Have Changed The Staffing Industry

Sergio on August 3, 2021

It is sage and common advice for job seekers, new graduates, professionals, and the like to be encouraged to go to a job or career fair. Attending these kinds of events connects employers with a large number of prospective employees, and vice versa. Job seekers can interact with peers, and connect with potential employers, companies get their brand out there and are more recognizable to the workforce, networking happens, many good things come out of these events on both sides. That being said, the job recruitment and seeking landscape has changed significantly in recent years, and companies are taking many of these kinds of career fair events online.

No one knows more about the way the staffing industry and job recruitment environment have evolved than the team at Premier Virtual. After almost a decade of managing in-person events, co-founder and CEO Steven Edwards jumped into offering virtual events in 2018, as he saw the demand and market change. In early 2020 Premier developed their own innovative software platform for companies to host events, quickly becoming one of the top-used planforms in the nation when the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to go virtual. Premier Virtual is the number one virtual career fair platform in the workforce development industry.

Edwards explains that he started to see the shortcomings in the in-person job fair market, employers were missing out on connecting with qualified candidates due to long lines, and candidates walking away. Candidates were finding themselves frustrated as well. Edwards describes it as a process of walking into a crowded room, then waiting in line to hand over a resume and saying “Hire me?”, and then walking away always dissatisfied and doing it all again. The process was not efficient, so Edwards set out to create a space for both employers and job seekers to have a better experience.

The Benefits Are Clear

Cost-effective
Far-reaching, not limited by the geography of the size of the venue
More efficient, save time to travel and set-up
Fantastic lead generators
Increase brand recognition
Easily accessible for everyone
Make instant connections with targeted, highly qualified candidates
Reduce Time to Hire from 30 Days to an average of 7 days
Increase the quality of your bench
Attract candidates from all levels of experience, not just entry-level

Traditional job fairs tend to offer introductory and lower-level jobs, whereas on the online platform companies can hold executive-level career and hiring events, recruiting the top qualified candidates from all over the world. The system that Premier Virtual created goes far above and beyond, offering companies the ability to create a custom career recruitment system, as well as employing a one-of-a-kind flat licensing rate system allowing companies to hold multiple cost-effective events. Premier Virtual supported thousands of companies connecting with and employing individuals, even in the hardest of hit places and times over the last two years. The platform has powered 2,500 events to date, connecting 25,000 employers to 250,000 job seekers, and has earned industry-leading ratings on review sites like Capterra and G2. Edwards prides himself on the dedication of his team, and how they have truly impacted and changed lives across the world.

Born and raised in small-town Wisconsin, Edwards is a veteran, serving in the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army, as well as in the Florida National Guard. Edwards is always working to think outside of the box to see how he can make the industry better, and help people daily in a way that benefits their lives. He, along with business partner Gary Edwards lead a diverse, innovative team, motivated to drive advancements in the industry. “We are a ‘Future-Focused’ company, and we are every day innovating and making improvements. Our goal is to create a stand-alone platform that can provide all the solutions human resource executives need, in one place.”

Connect with Edwards and the Premier Virtual team on social media and through the company website, https://premiervirtual.com.

#16 in Top 100 Companies to Work for in Florida!

Sergio on July 30, 2021

Premier Virtual has been selected as a Top 100 Companies to Work for in Florida by Florida Trend magazine.

It’s a humbling honor for us that we truly appreciate. From day one, our company has made it clear that positive workplace culture is what makes us who we are, and the reason our clients ultimately chooses us.

We know that an empowered and engaged team results in superior innovation and unparalleled customer support. In nearly every customer review, there is a mention of how easy our platform is to use, and how excellent our customer support team is.

Workplace Culture

As an executive team, we work hard to achieve this. We built a workout gym in our conference room and put in a brand new shower for our employees to be able to exercise at no cost. We barbecue throughout the week and eat lunch together. We keep the office clean and motivating with positive signs and decals. We get together as often as possible and present awards to recognize superior efforts. It has all come together in this award, and we’re just getting started!

Workplace culture at Premier Virtual is the number one priority. We make every effort to put our team members first. By this, we find out what their personal needs are and how we can support them. As a small company, positive personal relationships are vital to the success of the entire company.

Whenever possible we host online events, and off-site events as well so we can come together and share our personal stories. There is no denying that a team that cares about its people will also care about its work. We see very little turnover and we also see team members excelling and getting promoted.

