virtual career fair | Premier Virtual

Hosting National Hiring Events

Sergio on October 25, 2022

If you’ve been posting on online job boards, screening candidates over Zoom, or starting up branding initiatives, it’s probably time to jump on board and host an online hiring event. The best way to start is to promote a virtual career fair. These events mimic in-person career fairs in experience but significantly exceed them by utilizing easy-to-navigate virtual environments. So, if you’re ready to proceed and set up and host a national online hiring event, here 6 steps to follow:

Define your business goals – an online hiring event will provide the metrics you need if you’ve done the proper planning. Before setting up your virtual event, you need to define the goals of your business so you can attract the candidates you want.

Choose a virtual career fair platform – there are two types of virtual career fair platforms available on the market. One is simpler and consists of a webpage that contains chat windows. The other type is considerably more elaborate and mimics an in-person career fair.

Customize the virtual booth experience – one of the key benefits of virtual booths is that they provide a lot of flexibility for creativity. You can experiment with different features such as the type of information about your company that you want to offer job candidates as well as branding, content, and engagement.

Promote your online hiring event – as with an in-person career fair, the biggest task or challenge is enticing the right candidates for the job. So unless you don’t care about how many individuals show up, you need to promote your event every step of the way from the pre-event process to your post-event reports.

Monitor your performance metrics – you shouldn’t focus solely on setting up your hiring event. You also need to be concerned about the results of your efforts. These metrics can help you evaluate the features and type of content that were the most popular. It will also tell you how many visitors you had overall. That helps you get more information on the event.

Analyze the results of your event – you should analyze the following information:

booth and session traffic
chat room interactions

data from questionnaires, polls, or surveys

engagement and traffic metrics

number of actual attendees

number of applications that were uploaded

number of individuals who registered

To host a successful online hiring event, your business goals should be the key and drive the event. Our business representatives are here to clarify your doubts and provide you with more information about our services and ways we can be of assistance. To learn more about hosting a national online hiring event, call Premier Virtual at (561) 717-9717 today.

Hiring has Undergone a Fundamental Shift

Gary Chambers on October 5, 2022

In fact, there has been more than one major shift in hiring in the past few years.

The shift from in-person to virtual hiring

First, the shift from in-person to virtual that was accelerated by the pandemic is here to stay. It was already happening before the pandemic, but at that time, it was more of a ‘nice to have’ option, that quickly became a ‘must-have’ option due to social distancing.

What we found out is that virtual hiring is more efficient, more effective and with the right platform, extremely easy to execute. With Premier Virtual, the leading virtual hiring event platform, you can create your account, set up your event, and launch it all in a matter of minutes. Ideally, you want time to promote a virtual hiring event, but using the platform is not dependent only on hiring events.

An all-in-one virtual hiring platform like Premier Virtual is always on, and always open for your potential job candidates. You can leverage the platform 24/7 by creating virtual job boards, and virtual hiring rooms that never close. This gives your team, and your applicants the flexibility to research your company, apply and meet your recruiters.

With the built-in two-way scheduler, candidates can schedule time on a recruiter’s calendar, and recruiters can also request an interview with candidates they feel are a good match. Because the platform allows recruiters to search resumes, they can quickly find the talent they’re looking for. Recruiters can also view the video interviews that candidates can record as part of their profile to get a much better feel for the person, that you can’t get from reading a resume.

Virtual hiring has also led to virtual work which has exploded since the pandemic. Even with many companies insisting workers return to the office, the need and demand for virtual work remains. We project that employers who embrace this, and lead with this, will be much better positions to find and retain the top talent that prefer this style of work, and flexibility it offers.

We see national hiring events, that post positions with the description, ‘Anywhere, USA’ openings, or they group openings by time zones instead of specific office locations. Again, the companies that are embracing this approach and making remote part of their culture, are winning the talent wars.

This shift to proactive hiring

Hiring remains one of the most difficult things companies have to do in order to remain competitive. The passive job market, although much larger than the active job market is often overlooked. Most companies are marketing themselves only to active job seekers, but every worker is a potential employee, if they know about your company and what you have to offer.

Strategies to consider that will keep your company in the hearts and minds of potential future employees include everything from being active in your community by supporting events and non-profits to creating a newsletter, blog or insightful podcasts.

