The idea of hosting events virtually came into practice as a result of the pandemic. Amid the pandemic-induced fears and travel restrictions, the concept of virtual events proved to be a boon for the event industry. The advantage of attending events from the comfort of their homes without having to travel to faraway locations made virtual events the topmost choice for the organizers and the attendees.
Virtual career fairs have become the most popular choice for hiring companies and colleges as it allows them to attract global talent without any geographical restrictions. It is not easy to organize a virtual career fair and can be quite intimidating for you as a first-timer. This article will walk you through the steps that you should follow to organize a successful virtual career fair.
What is a Virtual Career Fair?
Virtual career fairs or job fairs are events where the recruiters or hiring managers can directly interact with the job seekers and find the most suitable match for their requirements. The major difference between a live career fair and a virtual career fair is that a virtual career fair takes place online. The attendees of the virtual fair can attend the fair in real-time from their comfy abode, gather information, visit virtual booths, interact with recruiters and ask questions.
Why should you host your career fair virtually?
Despite the rise in virtual career fairs, some of you might still be unsure if it would be as successful as a live event. Here are a few reasons why you should organize your next career fair virtually.
- Comfort – Virtual career fairs can be attended from the comfort of your home. Attendees do not have to travel to faraway places to attend the fair and can still interact with recruiters and find a suitable job for their skillset.
- Free from geographical restrictions – Virtual career fairs are free from geographical restrictions and recruiters can attract talent from across the globe making it easier to find highly talented people.
- More attendees – There is no limit as to how many people can attend a virtual career fair and therefore by hosting your career fair virtually you can attract more people to attend the fair.
- Cost-effective and time-saving – Virtual career fairs save a lot of time and money as you do not need a venue. Setting up a virtual fair is essentially less time-consuming for both colleges and companies.
- Easy to measure event success – The success of an online or virtual career fair can be easily measured with the help of data analytics. The details of each attendee are present in the system and this makes it easy to keep a track of the success and impact of the event.
How to organize a virtual career fair?
Given the complexity of the fair and a large number of participants, it becomes difficult to organize a successful virtual career fair. Given below is a step-by-step guide to organizing a virtual career fair.
Step 1. Hunt for the best Virtual Event platform
Selection of the best virtual event platform plays a major role in ensuring the success of the career fair. A virtual event platform is a tool that allows the organizers to recreate the experiences of an in-person event. Look for a platform that allows you to create customized brand booths, chat rooms, provide live streams, and audio/video chats. There are various virtual event platforms available. Make sure you compare the features of the platforms and match them with your requirements before making your decision.
Step 2. List out your needs and requirements
If you want to organize a virtual event, you need to plan it in advance. Assess your needs and requirements well before the actual event to avoid any hassles at the time of the event.
- Identify your goals and requirements.
- Determine the expected number of attendees and sponsorship requirements.
- Make a list of the tasks to be performed along with a timeline for the completion of each task.
- Identify the number of employees and the skillsets for which you will need to hire staff.
Step 3. Make a budget
Once you are aware of your needs and requirements, now you can move ahead and plan your budget. Virtual career fairs are much more cost-effective than in-person fairs and making a budget will help you arrange funds in advance and start preparing for the virtual career fair. Knowing your budget will help you decide the features that you want to include in your virtual fair and select a virtual event platform on the basis of that to provide an exceptional and realistic experience to the attendees.
Step 4. Create your custom virtual booth
Similar to the in-person career fairs, you can also create virtual booths to help the job seekers gather information, ask questions, interact with the recruiters and other job seekers. You can get as creative as possible and make your booths colorful, attractive, and easy to navigate to attract more attention. You can also use the customized design templates provided by the virtual event platforms to make your job easy.
Step 5. Gather sponsors and partners
After going through the above steps, you are now aware of everything you need to host the virtual career fair. Now it is time to gather sponsorship and partners for your event.
- Start networking with people who can sponsor your event, give them a clear picture of the expected ROI and brand impact your event can create.
- Partner with companies and recruitment agencies and tell them that their brand will be displayed on clickable banners that can help them redirect traffic to their e-commerce platforms or website and increase their brand visibility.
Step 6. Put a team in place for your virtual career fair
Once the partners and recruiters have confirmed their attendance, you can now estimate the number of staff you need to hire. Ensure that the employees are adequately skilled and can help the attendees by answering their questions and solving their problems.
Step 7. Develop a marketing plan
It is not enough to just create an event if you cannot attract people to attend the virtual career fair. Develop a strategic marketing plan to inform and attract jobseekers to attend your virtual career fair. You can use social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter to do so. You can also find the details of the people looking for jobs and reach out to them personally via calls, email, and Whatsapp.
Step 8. Keep your attendees updated
Once you have made the attendees register for your virtual career fair, send them regular updates over email, SMS, or Whatsapp to keep them informed about the changes in the event. You can also conduct a social media poll to understand their expectations and increase engagement. You can work on their suggestions to improve the experience of your virtual career fair.
Step 9. Take feedback
Make sure you take feedback from the attendees and ask them for suggestions post the event through feedback forms, signature walls, or email surveys. This will help you make improvements the next time you organize a virtual career fair.
Summing Up
Virtual career fairs have a lot of advantages over in-person career fairs making them a popular choice. You need not worry if you are inexperienced in organizing virtual career fairs. Follow the steps mentioned in this article to organize a successful virtual career fair.