Promoting from Within

Our team members have the ability to work with team members in other departments to see if they enjoy the work, and find a better fit. We’ve had members move from sales to customer service and from sales to marketing.

We’ve also seen interns move from their internships to full time employment and part time members move to full time employment. We love seeing our team grow professionally and personally as well

Here is the link to the article.

Why Universities Should Hold Virtual Open Days

Sergio on July 19, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about many changes for universities. Many schools have spent the bulk of the last three semesters conducting virtual education. Facilities have been closed and activities restricted and canceled. Furthermore, there have been direct health-related challenges regarding the treatment and protection of students. Also among the challenges has been the need to adjust recruiting and admissions practices.

Managing the multi-faceted challenges of COVID is complicated, but it has given rise to a very innovative solution: Holding virtual open days. The success of these virtual events has exceeded all expectations, and while we expect to see in-person open house events returning (and in some cases, they already have), there are still many good reasons for universities to consider holding virtual open days moving forward.

Health & Safety

Health and safety are the main priorities moving forward and the key reasons behind the consideration of ideas like virtual open days in the first place. While the U.S. is in considerably better shape now than one year ago regarding COVID-19, there are still concerns about infections, spread, and variants. The more universities can embrace virtual alternatives to in-person practices, the better they will ensure that students and broader school communities remain safe.

Savings for Parents

With concern over health and safety so prevalent — and issues regarding the changing nature and quality of education also commanding quite a lot of attention — there has been relatively little public discussion about how parents and families can manage college costs. Financial hardship associated with the pandemic has been severe in many cases, which is limiting families’ options moving forward. This is true not only concerning tuition costs but, in some cases, even with the process of exploring college options.

Accordingly, the idea of helping parents to spend less on college visits came up within a broad discussion featuring university perspectives on pandemic changes. Specifically, a former admissions worker at multiple U.S. colleges pointed out that many families feel pressured to take on debt to visit campuses in person because they are aware that schools are tracking demonstrated interest. A transition toward making virtual open days the new norm would alleviate this pressure and save parents money in the years to come.

Expanding Reach

Another clear incentive for universities to embrace virtual open days is that it is likely to be an essential means of expanding the reach and preserving (if not improving) some sense of equity in admissions. There are genuine concerns about COVID-19 sidelining equity in education, mainly by affecting women and minorities more than others. As of now, these concerns relate primarily to faculty. However, there are similar issues with recruitment and admissions. We know that the pandemic more negatively impacts people in specific demographics than others, and it is reasonable to expect that the same people will have a more challenging time conducting traditional college searches and visits. Transitioning toward virtual open days would help universities open their arms to more heavily impacted prospective students and represent at least one step toward expanding reach and equity.

Meeting New Expectations

Simply put, a lot of young students may expect virtual options at this point. It may seem strange to people above “Gen Z,” but young people today are fluent in technology and prioritize convenience. Attending virtually does not mean they would not love to visit campuses given the option, but in many cases, they will expect, if not prefer, to have virtual touring opportunities. So in some sense, moving toward virtual open days can be used to enhance the overall experience for prospective students.

Marketing Professionals Can Handle It

The counter to some of the ideas above might be that university admissions and marketing departments will not be equipped to handle this kind of change. On the contrary, however, many of today’s marketing and digital media professionals are training specifically to handle the dynamic nature of their field. Expanding online education options (also a positive virtual consequence of the pandemic) are giving working marketers the chance to pursue MBAs online without giving up their jobs. Furthermore, while this is meant to result in a prestigious degree, the actual education involved in business administration studies focuses in part on changing dynamics, emerging methods, and tech-based optimization of business practices.

We realize that not every university has a trained MBA heading up a marketing or admissions department, ready to deploy virtual open days. However, things are moving in a direction in which people in these roles are increasingly educated in digital solutions, adaptability, and data-driven marketing savvy. As a result, universities today should manage the transition to virtual practice more readily than they would have even five years ago.

Tools Are Ready & Waiting

Just as the preparedness of marketing and digital media professionals enables universities to make this change, it is also important to note that there are virtual event tools ready and waiting! A great example is the virtual hiring event platform, Premier Virtual. This platform has powered over 2,500 virtual hiring events and makes it super easy to set up and host one. It will still take a concerted effort for schools to implement the change entirely, but the fact that the digital tools exist does simplify matters to some extent. University admissions and recruiting departments motivated to provide virtual open days should have no trouble doing so from a purely technical standpoint.

