Attract, Engage & Hire -Top Strategies for Successful Hiring Events
Attract, Engage & Hire To host a successful job far or hiring event, there are three areas you must master. Learn how to do all three in this blog post.
The entire labor market is tight, and demand is high among employers across the board. The strain left behind from the great resignation, and the ongoing ‘quiet quitting’ combined with overall low unemployment rates, are make hiring more challenging than we’ve seen before.
There are several segments of the economy that face an even bigger struggle due to several additional factors. Skilled trades, Tech and Healthcare are among the top career fields that are predicted to remain in critical condition and will need to think ‘outside the job board’ to fill staffing needs.
Here are some of the top trends innovative employers in the healthcare industry are implementing to meet their staffing goals and stay ahead of the ongoing shortage in qualified workers.
Being top of mind means sharing benefits that a candidate can enjoy if they join and sharing how your organization is different from the competition. Workplace culture, diversity and inclusion, relocation benefits, bonuses, etc., all should be part of the messaging you share every day through social media posts, videos, and press releases. Be sure to convey how your organization values a healthy work/life balance, and what you offer to help with childcare, mental health and other concerns that are outside the workplace.
As you can see, virtual and technology will play a big role to increase access, exposure, and efficiency in your hiring strategy. The sooner you implement it, the better positions you will be and greater competitive advantage you will have.
There’s a lot more to virtual than hosting events. Platforms such as premier Virtual are extremely flexible and offer an all-in-one virtual recruitment suite. Everything from scheduling interviews, to pre-recorded video interview question that qualify candidates, as well as robust reports and automated follow up tools that reduce your cost per hire and your time to hire by up to 70% in most cases.
Schedule your free demo today by visiting www.PremierVirtual.com and see what your own virtual hiring event platform can do for you.
Many employers and organizations continue to turn to job fairs to hire, but do they still work? Truth is there are still positive results from in-person job fairs, but the better results are coming from virtual and hybrid events. This article will shed some light on each of these, and help you determine which direction you should take to find and hire top talent.
Traditional In-Person Job Fair
A job fair is an event where job seekers and employers gather in one location to meet and connect with each other. The purpose of a job fair is to provide job seekers with the opportunity to learn about different companies and job openings, meet with recruiters and hiring managers, and network with other professionals in their field.
Typically, a job fair works as follows:
Registration: Job seekers arrive at the event and register for the job fair, either online or in-person.
Company booths: Companies set up booths or displays showcasing their brand, job openings, and company culture.
Networking: Job seekers have the opportunity to meet with company representatives, ask questions, and network with other professionals in their field.
Interviews: Some companies may conduct on-site interviews with job seekers who they are interested in.
Follow-up: After the job fair, job seekers can follow up with the companies they are interested in and send their resumes and other relevant information.
In-person job fairs offer job seekers the opportunity to make personal connections with potential employers, get a feel for the company culture, and potentially walk away with job offers. They also provide companies with the opportunity to meet face-to-face with job seekers and assess their qualifications and fit for their open positions.
There are several types of job fairs, including:
General Job Fairs: Open to job seekers from various industries and job levels.
Industry-Specific Job Fairs: Focused on a specific industry, such as healthcare, technology, or finance.
Diversity Job Fairs: Aimed at promoting diversity and inclusiveness in the workplace, with a focus on underrepresented groups such as women, minorities, and individuals with disabilities.
College/University Job Fairs: Held on college or university campuses and primarily attended by students and recent graduates.
Career Fests: A combination of a job fair and a festival, featuring entertainment, food, and various career-related activities and workshops.
Virtual Job Fairs: Held online and accessed through the internet, allowing job seekers to connect with potential employers from anywhere in the world.
Recruitment Events: Organized by companies or recruitment agencies, with a focus on filling specific job openings or promoting the company’s brand.
Military Job Fairs: Aimed at connecting transitioning military personnel and veterans with potential employers.
Each type of job fair offers unique benefits and opportunities for job seekers, and it is important to consider your career goals and job search strategy when selecting which job fairs to attend.
Yes, there are benefits to in-person job fairs:
Personal interaction: In-person job fairs provide job seekers with the opportunity to have face-to-face interactions with potential employers, allowing for more meaningful and personal connections.
Immediate feedback: In-person job fairs allow for immediate feedback from potential employers, as well as the opportunity to ask questions and clarify any concerns.
Networking opportunities: In-person job fairs provide job seekers with the opportunity to network with other job seekers, as well as potential employers, which can lead to future job opportunities.
