Introduction
When it comes to hosting a virtual career fair, there are several important steps that you should account for.
Although each virtual career fair will be different from event to event, the general steps that you should follow will essentially be the same.
Below are steps and considerations that walk you through hosting a virtual career fair:
- Set a date
- Choose a platform
- Promote your event
- Set up employer registration
- Set up initial event details
- Onboard recruiters
- Onboard job seekers
- Launch your event
- Manage your event
Set a Date
The first step to hosting a virtual career fair will be to set a date for your event. Although this may sound obvious, setting a date will give you a clear goal post to work off.
When you have a date in mind, you’ll be able to work backwards and plan other important milestones for your virtual career fair.
Choose a Platform
Once you have a date in mind, the next crucial step will be to choose a platform for your virtual career fair.
Every platform will have its own set of pros and cons. Depending on your specific event scope, there will be certain platforms that may better suit your needs.
If you need a shortlist of top considerations when you evaluate virtual career fair platforms, you can check out this article: Top 6 Considerations when Choosing a Virtual Career Fair Platform
Promote your Event
After you’ve finalized your platform of choice, you can start promoting your event to both recruiters and job seekers. It’s important to note that in this phase you’re simply promoting, not launching, your event.
When promoting the event, you should clearly set expectations for your stakeholders so that they know what they’ll get out of it. This can include things like the features of your platform and your event time frame.
By doing so, your recruiters and job seekers alike can save your event date and better prepare for your virtual fair.
Set Up Employer Registration
Something that you can do in tandem with event promotion is employer registration. When registering employers, you’ll want to clearly showcase what your recruiters will be getting at your virtual fair.
Oftentimes, this will entail outlining the features offered for your recruiters. For instance, recruiters will want to know if they will be using video chat or text chat to connect with your students.
Additionally, you will want to properly plan out the pricing for your virtual fair before taking registrations. To adapt to a virtual fair, your traditional pricing for an in-person fair will most likely need to be adjusted.
Set Up Initial Event Details
Now that you’ve selected your platform and started the process of promoting your event, you will need to begin setting up your virtual fair in preparation for event launch.
Initial event setup will vary depending on the virtual fair platform that you use; however, most platforms will require that you set up items such as event details, event timeframes, and event branding for your event.
If your platform allows it, you will also need to consider things such as the type of information that you may want to collect from both your job seekers and recruiters in your platform.
Onboard Recruiters
Once you’ve completed the initial event setup inside your virtual fair platform, you will then need to begin the process of onboarding your recruiters.
Almost every virtual fair platform will have some type of “digital booth” that recruiters will most likely need to set up. This setup process often requires recruiters to provide things like their logo, website, recruitment criteria, etc.
To ensure that this setup process goes smoothly, it’s a good idea to provide training material in the form of infographics or webinars. Any preparation that you provide up front will ensure that your event goes much more smoothly on the day of the fair itself.
Onboard Job Seekers
After your recruiters are onboarded, you can then begin onboarding your job seekers into your virtual event. Job seekers oftentimes will need to set up an event profile in order to take part in your virtual fair.
Depending on your event setup, job seekers may need to provide things like a resume, career concentration, etc.
Similar to your recruiters, you should provide preparation material for your job seekers so that they properly set up their profiles and get the most out of your virtual fair.
Launch your Event
The launch of your event should take place after your recruiters and job seekers are comfortably onboarded. If your stakeholders are well prepared, event launch itself should be a smooth process.
During event launch, your job seekers will begin their video chats or text chats (depending on your platform) with participating recruiters. On the flipside, your recruiters can vet candidates for their positions as they begin connecting with participating job seekers.
Manage your Event
If your recruiters and job seekers are properly prepared, the management of your virtual fair should be a smooth process, assuming that your virtual fair platform implements with no glitches.
To catch any during-the-event issues though, it’s a good idea to offer a live helpdesk. This can be in the form of a Zoom room or Google Hangouts room, depending on the platform that you prefer.
Oftentimes, live event issues will stem from unprepared recruiters or job seekers who may be confused about the event details or the event platform itself.
Conclusion
Although the granular details of hosting a virtual fair will vary depending on your event scope, the aforementioned steps serve as a good general guideline for what you can expect.
By understanding each step, you can better account for your event needs and ensure that your virtual fair is smoothly implemented.
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