The growing popularity of virtual career fairs is generating a lot of advice for candidates on how to prepare. Recruiters weren’t getting equal attention, though. Until now. Career Fair Plus has five questions every recruiter can answer to become their best virtual recruiting self.
1. What are you trying to achieve at the virtual career fair?
Your approach to career fair day depends on what you want to achieve. Are you recruiting for immediate needs or networking to enrich your talent pipeline for future openings? Or is your purpose informational, to raise brand awareness and increase general candidate interest? Set schedules, choose meeting types, assign staff, and gather resources to meet these goals.
2. What type of schedule(s) do you need?
You deserve complete control over how you’ll engage with candidates. The right platform lets you choose the type of meetings, breaks, and duration of both. These decisions matter because how you plan your day can affect candidates’ choices, which likely impacts how quickly you reach your goals for the event.
Type of meeting
Create 1-on-1 candidate meetings for more interactive, personal conversations. Schedule group meetings to deliver presentations, host info-sessions, and offer group networking. Or, do both.
Duration
Think about what you want to accomplish in your 1-on-1 and/or group meetings. Is ten minutes enough time to screen the candidate? Do you prefer 20-minutes for a more in-depth conversation or interview? If you’re showing a company video and want plenty of time to answer candidate questions, maybe you need 45-minute group sessions.
Breaks
Staffing
Good idea, you need to staff the awesome schedule you’re planning. That’s next.
3. How will you staff the event?
Staff your event based on your goals and planned schedule. If you’re recruiting for multiple vacancies, consider assigning at least one representative to present each position. Informational sessions might include multiple panelists (e.g., HR, Sales, and R&D), but one experienced person could host a video and Q&A session. Finally, remember the value of first impressions when choosing whom you want as the face of your company during the event. Consider showcasing your organization’s diversity, too!
4. What resources do your staff need (to have and collect)?
Prepare promotional materials, question lists, cheat sheets, and anything else your team needs to best meet your recruiting goals. Clarify the house rules about what is and isn’t sharable during 1-on-1 or group meetings (e.g., salaries, contact information, decision timeline, number of openings, etc.) Conversely, plan for what you will need to collect from candidates, especially if your organization wants information beyond what applicants upload into their profiles. Finally, get ready to answer the predictable candidate question, “How do I follow up?”
5. What happens after?
This might sound odd, but the last virtual career fair pre-planning task is deciding what happens after the event. Will you invite applicants to apply for specific positions or submit resumes for future consideration? If you want to schedule follow-up interviews during the fair, there’s an app for that; ask your event organizer.
Get ahead of the crowd
If you’ve heard the saying, “measure twice, cut once,” then you know preparation saves time and money. Answer these five questions for each virtual career fair and stay ahead of the recruiting crowd. The more you use these, the better prepared you and your team will be for each virtual career fair.