If you are a tech company, and host mixers or meet-ups that are open to the public, you can attract passive job seekers that find value in your network. You may even create an in-formal networking group that helps its members connect and find meaningful work, even if it’s not at your company. The value you offer will give your company a competitive edge when it does have a position that meets that candidate’s skills.

Here again, virtual is a powerful tool since you can host virtual events and meet potential candidates. Creating a pipeline of talent is crucial to stay ahead of the labor crunch. A recent report shows hiring has slowed to 41 days on average, a number that was only 9 days in 2009. The cost to hire is also averaging at around $4,425, according to SHRM and If you want to be able to hire the best talent in the least amount of time, a professional pipeline is crucial.

We see that companies using virtual hiring events reducing time to hire to that 9–10-day period, which also comes with a dramatically reduced cost to hire, a win-win!

Have you made the shift?

Is your company still hiring in-person, only looking to fill jobs at the office, and not building a qualified pipeline of potential candidates?

If so, we can help you transition and leverage the tools available to make your company relevant in the job force and a place that is sought out, instead of the other way around. Schedule a free demo today to see how the Premier Virtual, all-in-one recruitment platform can position your company for hiring success.

Will Employees Return & What’s Behind Quiet Quitting?

Gary Chambers on August 23, 2022

The Great Resignation – Will Employees be Returning to the Office?

One of the key questions being asked in the business world today is “Will employees be returning to the office?” According to a recent Gallup poll, the majority of office workers across the US want to return to their jobs . . . some of the time anyway. The primary reasons for a partial return include collaborating and socializing with their co-workers as well as making important decisions alongside them. However, this is only a part of the scenario as there is another side to this that many are neglecting to talk about.

Interestingly enough, some employees preferred the remote working life over returning to the office. Many were upset because of how much they had enjoyed it and couldn’t figure out why, after nearly 2 years of working at home, they would have to return to the workplace. Furthermore, individuals who were anxious about returning to their offices didn’t find the same situation that they left behind when they were forced to start working remotely.

Why Isn’t the Return to Office Life Working Out?

There are several reasons that the return back to the office place isn’t working. For one, bosses and employees have different regarding how their offices should be used. After two years of living with the pandemic and working remotely from home, individuals have developed their expectations as to how their time should be spent. Unfortunately, as increasing numbers of individuals are returning to the workplace, their ability to focus, level of satisfaction on the job, and stress levels have deteriorated.

The Other Side of the Equation

With the onset of the pandemic, many office employees started working remotely from home. In a sense, it was the beginning of a new era in the jobs sector. Unfortunately, many of those remote workers opted not to return to their former employers and have sought employment elsewhere, thereby leaving holes to fill at their former workplace. As an employer in these circumstances, you have to be concerned about replenishing your workforce and bringing your daily operations back up to speed.

What’s Behind ‘Quiet Quitting’

Returning to the office is one thing, but returning to the former level of effort and the ‘above and beyond’ mentality is something all together different.

This new work ethic is based upon a priority to life-balance and that work is not the end all, be all that it was once was seen as. It’s not something that a person declares or can be labeled as, but what everyone can agree on is that the term doesn’t mean that an employee has quit, but rather that they are setting boundaries at work and refusing to go above and beyond in completing their duties.

That seems healthy, and productive, but it’s not the same as the person who was just doing the bare minimum to keep the job. As we see in this article from CBS news:

“People see ‘quiet’ and ‘quitting’ and they think it’s about quitting, but really what quiet quitting means is someone who has decided, ‘I want to prioritize my well-being overall and things outside of work’,” Elise Freedman, senior client partner at consulting firm Korn Ferry, told CBS MoneyWatch.

But, she added, “This is different from someone who is disengaged.” Instead, it’s about doing what is required of them, without volunteering for an ambitious project, agreeing to work at nights and weekends, or otherwise going the extra mile in ways that Americans are traditionally encouraged to as a way to demonstrate their worth to an employer.

If you travel the world, it seems to me that America is simply growing up. The rat race had it’s time and place and now side hustles and self preservation have replaced it. If you’re going to ‘go all out’ it’s going to be for yourself and on your terms, otherwise I’ll do the best I can. Who knows, if we keep down this path, the afternoon siesta might be the next culture piece we adopt in America.

