Download this checklist before you demo a platform to make sure that they are offering everything you need, at the right price!
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Nearly 7 in 10 Employers Expect to do More Virtual/Remote Hiring in the Future.
It’s clear that Covid was the catalyst that shifted how employers see hiring. The forced move to widespread remote work made virtual hiring events the clear winner, and truthfully everyone was better off for it. The results have been so promising, most employers plan on continuing or increasing their participation in virtual hiring events.
Participating in virtual recruiting events that other organizations host is a great way to experience the benefits of virtual hiring to expand your reach and attract more qualified candidates. When you couple this with hosting your virtual hiring events, being a sponsor or exhibitor allows you to access new talent pools and interview qualified candidates outside of your immediate geographical area, making it easier to fill positions immediately as well as filling your pipeline.
In competitive talent markets, connecting with top candidates is a growing challenge. Now more than ever, employers need diverse strategies for expanding their talent pipeline and building a broader talent community.
Today, virtual multi-employer career fairs play an important role. As unemployment goes down and the job market is more competitive, it becomes more challenging to attract and hire the best available talent. For this reason, employers are relying more on virtual to expand their talent pipeline and increase the talent pool. The results prove that multi-employer career fairs play an integral part in helping companies achieve these goals.
Being an employer at one of these events helps strengthen employers’ visibility and branding in the community. It shows that your company is innovative, not afraid to pivot, and willing to empower a remote workforce. Candidates seeking this type of work environment know that companies in virtual career fairs are much more likely to offer those opportunities. It is a clear competitive advantage for companies that participate in virtual career fairs over those who don’t, to the point where soon it won’t be an option any longer.
Here are 7 Reasons to Add Virtual Career Fairs to Your Company’s Hiring Strategy:
1) Stand Apart: Employers who participate in virtual career fairs stand out from all the other employers trying to hire from the same local talent pool.
2) Lower costs: Avoid all the costs associated with in-person career fairs, such as travel and lodging costs, shipping costs, and even missed work.
3) Data: With a virtual career fair, you collect much more data than at an in-person event. Such as everyone who attends, submits a resume, chats with you making it easier to identify those you want to follow up with, resulting in a more efficient recruiting process.
4) Larger candidate pool: A virtual career fair or online event allows you to reach more qualified candidates. In today’s remote workforce, you can hire from all over the world. No longer are you limited by your physical location.
5) Go where the candidates are looking: For a long time, attendance at in-person job fairs and results were dwindling. The shift to online has happened in every part of our lives, and the same can be said when looking for a job. Virtual career fairs and online events allow you to meet the job seekers where they are more comfortable, and recruiters have embraced as well. Take advantage of this shift.
6) Strength in numbers – when 300 employers participate in a virtual career fair, it draws a lot of attention. It brings the unemployed as well the coveted employed job candidates to the event. A recent event in Virginia with 350 employers attracted 15,000 registered job seekers!
7) The future is here now! The old way was in-person, the new way is virtual, and the future is hybrid, offering both options for the best of both worlds. Don’t let another pandemic put you out of business, or short handed because your company remains unprepared. Digitize your recruiting and make virtual hiring events central to your staffing strategy.
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You won’t have trouble finding great video conferencing programs on the market. Let’s face it, without programs like Zoom, this entire pandemic would have been a much more difficult landscape to navigate. However, when it comes to virtual events, there are advantages to using a dedicated event platform like Premier Virtual.
Ultimately, whether or not you can use a video conferencing program to power your virtual career fairs depends on your needs. If you’re an employer with just a few job openings, you may want to host a virtual career fair to attract more candidates and gain exposure while doing so. In that case, a video conferencing program like Zoom can be a perfectly acceptable option.
However, if you’re hosting a career fair with multiple employers or your organization has dozens of job openings with locations throughout the state or country, your needs will far outweigh the features that video conferencing programs can offer for a successful event.
Essentially, video conferencing is just one element in a virtual career fair. While some of these programs offer additional features like chat and breakout rooms, they don’t include the unique features offered by virtual event platforms that will increase your event’s ability to mirror in-person events.