Hands-on demonstrations: Some in-person job fairs may feature hands-on demonstrations or interactive displays, which can help job seekers gain a deeper understanding of the company and the job requirements.
Physical materials: In-person job fairs allow job seekers to leave behind physical copies of their resumes and other materials, making a lasting impression on potential employers.
In conclusion, while virtual job fairs have many benefits, in-person job fairs still offer unique advantages, such as personal interaction and immediate feedback, that can make them an important part of a job seeker’s job search strategy.
Adding Virtual Features: Video interviews and in-person interviews have both advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages of video interviews:
Convenience: Video interviews can be conducted from anywhere with a stable internet connection, making them a convenient option for both employers and job seekers who may have time or geographic constraints.
Cost-effective: Video interviews can save time and travel costs for both parties.
Time-saving: Scheduling a video interview is typically faster and easier than scheduling an in-person interview.
Advantages of in-person interviews:
Better assessment of nonverbal communication: In-person interviews allow for a better assessment of a candidate’s nonverbal communication, body language, and overall demeanor.
Stronger connection: In-person interviews can foster a stronger connection between the interviewer and the candidate, which can lead to a better understanding of the candidate’s fit for the role and the company culture.
Opportunity for in-person assessment: In-person interviews provide an opportunity to assess the candidate’s skills, demeanor, and presence in person, which can be more reliable indicators of their qualifications and fit for the role.
Ultimately, the choice between video and in-person interviews will depend on the specific needs and goals of the hiring organization and the availability and preferences of the job seeker. Both types of interviews have their place in the recruitment and hiring process and can provide valuable information for making informed hiring decisions.
Video interviews and in-person interviews are both methods used to assess job candidates, but they differ in several key ways:
Convenience: Video interviews are more convenient as they can be conducted from any location with an internet connection, while in-person interviews require both the interviewer and candidate to be physically present in the same location.
Cost: Video interviews are generally less expensive as they eliminate the need for travel, while in-person interviews can be more costly due to the cost of transportation and other expenses.
Preparation: Video interviews require different preparation, such as ensuring a professional background and testing technology, compared to in-person interviews which focus more on attire and body language.
Interaction: In-person interviews allow for more face-to-face interaction, including non-verbal cues and the ability to assess body language and overall demeanor. Video interviews may lack this level of interaction, but they can also allow for a more controlled and structured assessment.
Accessibility: Video interviews may provide greater accessibility for candidates who have difficulty traveling, such as those with disabilities or those who live in remote locations.
In conclusion, both video interviews and in-person interviews have their own strengths and weaknesses, and the best approach depends on the specific needs and preferences of the employer and candidate. Both methods should be used in conjunction to provide a comprehensive assessment of the candidate’s qualifications and fit for the role.
Here are some steps for a job seeker to prepare for a virtual job fair:
Research: Research the companies that will be attending the virtual job fair and determine which ones align with your career goals and interests.
Update your resume and LinkedIn profile: Make sure your resume and LinkedIn profile are up-to-date, polished, and tailored to the specific virtual job fair and the types of companies you will be meeting with.
Test your technology: Ensure that your computer, internet connection, and webcam are working properly, and test any virtual meeting software that will be used during the fair.
Dress professionally: Choose attire that is appropriate for a job interview, even though it is a virtual setting.
Prepare a professional background: Ensure the background behind you during the virtual meeting is neat and professional.
Practice your pitch: Prepare a brief introduction that highlights your skills, experience, and career goals, and practice delivering it in a confident and articulate manner.
Prepare questions: Research the companies attending the virtual job fair and prepare questions to ask during your interactions with them.
Arrive early: Log in to the virtual job fair early to ensure that you have enough time to navigate the platform and familiarize yourself with the process.
Follow-up: After the virtual job fair, follow-up with any companies that you are interested in and reiterate your interest in the company and the position.
Here are the steps to host a hiring event:
Integrate virtual access to create a hybrid event with a virtual hiring event platform like Premier Virtual. You will increase access, attract more qualified candidates, and automate your follow-up process. A virtual platform will also serve as a digital registration portal so that you can track all of your attendees and resume submissions.
Define your goals: Determine what type of candidates you want to attract and what positions you need to fill.
Choose a venue: Select a location that is accessible, large enough to accommodate your expected attendance, and has the necessary equipment (e.g., chairs, tables, and audio-visual equipment).
Invite candidates: Advertise the event through various channels, such as your company website, social media, and job boards. Be sure to clearly communicate the date, time, location, and purpose of the event.
