Over the last year and a half, the virtual job fair has seen amazing growth as people worldwide embrace the concept of increased online communication. Premier Virtual is the number one virtual career fair platform in the workforce development industry and has powered thousands of in-person career fair events over the past 18 months. They give some insight into the two different types of career or job fairs.
An in-person event is typically an event where all the attendees are physically in the same location. A virtual career fair takes place entirely online; everyone attends from where they are. Both have their advantages and some drawbacks.
In-person, face-to-face, human connection is still the most effective way to communicate with others and has long been considered the norm. The tone of voice, eye movements, body movements, nonverbal ways of sending messages all are part of communication and are often lost over a video and internet connection. In-person communication has long been considered more honest; it enhances credibility and trust, builds solid relationships, and is motivating to foster collaboration with others.
In-person job fairs have their drawbacks, Steven Edwards CEO of Premier Virtual points out that often there are misconceptions at in-person events, a long line at a booth can make people think it is a great place to work, and they can spend much of the time waiting to talk to someone, only to find out there are no jobs or not jobs they qualify for or would be interested in. Additionally, in-person events are expensive to host and can be hard to pull off efficiently, even before COVID-19.
Virtual job fairs were around pre-pandemic; however, they gained traction starting in mid-2020. As people stayed home and companies still needed employees, the virtual job fair became the go-to format to connect with prospective hires and require far less time and money on the part of the host. Virtual career fairs are far more versatile, easier to plan, and operate on a more efficient level than in-person events, not to mention they save a ton of cash for companies.
Virtual career fairs allow more qualified candidates from a wider candidate pool to connect with potential employers and allow for more accessible data collection and reports for companies. Virtual events are not impacted by weather, traffic, or building issues, giving candidates far more flexibility on when and how they can attend. The virtual platform allows for the screening of candidates and recruiting highly qualified candidates for specific positions.
Virtual job fairs can be overwhelming, with so many booths to choose from, and they lack that in-person connection and pose the risk of attendees being distracted. Despite these concerns, virtual job fairs are only growing in popularity and might be the new standard procedure of many companies. A hybrid career fair melds the best of both worlds and is possibly the best way around reaching the maximum number of qualified candidates.
The innovative and proprietary platform developed by Premier Virtual has powered 2,500 virtual job fairs to date, connecting 25,000 employers to over 250,000 job seekers. Helping companies and job seekers across the country, they act as a parachute to help stop the freefall of the business world and keep qualified candidates working, even in the toughest of times.
A veteran-owned company, Premier Virtual is dedicated to changing people’s lives through its groundbreaking virtual career fair platform. Learn more on their website.