Conclusion

Each university faces slightly different circumstances, and we do not yet know what the public health scenario will be in the months and years to come. It is clear, however, that by and large, colleges are beginning to embrace more virtual practices regardless. Among these practices, a transition toward virtual open days is both feasible and beneficial. It is a change all universities should consider, and we expect many will.

An article was written exclusively for premiervirtual.com
By Cassidy Todd

Veterans Helping Veterans on WPBF ABC News

Sergio on July 15, 2021

On Wednesday, July 14th, Premier Virtual CEO, a U.S. Army Veteran was interviewed by Ari Hait of WPBF ABC News to talk about how the Premier Virtual platform is helping veterans find employment. Here is the news story:

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. —

Mike Panus can’t begin to describe how happy he is to be working at FEMA.

He called it a job that helped give him his life back.

“A financial struggle is not a good struggle to have in life,” he said. “It’s a very stressful one.”

And it’s a struggle Sgt. Mike Panus of the U.S. Marine Corps never thought he’d have to deal with when he left the military.

He spent years establishing himself as a motivational speaker. But then the pandemic hit, and Panus was out of a job.

“I would turn on the app Uber when I did not have my daughter and drive 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 hours a night just to keep money coming in and my head afloat,” Panus said.

But then Panus found something that changed his life: a virtual job fair. It was created using software from a Delray Beach company called Premier Virtual.

The software allows employers to connect with potential employees all over the world.

“Every company can go out there and do a virtual hiring event because people can log in from anywhere,” said Steve Edwards, CEO of Premier Virtual.

And because Edwards was once Corporal Edwards of the U.S. Army, many of the job fairs are geared toward veterans.

“There’s better resources today than when I got out of the army, but to know that we’re a huge part of that, it’s absolutely amazing,” he said.

In just six months in 2020, Premier Virtual did over 2000 virtual events with 25,000 organizations and more than 250,000 job seekers.

One of those 250,000 was Mike Panus. He said he landed the job at FEMA within a week of the fair.

“It definitely helped me have less anxiety and be able to be myself and be the best parent and the best person I can be for my daughter,” he said.

Click here to watch the WPBF story.

Join the Healthy Workforce Challenge!

Sergio on July 9, 2021

Premier Virtual is a veteran-owned company, and as recruits of the U.S. Army, our CEO, VP, and two of our sales leaders were trained to exercise.

As business owners and leaders, we also understand that a healthy workforce is a productive and engaged workforce. That’s why one of the first things we did when we moved into our new office space was to convert our conference room into a full-fledged gym!

After all, as a virtual event platform, we don’t conduct too many meetings in person. We realized this meant our large conference room would have very little use to us. So, why not convert it into an endorphin-producing, heart-pumping gym that provides our team with tremendous health and wellness benefits at no cost to them! It’s all part of our positive workforce culture and building a team that believes in and encourages each other to be better every day.

We believe in the benefits so much that our Marketing Director, John Garcia, is also a certified health coach! His UpLevel Living health coaching focuses on habit change so that you can make permanent lifestyle changes. If you’re interested, John offers an online habit change course at: https://uplevel-living.teachable.com. He has us all motivated and working out, and it’s making a significant impact on our entire team.

So much so that we decided to do our part to motivate other business owners to start or share, their healthy office habits in a #HealthyWorkforceChallenge. Tell us what you do in your office to promote a healthy workforce, and please share some of the tools and resources your company uses so that we can spread the word.

Our goal is to raise awareness among business owners and leadership to sponsor more programs at work. After all, many of us spend more time at work than anywhere else in a day, and exercise should be incorporated into the daily routine.

We hope this can grow into its own movement and someday host virtual challenges that can be used to raise awareness and even funds to donate to like-minded charities. So please, post your fit workforce pics and use the hashtag #healthyworkforcechallenge. Here’s to your health!

Environmental Benefits of Virtual Job Fairs

Sergio on June 18, 2021

A recent article in Fast Company detailed a very startling business travel fact. Salesforce employees traveled so much for work in 2019 that they generated 146,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions! That’s the same amount emitted by 17,500 homes over the course of an entire year.

As with many areas of business, Covid changed all that and Salesforce’s business travel dropped by 86% to just 20,000 metric tons. The good news is the slowdown did not negatively impact their productivity because of their ability to quickly pivot to virtual. The circumstances forced them to consider a new way to meet, and the results proved it was more efficient and effective.

The question is as Covid restrictions ease, will companies go back to full-time business travel, or will there be some kind of hybrid strategy?