In the Premier Virtual platform, recruiters can review resumes well before ever speaking with a candidate. They can also view pre-recorded video resumes. If the employer feels it might be a good fit, they can enter into a one-on-one chat or invite the candidate into an interview using the integrated video feature. These features make it possible for recruiters to engage with more than one candidate simultaneously, increasing effectiveness and efficiency.
It’s also important to note that this is not a group chat that everyone else in the room can read. In the Premier Virtual platform, the job candidate’s communication is always ‘one-on-one,’ securing both parties’ privacy. The Premier Virtual platform also has a ‘smart-chat’ feature that follows the candidate throughout the event. This feature allows the candidate to start a chat and continue with the event without having to wait in a long queue or for a response from a recruiter that might be busy at the time. Whenever the recruiter is available and responds, the candidate will receive the chat message and continue the conversation.
This process is much more cumbersome with video conferencing. The host or employer would have to schedule an interview with the candidate ahead of time, or the recruiter has to ask that candidate to leave the main group and enter into a ‘breakout’ room.
There are many other advantages to using an event platform. For example, if you have multiple employers, you can customize the lobby so that each company has its hiring booth, complete with logo, bio, job openings, social media and website links, as well as downloadable PDFs. Everything you need to replicate an in-person event. Not to mention the robust reporting that employers receive before, during, and after the event that makes follow-up much more effective.
Event platforms also allow you to scale very quickly without needing additional upgrades or bandwidth. For example, a recent statewide career fair in Virginia had 350 employers with thousands of job openings that attracted over 15,000 job applicants. Those are numbers that could never be replicated in person or managed properly using video conferencing software.
Monetizing Your Career Fair
One key advantage is the ability to use our virtual platform to monetize your events. During Covid-19, many chambers of commerce organizations and event organizers in general, have had significant setbacks due to CDC guidelines for in-person events. Using a virtual event platform like ours allows you to easily monetize events by selling booths and securing sponsorships just like you would in a live event.
The bottom line is if you’re managing hundreds of employers, thousands of jobs, and tens of thousands of job candidates, it is simply beyond the capacity of video-conferencing platforms. When it comes down to virtual career fairs, choosing a virtual event platform that is dedicated to powering them like Premier Virtual is the wise business decision.
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We set our standards so high, we always want to go above and beyond your expectations. As we power more and more events, 7,000 and counting, we keep learning what our clients need to succeed. Based on their feedback and focus groups, we’ve been able to completely revamp the platform and provide you with the best in class technology for hiring events.
Not only that, but we continue to release new updates each week. The job market is always changing and so is the technology that powers the tools and resources hiring managers need to fill open positions. To keep up with the latest we are always testing our platform to insure it provides the best possible features, so that you can host the best virtual hiring events.
The upgrades will significantly improve the user experience, for the host, employer, and job candidates by providing enhanced customization tools and improved design. Below is a comparison chart with the significant upgrades listed.
Schedule Your Training Demo!
In the next few weeks, we will be coordinating a series of training webinars. Your account executive or account manager will be contacting you with a complete schedule so that you can participate in the most convenient one. It’s because of our loyal clients that helped to make this possible, and for that we thank you, and look forward to your continued support! If you are not a client, please schedule a demo by visiting premiervirtual.com
Steve Edwards – CEO, Premier Virtual
Top 10 Questions to Ask When Choosing a Virtual Career Fair Platform
An effective virtual event platform is first and foremost, easy to use, at all levels. The participants need to have little to no learning curve, resulting in a positive user experience. It’s equally important for the host and other participating organizations or vendors to be able to quickly ramp up, which requires excellent support and a knowledgeable sales team.
With this in mind, all of your questions ultimately should address whether or not the features make the event easier to set up and use. After all, even the best technology is useless unless it makes sense to everyone.
Some platforms focus more on certain types of events than others. For example, if you have a trade show or a career fair, some platforms will offer more features and benefits because they specialize in such events. For this article, we will focus on platforms that specialize in virtual career fairs.
1) How will my recruiters or hiring companies communicate with the candidates?
The best platforms offer easy-to-access chat features that allow candidates to initiate a conversation with the recruiters. Also, there should be an integrated video chat, as well as an option to add whichever video platform your company already uses. This is important in the case of government agencies that may have firewalls or restrictions that do not allow for third-party teleconferencing access. You don’t want to be troubleshooting that the day of the event.