Premier Virtual has the answer – our online hiring platform or virtual recruitment platform. These virtual event platforms and accompanying virtual job fair software were designed to look and feel as though you were attending a real live in-person career fair without all of the costs and hassles that would normally be involved. To learn more about our products, call us today at (561) 717-9717.

Hybrid Hiring Events Are a Great Option As COVID Returns

Gary Chambers on August 9, 2022

As our lives were held hostage by the pandemic, many of our traditional habits were no longer sustainable. We embraced the concept of working remotely while at the same time letting go of traditional activities such as commuting to work, dining out, teaching in classrooms, weekend getaways, and working out at the gym. Over the past couple of years, businesses were forced to make significant adjustments and learn how to be comfortable with virtual event platforms and virtual hiring software.

What is Hybrid Recruiting and Why Does it Work?

The combination of in-person recruiting practices with the use of a virtual recruitment platform is commonly referred to as hybrid recruitment. The concept involves a strategy for acquiring talent that yields the most significant results compared to how the in-person and virtual practices do separately. Hybridization works because of 3 key factors – 1) it allows people to move forward so they can achieve their goals, 2) it enables increased flexibility in the hiring process, and 3) it reduces the risk of exposure to the virus.

Unique Hybrid QR Code

The Premier Virtual platform takes hybrid events to the next level by generating a unique QR code for each booth at the event. The QR code is printed and placed in front of the booth, which allows candidates to scan it and access all of the employers information virtually. Instead of standing in a long line, they can quickly view the open positions and submit their resume to apply. While the candidate can still meet with the recruiter in person, they can also move on to the next opportunity and come back when there are less people on line. In addition, the recruiters now have all of the candidates information stores electronically for easy follow-up.

Furthermore, hybrid recruitment practices arose out of the need for alternate talent acquisition methods because of adapting to working remotely and canceling in-person activities. Upon further consideration, business owners and recruiters discovered the many benefits of hybrid recruiting. As a result, an overwhelming 81% of talent recruiters agree that recruiting job candidates through the use of in-person interviews and video interviewing platforms will continue post-pandemic and may become the new standard. It has helped access more people living in other cities and countries without the additional cost of relocating them.

The 6 Benefits of Hybrid Hiring Events

Essentially, headhunting takes a proactive approach whereas traditional recruiting is reactive. Because of the following benefits considering the hybrid recruiting approach is well worth it:

It enables recruiters to broaden their approach by creating a solution to their hiring needs and reaching a larger target audience of candidates.
It creates a way for companies to gather all of the in-person activity digitally, for easy access and future follow-up.
It gives job-seekers that are apprehensive about in-person events and opportunity to participate and apply for jobs they might have otherwise not been able to.
It finds individuals that are a better fit for companies and are more likely to remain with them over the long term
It emphasizes the needs and requirements of your business
It provides business owners and employers access to a high-quality talent pool.
It provides more strategic insight into the needs of the business and the role the candidate would be playing if hired
It reaches a global target audience of job candidates.

The hybrid approach to recruiting and hiring enables employers to conduct a more comprehensive search for the right talent. For more information about the best virtual event platforms, call Premier Virtual at (561) 717-9717 today.

5 Reasons Virtual is Transforming Talent Acquisition

Gary Chambers on August 2, 2022

Job Boards do not Deliver the Same Results

Ask any hiring manager or recruiter and they’ll all say, you no longer get the same results when you post an ad on Indeed or Zip Recruiter. There are many factors including the great resignation and the shift in the workforce, but it goes beyond that. Many job seekers and employers will use those platforms, but they don’t expect much in return. It seems like a ‘necessary evil’ for both parties, but success stories are few and far between. It’s hard to pinpoint the lack of success from job boards, but we see an overall lack of engagement and follow-through. Either the ATS systems are kicking too many qualified candidates out, or job seekers are not taking the time to customize a resume and cover letter for each application they send in. Whatever the reason, it’s clear the entire hiring landscape has undergone a fundamental shift, away from job boards and towards virtual hiring events, and virtual hiring rooms. These virtual job fairs allow job seekers to meet directly with hiring managers and recruiters, and get real time feedback resulting in faster hires.