Environmental Benefits of Virtual Job Fairs

Many companies are asking themselves the same questions, after discovering that virtual not only improved productivity and reduced costs but also reduced emissions. The proverbial win/win/win, so what’s next?

Virtual job fairs and hiring remotely have exploded in popularity during 2020. The benefits of not having to travel to job fairs, or HR summits have resulted in much higher productivity rates, more efficiency and has reduced costs as well as reduced the time to hire from an average of over 30 days to just over 7 days.

Reduced emission was a benefit that most companies did not consider, but is now clearly another powerful reason to cut down on business travel.

Expert Holly Lichtenfeld of Sustainabase helps companies fully understand, monitor, and reduce their carbon footprint and shares that the SustainaBase software has revealed 65% plus reductions in 2020 business travel emissions among some of their customers.

Holly advises that putting intentional travel and event policies in place will help to avoid the projected rebound and even anticipated increase in costs and emissions related to business travel. She also points out it’s key to have a system in place to continuously manage and track the emissions related to travel. “We automate data from travel booking systems and other sources to make this easy and even provide insights into things like a car versus air travel.”

SustainaBase is seeing a strong and growing trend in companies getting pressure from investors, stakeholders, and key customers to reduce their carbon emissions. “The decline in business travel emissions has given companies a great head start. This is an opportunity to continue to gain ground, have a positive impact, and have good news to share instead of taking steps backward.”

It’s all part of a holistic approach to reducing emissions. Employee commute is another sector that benefits from the connection between virtual work and a lower carbon footprint. Upwork’s “Future of Workforce Pulse Report” revealed that by 2025, 36.2 million Americans will be working remotely, which will be an 87% increase from pre-pandemic levels. This means millions and millions of us are incredibly comfortable with the virtual format and continue to be engaged while creating benefits for our employers, potential employers, and our communities.

We see this as an unintended benefit of hosting virtual career fairs and events, that can make a significantly positive impact on the environment. As part of a conscientious plan to reduce emissions, adding virtual to events, to training and onboarding, and any other place where your company or organization previously conducted only in-person, can now be virtual, or at the very least hybrid.

The hybrid model allows those who want to attend in-person that opportunity but keeps the virtual doors open making it accessible online, and giving more people access than hosting in-person only events. Knowing that each virtual attendee and remote worker reduces carbon emissions is the icing on the cake!

For more information on Sustainabase contact Holly Lichtenfeld, Chief Growth & Strategic Alliances Officer

hlichtenfeld@sustainabase.com / www.sustainabase.com / LinkedIn

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Veterans Florida Virtual Expo Showcases Opportunities

Sergio on June 17, 2021

Below is a press release for the Veterans Florida Virtual Expo. Premier Virtual is proud to be owned by a veteran of the 82nd Airborne, U.S. Army Veteran, Steve Edwards. Steve is always looking for ways that his virtual hiring event platform can help transitioning soldiers find gainful employment.

Florida’s the best state for veterans. The Veterans Florida Virtual Expo showcases the endless opportunities, resources, and benefits for military families in interactive virtual booths.

(Florida) – Veterans Florida is hosting a virtual expo on June 24^th, 2021, presented by Bank of America. The virtual expo will include:

Network with veteran-friendly employers in industries like aerospace, engineering, defense, and more at the career fair
Watch Florida’s top veteran entrepreneurs compete in the Battle of the Pitches
Get expert advice from industry experts at workshops and panels
Explore resources that make Florida the most veteran-friendly state

There are 45 major employers with hundreds of job openings, plus informative panels and keynote speakers that include, Senator Tom A. Wright, Derrick Fishback from Amazon Web Services and Scott Neil from American Freedom Distillery. Also speaking will be Tom Rice of Magnolia Grill of Fort Walton Beach and Bobby Carbonell of Growler Country Franchising. The event is being powered by Premier Virtual, a virtual event platform created by Army Veteran, Steven Edwards.

“Premier Virtual’s growth proves what veterans can accomplish when they combine their military experience with our Entrepreneurship Program. There’s no better platform for veterans and their families to explore Florida’s opportunities than Premier’s industry-leading software and we thank Steve and his team for their sponsorship.” – Veterans Florida Executive Director Joe Marino

WHO? – Free for veterans, retiring and separating from the active-duty military, members of the Guard and Reserves, and their families.