In addition, it’s important to understand if the chat is one-on-one or group chat. The best platforms offer one-on-one chat with the ability for the recruiter to quickly access a list of pre-programmed answers to be able to chat with as many applicants as possible. Finally, advanced chats will follow a candidate throughout the event, meaning the job candidate doesn’t have to wait in that recruiter’s booth (or in the queue) to receive an answer before moving on. At any time when the recruiter answers, the candidate will receive that answer in their chatbox.
2) What happens if the candidate or hiring company has an issue registering or during the event?
For the job candidates, registering for the event includes adding all of the contact info, uploading their resumes, and so on. This should be as easy to navigate as possible. Make sure to ask for a demo to see how this process works since many of the issues reported during the event revolve around user login, and uploading information. This holds true for the hiring companies that want to customize their booths, adding bios, links, and downloadable documents. With any issue, the best platforms offer 24/7 support and quickly respond to requests through either email, chat or even live calls.
3) How many recruiters can participate at the same time?
The best platforms offer an unlimited number of recruiters to participate. Typically events receive a large amount of foot traffic as soon as they start, so having extra recruiters at the start of the event is a good strategy. Each recruiter must understand how to access their admin dashboard and how to chat with a candidate or invite them into a video interview.
4) Do you offer training?
This leads to the next question…how will the host, hiring companies, and candidates be trained to use the platform? Again, the most important feature is ease-of-use, but when it’s a user’s first time, there will be some getting used to it. All platforms should offer a library of detailed training videos for each type of participant. These videos should be readily accessible as soon as the participant registers. Also, the best platforms offer a dedicated account manager that will schedule an onboarding call to show you exactly how the platform works, and make sure everyone on your team is ready. Beyond that, you can ask if they offer any other live webinar or group training options for your employers or registered job candidates, that are helpful the day of the event, usually just before it goes live.
5) How quickly can I set up and launch my event?
If you have an urgent need, you’ll want to know how quickly you can start using the platform. Premium providers make it easy for you to set-up, so that you can host your first event literally within 24 hours. This flexibility can save you in a pinch, but as with any successful event, you will want sufficient time to promote and get everyone trained ahead of time.
6) Is pricing based on the number of booths or resumes?
This is a very important question since some of the best-known platforms do have charges for booths or resumes that exceed a certain threshold. Your initial price may be based on 100 booths or resumes, and if you go beyond that you are charged accordingly. This can be prohibitive and results in charges you did not budget for. The best platforms offer a flat rate price, with no upcharges. Pricing can also be discounted when you sign up for yearly, or multi-year licenses that are paid upfront. Keep in mind, the more you use the platform the more value it offers, and the less you pay per event on a flat-rate/licensing model.
7) What kind of reports will I receive?
The data collected and reports you receive, offer some of the biggest benefits of participating in a virtual career fair. Your employers or hiring managers will love it when they receive a complete list of who attended the event, who visited their booth, a copy of all the questions asked, and of course, all of the resumes submitted. The best platforms offer real-time reports that update as the event goes on, and some have integrated APIs that automatically move that data to your existing CRM tool. You can also ask if there are reporting tools such as ‘ranking a candidate’ or other ways to make notes during the event which are very helpful to improve the follow-up process.
8) How many people can be on the platform at the same time?
The reliability or stability of a platform is ultimately the most important factor. If the platform crashes or lags, it will interrupt the event, causing candidates to leave or have a poor experience. Make sure to ask if the platform you are considering has had any issues like this, or you can check their reviews on reputable sites like G2, Capterra, and Select Software to see what others have said. Premier Virtual recently powered an event for the workforce board in Virginia that saw over 15,000 job candidates and over 350 employers on the platform at the same time, with no downtime! That’s the kind of reliability you want to know your platform will provide.
9) Can I use the platform for other types of events or purposes?
It’s amazing once you have this tool, how many other purposes you can use it for. Make sure to discuss with your sales rep all of the different possibilities including things like; internal training, onboarding, webinars, trade shows, etc, and see how the platform can be adapted to handle these requests. Once you start using the platform for other purposes you add more value, reducing your cost per event and increasing the return on your investment.