Ability to Host Hybrid Events (in-person and online)

As the fundamental shift to virtual hiring events continues to accelerate, we also see the frequency of hybrid events increasing as well. Why wouldn’t you want to be able to host an in-person hiring event, and collect all the data electronically at the same time. That’s what a hybrid event lets you do. Your attendees scan a QR code, and then upload their resume for easy access and follow-up. No more handing out cards and collecting resumes that you have to bring back to your office and scan, instead everything is handled electronically. This means you can print reports at the office with all the stats of the event, how many attended, interviewed, applied and more. Turning in-person events into a wealth of data is now as easy as adding a virtual hiring platform to your event.

24/7 Virtual Hiring Room

The best platforms now offer virtual hiring rooms for 24/7 hiring access. Why wait for a virtual hiring event when you can meet with qualified candidates any time of the day. No need to meet in person, wasting time traveling and incurring additional expenses. Virtual platforms have built in interview schedulers, that allow recruiters to hop into the virtual hiring room whenever it’s most convenient for the job seeker, increasing efficiency and effectiveness.

All-In-One Virtual Recruitment Suite

The most sophisticated of virtual hiring platforms can be used as your complete recruitment tool. They now can host events, interview days, workshops, open houses, training, and more. Gone are the days of using them just for hosting hiring events. Add to it the integration with ATS systems, using an Open API, and all the data is easily transferred and stored in your tracking programs for easy access and follow up.

Analytics and Reporting

When you add a virtual platform you can access a great deal of data that was not previously available. The Premier Virtual platform collects over 58 different data points, resulting in detailed reports containing hyper-detailed information of the entire event, from the day it’s set up, through the follow-up period after the event. (see chart). The reports and easy to access dashboard and integration with ATS is what most users of virtual hiring platforms state as the most powerful feature. It allows successful hiring managers to see everything at a glance, and the ability to drill down to find information that can help with marketing future events, that is so crucial to find the best possible candidate for your company.

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

Recruiting Strategies for Sourcing Talent on Global Scale

Gary Chambers on July 19, 2022

The global labor force provides employers with a number of benefits such as access to a larger candidate audience and options for hiring remote employees at competitive wages. However, it isn’t without its challenges. For instance, today that employers target has changed dramatically. The world is your platform and tapping into the talent of the global workforce becomes important.

So, it stands to reason that recruitment strategies must be improved as well. There are 3 ways to ensure that you source the right candidates from the right talent pool:

Be sure you target the right talent pool – the old “throw something against the wall until it sticks” mentality is not going to work when it comes to recruiting the best talent. Acquiring the best talent requires finding the right audience or talent pool. It may be the job boards for some employers while others might use social media platforms. If you do use social media, make sure that you’ve optimized your recruitment strategy based on your preferred target audience.

Sell candidates on your company’s mission and vision – unless you have the time to waste trying to outbid other companies in wage warfare, the best plan of attack is selling your company’s mission and vision. Whenever you interview a candidate, be sure to promote your corporate dream in hopes of finding the right one for the job. Employer branding is a very effective recruitment tool and will help you communicate your company mission and vision to the candidates you attract, especially if they’re a good fit for your organization. Using our platform allows employers to host a ‘meet and greet’, or workshop to allow job seekers to get to know your organization more intimately before they apply for the position.

The best strategy for sourcing job candidates is to involve a team in the hiring process – although an HR individual will make the final hiring decision, teams can help trimming the number of candidates down to the top 3, 4, or 5 individuals. Remember, each of those team members took the same journey before you hired them. Thus, they will likely find talented candidates for your company in the process. Offering your team virtual access to pre-screen candidates through the platform is another efficient advantage that reduces time and cost to hire.

These candidates could be contacts they met at the same previous job or fellow employees from that job. They might even have been college roommates at one time. The key is to create an environment where you can encourage team members to make hiring recommendations as well as one that pays attention to employee referrals. In so doing, you’ll help the team grow and increase its unity.

If you’re tired of jumping from one virtual recruitment platform to another and are looking for a more cost-effective, efficient means for targeting the best talent, Premier Virtual has the software you’re searching for. Call us today at (561) 717-9717.

5 Tips to Improve Online Recruitment

Gary Chambers on July 12, 2022

Over the past 3 years, remote work has become increasingly more prevalent among the labor force, not only here in the US, but on a global scale as well. As of last year (2021), nearly 5 million Americans were working remotely. When “shelter in place” or stay-at-home orders became the norm, the popularity of online job fairs and recruitment events spiked dramatically.