Prepare the space: Arrange tables, chairs, and any other equipment to create an inviting atmosphere. Consider setting up a display area to showcase your company’s products or services.
Plan the schedule: Decide on the activities and schedule for the event. This might include presentations, one-on-one interviews, networking opportunities, and more.
Provide information: Prepare brochures, flyers, and other materials that provide information about your company and the open positions.
Have a team in place: Assign a team of recruiters, HR staff, and managers to manage the event and interact with candidates.
Follow up: After the event, be sure to follow up with candidates to keep them informed about next steps in the hiring process.
Remember to make the event a positive experience for all attendees and to provide a professional and welcoming atmosphere.
By following these steps, job seekers can increase their chances of making a positive impression on potential employers and securing job opportunities at the virtual job fair.
If you need help with in-person, virtual or hybrid hiring events contact us at www.PremierVirtual.com for a free demo.
As a top-rated virtual hiring event platform, we hear the challenges from the organizations and employers that host events on our platform every day.
The future of hiring is expected to continue evolving and becoming increasingly digital and data-driven. Here are some of the trends shaping the future of hiring:
Virtual and remote hiring– The trend of remote work will likely increase the demand for virtual hiring processes, including virtual interviews and assessments.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) – AI will play a larger role in the hiring process, from resume screening to candidate matching and predictive analytics.
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) – Companies will continue to prioritize DEI in their hiring processes, including using technology to address bias in recruitment and increasing outreach to diverse candidate pools.
Employee experience – The focus will shift from traditional HR practices to creating a positive employee experience, from the hiring process to onboarding and beyond.
Talent communities – Companies will create and engage with talent communities to build relationships with potential candidates, improving their ability to attract and retain top talent.
Overall, the future of hiring will likely prioritize technology, flexibility and candidate experience in order to attract and retain top talent in a highly competitive job market.
Let’s drill down to some of the top trends we see as 2023 kicks off.
Smart Hiring and Retention Challenges – The ‘Great Resignation’ spurred on by Covid might be behind us, but workers continue to leave the workforce in larger than expected numbers. October of 2022 saw 4 million Americans quit their jobs, which left 10.3 million open positions. The gap between available jobs and available workers continues to grow, meaning retention is the best strategy to avoid the competition for new hires.
Limiting turnover has become more important than ever. The days of ‘letting an employee go’ because so many others were ready to fill that role are gone. Creating a workplace culture that builds trust and helps employees grow in their careers has always been a smart strategy, but now it has become a necessity.
No matter how much you limit turnover, adding new employees will always be part of a growing company’s needs. Smart hiring includes tactics that are non-traditional like hosting virtual career fairs, and virtual hiring events. These events open your organization to anyone who is interested, and not limit yourself to a pool of candidates in your area. Virtual hiring events became mainstream during the pandemic and now, nearly 80% of recruiters prefer virtual to in-person. The same can be said for busy job candidates who most likely have a full-time job but are weighing their options and can more-readily attend a virtual event. Make sure you have a virtual hiring event platform as part of your hiring strategy to attract and hire the best talent possible.
The Need for Flexibility – another Covid influenced dynamic is the new remote workforce. Employers toyed with the idea of letting employees ‘work from home’, but it never took hold. Post pandemic, it remains a very common and viable option as many workplaces have roles that are as productive and effective from home as in office.
The latest report shows that 48% of the workforce will continue to work remotely or in a hybrid fashion. Being able to offer this type of work will be a great competitive advantage over the 52% of the workforce that requires workers to be in the office. A great strategy is to support a remote or hybrid workplace now, so that you can attract the best available talent and be prepared in the event of another disruption.
Skill Gaps and Shortage of Talent – as difficult as finding the right hire already is, shortages in skills and talent are increasing the challenges. Skills like construction and tech are having an extremely difficult time finding qualified candidates, and the pipeline is not filling up anytime soon.
The answer is internal training and dedicating resources for employee development and growth. The days of finding skilled and experienced workers are few and far between. Your best strategy is to hire based on the character traits and work ethic you are looking for and build on the employees skills by training them for your organization. Offering this type of opportunity will create another strong competitive advantage over employers that do not offer this.
This ‘growth-mindset’ replaces the days of a person working in the same department their entire lives. Give employees opportunities to learn, mentor, be mentored and apply their skills in other positions. You may take an average employee and turn them into a star, simply by giving them the support to grow and find their best fit in the organization.