10) Is there a wait time between events, or can I host unlimited events?
Finally, make sure to ask if the use of the platform is truly unlimited when you license it. Some platforms require you to wait up to 14 days between events which can limit your options. The best platforms do not require any wait time between events and believe me, you will want to use the platform as much as possible once you have it!
If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us to schedule a free demo so we can address any other needs you may have.
Here we are, basically a year into the Covid-19 pandemic and we are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Several vaccines have been rolled out, and the monumental effort of getting America vaccinated is underway.
As I write this in Spring of 2021, we have begun to see slight declines in the infection rate, and hospitalizations are coming down. Best of all the death rate is also coming down, although we recently surpassed the morbid milestone of 500,000 deaths in America. However, there are reports of 20 states experiencing increases and the talks of a possible fourth spike in cases.
One thing is certain, Covid-19 was a virtual technology accelerant. From one day to the next the American workforce was forced to work from home, and turning to virtual is what made it possible. Without a pandemic like COVID-19, corporate America would likely have continued to do business the same old way, and just inch along the technology curve.
Now, we have giant corporations such as Google and Twitter telling their workforce, they never have to return to the office. I’ve seen many of my colleagues do the same, and now the ‘new normal is that when it comes to office work, most of us are just as capable to be as productive or even more so, working from home or remotely.
The same has happened in the career fair space. What was once an in-person-only event, has migrated to virtual events and the results have been more than impressive.
A recent statewide virtual job fair in Virginia had 350 employers who were able to fill critical open positions from over 15,000 registered job-seekers! Not only is this an amazing accomplishment, but it’s something that could have never happened in person. Think about it, in a state like Virginia would it be possible to choose one central location, and have 350 companies set up booths to meet and greet over 15,000 job seekers. Not to mention the weather was cold with terrible travel conditions!
So now what? If we return to a new-normal post-COVID-19, are we going back to an in-person career fair and abandoning the virtual career fair model?
The answer is yes and no! We believe a hybrid model that offers both is the best strategy moving forward. Just ask anyone that has hosted or participated in a virtual career fair, as an employer or a candidate. They will tell you that the virtual event was amazing, easy to navigate, and most of all, extremely efficient and effective. Here is some of the feedback we are hearing from job-seekers:
• “This was a great experience! I was able to search for openings, have my resume viewed, and communicate just with the employers I was interested in, all without leaving my desk. The idea of a virtual career fair takes the pressure off of the job seeker and employer.”
• “The career fair was super easy to navigate. I quickly saw a few employers and job opportunities that I liked and was able to apply for. The recruiter was right in the room with me and after chatting a bit, we did a quick video interview, before I knew it, I had an offer to intern.”
• “Our generation has been chatting, texting, anything of that nature for our entire lives. Being part of a virtual job fair is a natural extension of the way we are used to communicating and doing things. I liked it, and I had a few recruiters contact me right away, and one made me a job offer!”
We know that hiring managers, workforce development boards, chambers of commerce, the military, tech organizations, and large corporations all over America have also had success well beyond their expectations, and they all agree that remote hiring will remain a vital part of their recruitment strategy going forward.
So, the numbers prove remote allows for unlimited participants on both the company side and job-seeker side, resulting in more quality hires. We also know that many people still want to offer the physical ‘meet-and-greet’ if and when it becomes viable.
With a virtual hiring platform like Premier Virtual, you don’t have to choose between the two. We make it easy to add a virtual option to your in-person event so that you can offer both options, and your organization can benefit from offering a hybrid event.
We are certain that the organizations that do, will have a competitive advantage over those who don’t. These organizations will be the beneficiaries of attracting top talent, by offering a hybrid option that will not limit their events to the local population, or to those who can physically attend the day of the in-person event.
To learn how you can create hybrid events, please visit www.PremierVirtual.com
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7950 South Military Trail
Lake Worth, FL 33463
Phone: 561-717-9717
Email: info@premiervirtual.com
Web: Premier Virtual
Thank you for your interest in Premier Virtual! We will be in touch with you shortly!