WHERE? – Virtually on veteran-owned Premier Virtual

WHEN? Thursday, June 24, 2021, starting at 10 AM ET

Sponsors – click here to register: https://www.veteransfloridaexpo.org/sponsors/

Contact Information:

Dan Barrow, Marketing & Communications Director – Veterans Florida
C: 850-570-3448
O: (850) 296-8493
E: Barrow@VeteransFlorida.org
https://www.veteransflorida.org/

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SF Tech Company Accelerates Growth, Opens New Location

Sergio on June 15, 2021

Office Expansion Enables “Premier Virtual” to Fast-Track Customer and Employee Successes

Delray Beach, FL. June 14, 2021 – Premier Virtual, South Florida’s fast-growing virtual job fair platform, recently opened a new office in Delray Beach, Florida. The move will accommodate the company’s rapid growth, leverage the area’s diverse high-tech talent pool while responding to the critical need of employees and employers throughout the country.

“We are enthusiastic about our success over the past year, and our new location reflects our culture of innovation and excellence,” said Steve Edwards, CEO of Premier Virtual. “It’s the perfect time for us to make this move to maximize the potential for our team and growing customer base while allowing us to respond to critical demand from employers and employees.”

Premier Virtual has powered over 2,500 virtual career fairs, connecting 25,000 employers to over 250,000 registered job seekers, since its official launch in March 2020. The company was in its infancy when everything practically changed overnight due to the virus. Virtual event options suddenly became the only option, and Premier Virtual was at the forefront.

According to the US Department of Labor, joblessness remains at an all-time high, and the number of unemployed persons is still nearly 10 million. Back in April 2020, the unemployment rate jumped to a level not seen since the Great Depression, and as of April 2021, it was still a grim 6.1 percent. The good news though is the number of Americans filing “new” claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level in nearly 15 months.

The impact of the virus and the economic effect have been widespread. Both employees and employers nationwide are still feeling the fallout, including a labor shortage.

Premier Virtual is helping people get back to work by connecting employees to employers. The company has grown from two employees to more than 20 in the past year. The platform has been a catalyst for companies across the country who are looking to hire by providing them a virtual option to connect with job seekers, while potential employees enjoy an interactive experience, versus submitting their resume to an algorithm. Premier Virtual is the exclusive virtual career networking platform for CareerSource Florida and Tech Hub South Florida.

Nationally, Premier Virtual is the #1 platform among workforce development boards, with nearly 200 accounts. Beyond workforce agencies, many school boards, institutions of higher learning, and tech organizations have patterned with Premier Virtual to host their virtual career fairs. The US Veterans Chamber of Commerce and American Legion are also using the Premier Virtual platform to help Veterans find gainful employment.

During this virus, in-person career fairs were prohibited, and Premier Virtual’s platform provided a great alternative to connect employers and jobseekers. Post-Virus, many organizations recognize that virtual career fairs are a more effective and efficient way to hire. Based on the positive results and ROI, the trajectory of virtual events continues to expand.

About Premier Virtual

Premier Virtual is an online virtual job and career fair platform. The online hiring events are designed to bridge the gap between technology and human experience. The company has hosted more than 2500 job fairs over the past year and is poised for continuous growth. Premier Virtual is a future-focused company that believes through innovation, it can provide clients with the best possible solutions to be successful. Relationships are built with integrity, trust, honesty, transparency, and a culture of teamwork built on servant leadership.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Grand Opening our new office in Delray Beach, Florida!

Sergio on June 3, 2021

On Tuesday, May 25th we officially opened our new office in Delray Beach, Florida. After spending the last 3 years in a much smaller location, nothing feels better than finding a place we can spread our wings in, and continue to grow as a team.

Here is a video recap of the event. Thank you to all who attended, and for all our amazing team members who help make this all possible.

561-717-9717

In-Person vs. Virtual Career Fairs

Virtual Career Fairs Have Changed The Staffing Industry

#16 in Top 100 Companies to Work for in Florida!

Why Universities Should Hold Virtual Open Days

Veterans Helping Veterans on WPBF ABC News

Join the Healthy Workforce Challenge!

Environmental Benefits of Virtual Job Fairs

Veterans Florida Virtual Expo Showcases Opportunities

Florida’s the best state for veterans. The Veterans Florida Virtual Expo showcases the endless opportunities, resources, and benefits for military families in interactive virtual booths.

Contact Information:

SF Tech Company Accelerates Growth, Opens New Location

Grand Opening our new office in Delray Beach, Florida!

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