Employee Well-Being – along the lines of creating a great work culture is focusing on the well-being of employees. The term ‘Quiet-Quitting’ relates directly to the pervasive attitude workers have that they are only going to give so much to their jobs. This can be a larger problem in workplaces that don’t provide genuine support for their employee’s well-being.
Make sure your employees know that you appreciate their effort and are vested in their personal well-being. Flexible work schedules, childcare support, mental health support, physical and emotional well-being programs are all part of the mix. The more you can invest in the employee’s well-being, the better they will feel about themselves, the company and the more likely they will want to stay with your company.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion or DEI – is not a trend, it is a way of the workforce that is here to stay, and rightly so. Companies can no longer avoid the topic or force employees to adapt to a ‘my way or the highway’ mentality. From the smallest companies to the largest corporations, those that embrace individuality will attract and hire the best available talent, since everyone wants to be accepted and appreciated.
This can’t be done without a concerted effort, taking time every day to communicate the company’s policy, to encourage team building events, to celebrate the diversity that exists within your organization. If your attempts are seen as superficial, it will do more damage than good. Make sure you have a sincere and consistent message, and that your employees know your company is there for them.
Greater use of Virtual, AI and Automation – technology is always evolving, and another product of the pandemic is how quickly employers and employees had to adjust and adapt to new technology. Software like Zoom and Microsoft Teams is now an everyday event, and the best companies continue to evolve and add virtual platforms that improve communication, efficiency, productivity and workflows.
When it comes to hiring, virtual events have proven to be much more efficient and, in many ways, more effective than in-person events. The new trend is moving towards hybrid events, that offer in-person and virtual access. Clearly the employers that embrace and invest in the best technology and automation will have the best chance for success. A virtual hiring event platform like Premier Virtual completely automates the follow-up process to be able to track hires from your events. It’s innovation like this that separates the best from the rest and position your company to attract the best talent.
Holistic Digital Transformation – taking the last point one step further, building profiles of the ideal customer, worker, workflow and expected results will create a very clear picture of what they company stands for, and how they will deliver that to their customers. A holistic approach will never lead to a fixed rigid business model, but rather one that can adapt to change, and creates value through different kinds of partnerships.
By approaching your business in this way, your employees have a greater sense of what is expected of them, and that makes it easier to define the kind of employees you need to keep that going. When a company can support this transformation with digital tools, data and supporting infrastructure, the vision and mission will be pervasive, and the culture will attract and retain the best talent.
Transforming HR through Tech and Data – as we’ve touched on through AI and Virtual, HR needs to come out of the stone age and embrace today’s technology. There are many excellent platforms that help in every phase of hiring, and many employers continue to resist and prefer to do things’ the old way’ or sticking with the status-quo.
When it comes to tech, companies are turning to cloud computing, virtual platforms, collaboration technologies, and digitization to improve HR operations and the employee experience, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. Don’t wait until the right time because it will cost you another competent new hire. The time to upgrade your technology is now, at all costs!
The challenges in hiring will remain extremely high in 2023 due mostly to the labor shortage, but if you can work on getting ahead of these 8 trends, you will create a competitive advantage that can be the difference between meeting your staffing challenges, or not.
Many cities across the U.S. are looking for ways to attract new companies, events, and residents. There is also the very real challenge posed by the Pandemic, which has many employers struggling to hire.
An innovative option is now being considered that offers employers, as well as local travel and tourism boards, and real estate companies to showcase their wares. This option is a ‘Live, Work, Play’, Virtual Expo!
By combining these three areas, you’re able to bring together the best of what your city has to offer, all in one place. Best of all, anyone can attend from anywhere in the world! This is a great opportunity for companies and families that are looking to relocate and are considering a move to your city. The virtual expo allows them to see what career opportunities are available, and meet with those recruiters on the spot! They can also view all of the ‘real’, real-estate openings and speak with realtors. While there, they’ll want to know all of the fun and exciting things your city has to offer, and that’s where your travel and tourism board comes in. Attendees will leave with a much better appreciation of what it will be like to live in your town, and it will be a great resource for residents that already live there as well.
We’ve seen how these events have successful drawn attention from potential new residents by showcasing all of the benefits of living there. The ability to attend the event, without having to travel is a tremendous bonus. This is a great way, to make a great first impression, and potential residents can do their research before booking costly travel arrangements.
It’s a classic, WIN-WIN-WIN!
To find out how your city or municipality can host a Live, Work, Play Virtual Expo, simply fill out a free demo form on this site, and one of our representatives will contact you immediately. We look forward to showcasing your town!
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Phone: 561-717-9717
Email: info@premiervirtual.com
Web: Premier Virtual
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