How to Host a Virtual Hiring Event: Tips & Best Practices

When it comes time to recruit new team members for your company, virtual hiring fairs are all the rage. Not only does holding a virtual hiring event expand your reach among potential attendees, but it can increase participation amongst those who register thanks to the increased ease and convenience. In fact, there are many benefits to a virtual career fair that go beyond accessibility – staffers and employees enjoy the format, too. If you’re considering holding a virtual event for hiring, there are a few things you should take note of before starting.

Even though virtual hiring events are often easier to pull off than in-person fairs, there is still a long list of things you need to make sure to do for the event to be a success. First, you’ll need to figure out when you’re hosting the event and who you’re hosting it with. Then, you’ll need to decide what platforms to host the event, dates that will work for everyone, and how you’ll inform people of the virtual hiring event. But before we get into our tips for how to host a virtual hiring event, let’s talk more about what you can expect.

What is a Virtual Hiring Event?

Virtual hiring events, or virtual career fairs, are events where staffers and recruiters look to hire new team members for their company. They can be done on a small scale, featuring just your company, or they can be done on a larger scale by teaming up with other organizations.

Virtual hiring events differ from traditional career fairs in that they’re conducted online. Virtual career fairs typically take place over Zoom or a similar platform, with attendees receiving a link to enter the event after they’ve registered.

Benefits of Hosting Virtual Hiring Events

Many companies are turning to virtual hiring events thanks to the benefits they come with. Here are a few of the major ones.

Efficiency

There’s no better way to connect with a large number of prospective candidates in a short amount of time. Virtual career fairs give you options for interacting with multiple candidates at once, from breakout sessions where attendees chat with a speaker in a small group setting to group interviews where candidates are asked questions and assessed on the spot. Plus, once a candidate registers, you have their contact information for future nurturing.

Convenience 

Virtual hiring events are convenient for both hosts and participants. They can be held over a day or several days, allowing candidates to attend at a time that works best for them. Plus, no one has to spend time traveling to and from the event. 

Candidate assessment

One of the most complex parts of hiring for remote jobs is accurately gauging how well a candidate will interact with the team when they’re not in the same place. The virtual nature of an online job fair lets you get a feel for how a candidate might perform in a work-from-home environment, which is crucial when hiring for remote and hybrid roles. 

Affordability

The most beneficial part of virtual hiring events for the employer is that it is incredibly cost-effective. Holding in-person events is expensive, and there’s much more to coordinate between finding a location to host it, putting together the details, assigning meetings, and setting up individual interviews. Career fairs can help you maximize the ROI of your recruiting budget and allocate money that would have been spent on in-person events to other areas.

How Do You Host a Virtual Career Fair?

Hosting virtual career fairs or hiring events may seem complicated but it is fairly easy. We’ll go into more detail below, but to host a virtual career fair, you need:

• A virtual platform to hold it on
• An effective strategy to ensure it’s not a waste
• A marketing plan to promote it
• A way to follow up with the attendees

Steps on How to Host a Virtual Hiring Event

If you want the best virtual hiring event, follow our ten tips below with advice on things to do to ensure your event goes off without a hitch!

1. Pick the right virtual hiring platform

One of the most important things you can do when hosting a virtual hiring fair is to ensure you have the right platform. There are many virtual hiring platforms to choose from, and the best one for you will depend on your overall goals and what you need to do. Sometimes, if your virtual hiring event is small enough, people have success doing it over Zoom or Google Meet.

However, if you plan to host a more considerable virtual fair, then you’d probably be better off with a platform designed to host many people without flaws. Plenty of platforms will allow you to group people into specific areas and more, which is useful when dealing with dozens of potential hires. 

A few virtual hiring platforms that have been suggested are Brandlive, Brazen, 6Connex, and EasyVirtualFair. However, be sure to look at their packages from the perspective of your company, as each of these platforms has different features.

2. Plan everything out

When creating a virtual event, you need to plan everything out. First, start with a session with your recruiters and define your overarching goals as a company. You need to have a clear idea of what type of hire you’re looking for, but you also need plans for interviewing, getting to know, and interacting with each individual. 

With in-person events, some people mingle and stay occupied that way. With virtual events, that’s not an option. So, if you don’t have a seamless plan, you may end up with awkward pauses and candidates waiting in random virtual meeting rooms, which looks disorganized as a company.

3. Don’t go over budget

Virtual hiring events are cost-effective, but you may spend more on marketing than in-person events. This is why it’s imperative to start with a budget. It would help if you got the word out.

Your budget will depend on the size of your event, but you should expect to pay anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000+, depending on the platform you choose and your marketing budget. That being said, this is much more affordable than holding the event in person.

4. Put some effort into looks

Depending on the virtual hiring event software you use, you may have the opportunity to build out your booths or fairs to make it look like an in-person hiring event. If you’re working with other companies, have strict guidelines on what they can and can’t include in their booths. 

If you’re working alone, be sure your virtual hiring event looks professional. You don’t want to skimp on the platform or how it looks – remember, those attending are getting their first impression of you and your company from this event.

5. Hire someone to help if you can

Virtual events are different than in-person events–immensely so. Hiring an expert may be beneficial if your team isn’t experienced in virtual events. They can create a step-by-step plan to ensure that the event goes smoothly.

6. Start a couple of months in advance

This is an event that you can only throw together on time. It requires a lot of planning and promotion to make this work, so you’ll need to start ahead of time. Make sure you choose a date that is at least eight weeks in the future so you can strategize for your marketing plan.

7. Craft a marketing plan

Ideally, you’ll need at least a month to market your hiring event, if not more. The larger the event will be, the longer you should promote it. One of the most important aspects of marketing is to ensure you’re spending your marketing budget well. It would be best if you had enough time to do some simple a/b testing to look at how your ads are performing and where they are performing.

Depending on your niche, you may run Facebook, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, Instagram, and more ads. Each business performs best on different platforms, so look at your target audience. If you haven’t worked in marketing before or don’t have a marketing team member, you’ll want to hire someone for this. