Virtual Careers Fairs That Really Work

By Michael Keiter

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EFFECTIVE VIRTUAL FAIRS

Interested in hosting or taking part in a virtual careers fair? Worried about whether they are effective or not? 

This debate has been going on for quite some time now, about whether virtual events actually work or are a waste of time. That's why I'd like to invite you to take a look at the infographic on the right, which shows the results from a recent jobs fair by the University of Sevilla in Spain, hosted on the Imaste platform. As we can gather from these numbers, when done right virtual job fairs really DO work. 

 
 

VISITORS, CONVERSIONS AND ENGAGEMENT

As we can see, this individual fair generated a significant amount of traffic. Over 11,000 candidates (meaning unique visitors) connected to the fair at some point over the course of the week. More than 4,000 of those visitors registered with the fair, leaving their contact information and some personal data. 2,800 applications were sent in to thirty-seven companies for 118 unique job postings, and the average user spent around eleven minutes on the site. How many sites can boast a conversion rate of visitors into leads of nearly 40%? Not many.

 

ADVANTAGES OF VIRTUAL JOB FAIRS OVER TRADITIONAL FACE-TO-FACE FAIRS

If we take a look at how virtual fairs work, we can see that there are a number of advantages to organizing a virtual event that make them attractive to all involved parties.


1. Global Reach

One of the most obvious advantages of hosting a virtual event over a traditional face-to-face event is the capacity for a global reach. Employers can connect with candidates anywhere on the planet simply with a PC or mobile phone and an Internet connection. Furthermore, unlike static online job boards, candidates can interact with recruiters in real time through interactive webcasts and one-to-one chats.

 

2. Reduced Costs

Preparation, materials, and additional costs such as travel, accommodations, and lost time associated with event attendance make traditional events expensive. It is clear that virtual events cost a fraction of what it takes to organize, execute, and attend traditional events. Organizers, employers, and candidates can all benefit from these savings.

 

3. User Engagement Data

Another great advantage of virtual events is the wealth of insights that can be gleaned through tracking user data. We can extract detailed information about the number of users, how they interact with different stands, how long they spend on certain content, and what job postings they view. A virtual platform can be integrated directly into Google Analytics, providing recruiters with all of the feedback and tracking power of Google.

 

4. Database Integration

The last important advantage of hosting a virtual job fair is the fact that the databases, job boards, and even login credentials of the event organizers and exhibitors can be integrated into the platform. This allows for new candidate information and CVs to be uploaded directly into an exhibitor’s database, with no additional post-fair work necessary. Say goodbye to spending hours with a stack of CVs collected from a traditional fair and doing this manually.

 

HOW TO MAKE VIRTUAL WORK FOR YOU

As you can see, then, not only do online fairs and other virtual events have the potential to generate a lot of quality traffic and engagement, but the statistics show that they actually do perform. The success rate of any given event, of course, depends on a number of different factors, such as building an effective marketing campaign to drive traffic, having the right technology, and generating good-quality content. Clearly, though, when done right, they can be a great way to:

  • Reach a broader talent pool
  • Reduce costs and maximize your ROI
  • Generate detailed user interaction data and insights
  • Build a community to engage employees for training and/or mobility purposes

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Would you like to learn more about how a virtual careers fair or mobile community can work for your company? Then contact Imaste for a free consultation, and let us put our experience of hosting over 150 virtual events to work for you.

Michael Keiter 

Export Sales Manager

[email protected]

Imaste, the Mobile Events Company

www.imaste-ips.com

 

You can follow Mike at:

Twitter: @m_keiter

LinkedIn: michaelkeiter

 

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