Whether you have an entrepreneurial start-up and are looking for a virtual recruitment platform to reduce company overhead or you have an established company and want to expand on your candidate recruitment options, Premier Virtual can help. Here are 5 helpful tips for effectively recruiting remote workers online:

Determine what you’re looking for – online recruiting creates a never-ending pool of hiring choices. Unfortunately, you can’t just explore every option in the hopes of landing the most desirable candidates. Instead, you have to know exactly what you’re looking for where a candidate’s abilities, experience, and traits are concerned.

Engage candidates in video interviews – this will enable you to connect with career candidates face-to-face during online virtual recruitment events. It will be easy to determine their communication skills, job fit, motivations, and personalities without having to schedule in-person interviews or pay for costly travel expenses.

Finding the best talent involves asking the right questions – if your goal is finding the most outstanding talent, you have to ask the right questions such as:

How did you cope while working under pressure?
How did you handle working with an individual whose personality and work style differed from yours?
How did you stay on track when you had to be prudent with your time?

Make sure you always check a candidate’s references – statistics have revealed that job candidates aren’t always truthful. Believe it or not, roughly 30% of all job candidates admitted that they bent the truth or lied on their resumes. Always ask their former employers about their job performance, personality, and working style.

Utilize social media platforms – the initial reason social media platforms were created was to enable families and friends to keep in touch with one another. Since then, it has evolved into numerous platforms for connecting with family members and friends as well as strangers, dating, joining movements for change, networking, and reading the news. Use these platforms to market your company to job candidates and assess them based on their social media activity.

For more information about our virtual event solutions, please call Premier Virtual at (561) 717-9717 today.

What’s the Future for Online Recruiting Events?

Gary Chambers on July 5, 2022

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020 triggered a tsunami of canceled concerts, exhibitions, and sporting events. Consequently, online recruiting events, were not an exception as career fairs were postponed and networking meet-ups were re-scheduled well into the future. Companies were forced to reassess their daily operations as longer periods of isolation were imminent. It seemed that life as we once knew it grew further out of reach.

At Premier Virtual, we’ve spent the past 3 years designing recruiting event software to bring the best talent to the right companies. If there’s one thing we’ve learned during that time, it’s that putting job fairs and recruiting events online will continue to be met with desire and excitement for companies and talented individuals as well. Here is what we’ve learned so far:

Accessibility is the key – in terms of accessibility, the importance of online job fairs and recruitment events cannot be overstated. The most exciting aspect of developing our platform was the realization that we would be reaching a global audience that wasn’t restricted by disabilities, distances, or socioeconomic factors. This access opens the doors for diversity and inclusion as well. There is a much higher registration and attendance to these events which can be attributed to the comfort level job seekers have with virtual.

Adapting and learning are the priorities – unfortunately, whenever you launch a new product, mistakes are going to happen. As with so many other aspects of life, we had to learn from those mistakes and for us, that meant learning how our new platform would work with real individuals in real-time. So, gathering feedback and learning became the #1 priority. It helps to connect directly with the target audiences and enhance the recruitment pool of participants. Now we offer an all-in-one virtual recruitment platform, we call our Virtual Recruitment Suite. It has evolved to be so much more than just hosting virtual events that you may not need much more than your ATS to attract and hire the best talent possible.

Building the right platform is essential – we didn’t start from scratch when we built our online job fairs and recruitment event platform software. We already had nearly 10 years of hosting in-person job fairs, and we took all of that experience to build Premier Virtual. In fact, our first thought was that we built this platform, “by recruiters, for recruiters”, and that’s one of the things that separates us from so many other event platforms on the market. Still we did not rest there. We often conduct focus groups and webinars to ask our clients and prospects what they want most out of the platform, and we’re continually publishing new upgrades.

Opportunities needed to be explored– when we started our business 10 years ago, we felt that recruitment organizers needed a technological shake-up in their industry. Granted, offline experiences are still invaluable. However, the “New Normal” we’re living under prohibits that approach from being as effective as it once was, and adding virtual makes them more efficient and effective. The fact that we anticipated this shift, and developed our platform before the pandemic has cleared away the fear factor to the extent that the future looks extremely bright for online career events.

