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What are the advantages and disadvantages of virtual job fair for remote jobs?  If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s the need to be creative and think outside of the box. Really this applies to everything we do now: From turning family gatherings to family zoom calls; attending in-person concerts to streaming concerts live; watching sports with fans to watching sports with digital fans; eating at packed restaurants to eating outside and socially distanced from others; and more. Everything that we were used to doing has been modified in some way. The same thing has applied to businesses. Traditional strategies that have worked in the past, have to be reinvented. A mass virtual Job fair is now a part of the mix.

Whether you are used to attending job fairs or holding your own, they now have to be virtually reinvented. So how can staffing companies transform the traditional job fair into a virtual one, but still get their bang for the buck? Here are 8 tips for making your mass virtual job fair a success.

1. Commit to It

Before you begin planning your mass virtual job fair, avoid the demeanor that it won’t be as good as an in-person event. A mass virtual job fair can be just as effective (perhaps even better) as long as you have the right resources and are fully committed to it. Don’t hold back on investing in resources just because it’s a virtual event. Commit to getting the resources needed to make the event a success.

2. Find the Right Platform

In order to select the right platform, first decide on the goals and format of your job fair. Do you plan to keep it simple and hold one session at a time or do you plan to have breakout rooms? Do you want to use a standard webinar platform or do you want to use a platform that allows for networking, booth time, the ability to hold more than one session at a time, etc.? All of these factors will depend on the virtual platform used for your fair.

If a webinar platform is used, such as GoToWebinar®, you can hold one session at a time and allow candidates to hop on for the sessions they are interested in attending. Each of the clients participating in the job fair can hold a session and talk about their company, positions they are looking to fill, and ideal candidates for these positions. At the end of each session, time can then be allocated for candidates to ask questions. This format is less intimate, but it allows clients to promote their company to candidates and allows candidates to learn about your clients. If the goal of the job fair is to be informative, then this format could work well.

If you are looking to hold a job fair that is more interactive and allows candidates to talk with clients, then you might want to look at doing a different format. Some webinar platforms, such as Zoom®, allow for breakout sessions. You could still have sessions with all attendees, but also incorporate breakout rooms. Each of your clients participating can have their own breakout room that allows for candidates to hop into the rooms they are interested in. This gives candidates the opportunity to ask questions and talk one on one with an employer. Depending on how many candidates choose a given breakout room, it may not be one on one conversations, but it would still allow for a more intimate conversation versus holding one large session for everyone.

If you want to go above and beyond, there are even fancier platforms that allow for the above and more! Recently, I used a platform that had virtual booths, one on one networking time, and sessions for all attendees. If you’re looking to invest a little more in your virtual fair, then this is a great option. Each client can have their own virtual booth, designed with their company’s branding. Candidates can then enter their booth and have one on one video conversations with clients. The platform I used even had a “register interest” button in each booth. So, if a candidate was interested in a job opportunity with the client, they can select a button and say they are interested in learning more. Clients can still give a presentation during a session time, but will have the bonus of also having a virtual booth for candidates to visit. There are several platforms that offer amenities similar to these if this is something you would be interested in doing.

Overall, there is no universal right or wrong platform to use for a job fair, but finding the right platform that will meet your goals is the most important.  I hope this helped you understand the advantages and disadvantages of a virtual job fair for remote jobs.