You’ve been struggling to fill your open positions for weeks, but it’s not due to a shortage of candidates. Rather, your team just doesn’t have the staff or bandwidth to screen and interview so many resumes and candidates on a daily basis. In the past you might have hosted a career fair, where invited or walk-in candidates could be screened and receive more information about the position on the spot. 

A virtual career fair is a great alternative option, not only right now when large, in-person events are prohibited in most areas, but anytime. Virtual fairs are generally more affordable than in-person events, have the potential for a much larger outreach, and can be organized and run with a much smaller staff - an important consideration when many teams are running lean right now. 

One thing both types of events have in common: they seem absolutely daunting to execute. What do you use to host the event? How do you find attendees? Should it be interviews-only, or include webinars and other information sessions?  

Let’s address these concerns and a few others one by one, so you can host an exciting and productive career fair right from your desk! 

Planning, Hosting, & Promoting 

You can make your event as simple or complex as you want and need, and the tool that you choose to host it with plays a big part in that decision. As with most software nowadays, there are a myriad of choices. One you may be more familiar with is Zoom, one of the most popular video conferencing tools on the market, but there are many more at various different price points with a massive scope of features. 

You’ll want to create a sharable landing page with information about the event and a place for candidates to register.  Your landing page will be an important part of your promotional strategy, which should be determined by who you want to reach, and where those candidates are located. Advertising platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google Ads have an array of demographic targeting features, but it’s important to not target so specifically that you miss out on viable candidates, or to inadvertently target or exclude demographics based on implicit biases.  

Your event advertising, whether paid or organic, is both a promotion of the career fair and the organization, and a job listing all in one. Not only are you marketing the event, you are also posting open positions to draw in attendees to the event, as well as doing some strong employer branding before, during, and after the job fair.  

Content 

You get to choose what content is delivered at your event, beyond the interviews. You may want to host a brief informational webinar about your organization, touching on corporate culture and employee satisfaction, or you might choose to just put attendees right into their interviews. Will all of the interviews be held one-on-one, or will there be group panels as well? These are considerations that will greatly impact the candidate experience of your event.

An important part of the content that may be initially overlooked is paperwork. If you are hosting interviews during this event, you will need to provide electronic applications and other forms for attendees to fill out prior to, or after the interview.  

Job Fair Vs Traditional Interviews 

If you’ve never experienced a career fair, they are quite different from traditional interviews, even open interviews. They are fast paced and bustling, but this is another area where a virtual event shines.  

In a virtual event you can have as much one-on-one time with the candidates as you wish, without interruptions or straining to hear over the noise of the crowd. You can give them your full attention, and they can do the same. It provides a superior atmosphere for communicating with candidates and getting to know them and their strengths.

If you’re stuck in your hiring strategy, a job fair might be just the leverage you need to get moving again. Regardless of where you are in your recruiting efforts, Skywalk Group can help! Reach out today to learn more about how we can revolutionize your talent acquisition process and streamline your recruiting efforts using a variety of proven methods, like job fairs, open interviews, networking, and specialized job boards.  

Additional Resources 

Virtual Job Fairs Can Increase Quantity, Quality of Candidates 

4 Reasons Why You Should Host A Virtual Career Fair To Hunt Top Talent 

How to Host a Virtual Career Fair or Hiring Event 

Your Ultimate Guide to Hosting a Virtual Career Fair in 9 Easy Steps 

The Ultimate Guide To A Virtual Career Fair 

By Jessica Palmer