The one thing that online recruitment events must do is enable individuals to make the connections they’re searching for. To learn how we can make that happen for you, call Premier Virtual today at (561) 717-9717.

Engagement & Marketing Tools for Virtual Hiring Events

Gary Chambers on May 10, 2022

About this webinar

The Engagement & Marketing Tools for Virtual Hiring Events webinar will be hosted by Premier Virtual CEO, Steve Edwards.

He will be joined by a group of panelists to discuss how to attract and engage the most qualified candidates for your virtual and hybrid hiring events.

Joining us will be Todd Goldstein and Abby Strauss of TopResume, a Talent Inc. company, the world’s premier resume-writing service, analyzing millions of resumes and LinkedIn profiles each year. TopResume has partnered with Premier Virtual the leading virtual event software platform to provide its clients and their event attendees with access to a complimentary resume review.

Learn more about this engagement tool and how event attendees will also have the opportunity to upgrade this complimentary resume review service and work directly with a professional writer and industry expert to redefine their personal brand and stand out from the crowd during the job-search process.

We will be updated our list of recruitment marketing firms that will provide you with actionable items to attract the right candidates for your open positions. These tactics continue to evolve, and if you’re not implementing the most effective ones you could be wasting a lot of time and money.

We hope to see you here on Tuesday, May 24th starting at 2pm.

Click here to register

Premier Virtual’s new QR Code Generator for Hybrid Events

Gary Chambers on April 19, 2022

In-Person, Virtual, or Hybrid Career Fairs – Which Approach is Best?

When planning a career fair, the common goal is to connect employers with qualified job candidates. A secondary goal is for jobseekers to learn more about companies they may have not considered working for previously.

Traditionally, live or in-person career fairs were the best option, but in today’s world, other options should be considered. Let’s take a minute to review them all.

In-Person- All attendees are physically present in one location

Virtual- People attend the event entirely online

Hybrid- Some people attend in-person and others online. Using Premier Virtual’s new QR code generator, you can record the interactions and easily download all of the reports at the end of an event for efficient follow up.

How do you know which approach is right for your career fair?

There are different factors, such as event size, budget, timeline, the geography of attendees, and a common issue faced during the writing of this blog post – the ongoing issues due to the Covid-19 virus.

Live Events – Still considered the most effective form of communication and is perceived as more credible and positive.

It was not long ago that the idea of meeting people online was denounced. Boomers and even millennials were openly against it and had the opinion that people only chose to go virtual if they lacked interpersonal skills. In a sense, they were somewhat ‘shamed’ for not wanting to connect in person.

In large part due to the Pandemic, and also as part of the natural evolution of digital apps and platforms, virtual events are quickly becoming a perfect alternative to in-person meetings. It is said the pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation by as much as 3 to 5 years.

However, many people still appreciate and seek the opportunity to network in person, with factors such as effective communication, credibility, and overall positive experience as the leading factors.

It’s hard to argue that humans find face-to-face communication as most effective because of the entire experience it produces. Body language, postures, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements do not translate as well, even on a video call online.

Virtual Events – Faster turnaround time, reduced costs, and broader reach

The most common reasons clients choose virtual (pre-covid) include that time and money are at a premium. Virtual events allow the host to quickly create and launch an event, and depending on the size, on a much smaller budget.

Post-Covid, we see that social distancing and keeping everyone safe is the top reason organizations are choosing virtual. When it comes to virtual career fairs, the virtual options have resulted in higher attendance rates for jobseekers and more hiring companies are participating as well, due to the reduction in time and money required to do so.

Everyone who has hosted or attended a virtual event agrees it is a much more efficient process. No one has to wait in a long line to speak with a recruiter, and no company has to deal with the frustration of a poorly attended booth since they will typically receive reports with access to all of the resumes from registered candidates.

Reporting is another huge advantage to virtual events since each employer has their dashboard and is provided reports with all attendees, who attended their booth, and what resumes match their job openings.

While text/chat options or even a built-in one-on-one video interface do not compare with speaking in person, these tools do make it very easy for the recruiter to meet with candidates and get to see if they are a good fit, right on the spot.

Get the best of both worlds with Hybrid Events – Flexibility to reach the greatest number of qualified candidates.

So, while in-person hiring events remain a popular option for recruiters that enjoy face-to-face interaction, the limitation of social distancing, as well as traditional limitations of being available to travel to an in-person job fair make hybrid the best option.

Most often in-person job fairs attract the unemployed jobseeker. A hybrid event allows highly qualified candidates who are employed to also attend. These virtual attendees can quickly log on before work, or during a lunch hour, attend and apply online, whereas attending in-person might have been impossible.

Now Premier Virtual has launched a QR code generator that hosts and employers can use at live events. These QR codes enable attendees to quickly access the event and employers virtual hiring booths, which means that all of the in-person activity can be tracked digitally. Now employers can simply download the resumes they received at the event for easy follow up, and attendees can keep notes as well. This is the best of both worlds because you gather all of the data that comes with virtual events in an in-person setting.

The Pros and Cons of Hosting Virtual Events:

Pros:

Reduced Costs – The logistics of a physical event can be daunting. Renting a venue, printing badges, selling tickets, food, clean-up, etc., all drive up costs, time, and resources. These are all eliminated with a virtual event.
Broader Reach – with zero travel time, anyone from anywhere can attend. In a state like Florida which attracts people from across the U.S., many citizens that want to move have a unique opportunity to attend a virtual job fair and land a job to facilitate the move. In industries in high demand like technology and medicine, you don’t have to limit your job pool to the local population. Also, external factors like poor weather, or emergency events do not affect virtual events, so there is very little chance for interruptions or cancellations.
Increased Productivity – hiring managers can meet with multiple job-seekers simultaneously, and do not have to make the job candidates wait in long lines. Being able to view resumes and start video chats makes it easy for recruiters to choose who they believe will be the best fit.
Reporting – platforms like Premier Virtual offer detailed reports that make virtual events much more efficient as well. Each employer will know, who visited their booths, and who submitted a resume. Each recruiter can rank the candidates and easily set up follow-up interviews.

The Cons

Less personal connection- for recruiters that put a high value on the physical handshake, there is nothing a virtual event can do to replicate that. The personal face-to-face experience is very immersive, so virtual events have to work harder to attract and keep the attendee’s attention.
Distractions – If the job seeker is at work, or multi-tasking it will be difficult to remain focused on the event. It is easy to get distracted when attending virtually, which can hurt retention or the job candidate not attending each booth that matched their qualifications.
Overwhelming – when an event has 300 or more booths, it can be overwhelming for the job seeker. This can create anxiety for a jobseeker that is trying to visit each booth to see what jobs are available. New options that allow job seekers to get a ‘matching job report’ and a job-seeker journey are being added to make their experience more positive
Downtime – although the Premier Virtual platform has not suffered any significant downtime, there is a chance the platform or the attendee’s internet connection is interrupted. This can cause a poor experience and be very frustrating if it occurs during a live interview. Technology doesn’t always cooperate and can be a bigger issue for areas of the country with less service or less broadband access.

Which Event is Right for your next Career Fair?

If you have not hosted a virtual event, here is a chart that helps illustrate the options:

	Face-to-Face	Virtual	Hybrid
Most Effective Communication	X
Faster Turnaround		X
Cost Savings		X	X
Increased Collaboration	X
Greater Reach			X
Digital Reports		X	X
Relaying Complex Info	X
Reduced Travel Cost		X	X

If you would like to get free advice on which option is best for you, or to find out more about our new QR code generator for hybrid events, please contact Premier Virtual online or at 561-717-9717 to schedule a no-obligation consultation with one of our advisors.

We have powered over 6,000 virtual hiring events, where 60,000+ employers have connected with over 650,000 registered job seekers. Our best-in-class platform and experienced success managers are here to ensure you host the most successful virtual career fair possible.

We look forward to meeting you, so you can make the most informed decision to reach your company’s staffing goals.

561-717-9717

Hosting National Hiring Events

Hiring has Undergone a Fundamental Shift

Will Employees Return & What’s Behind Quiet Quitting?

Hybrid Hiring Events Are a Great Option As COVID Returns

5 Reasons Virtual is Transforming Talent Acquisition

Recruiting Strategies for Sourcing Talent on Global Scale

5 Tips to Improve Online Recruitment

What’s the Future for Online Recruiting Events?

Engagement & Marketing Tools for Virtual Hiring Events

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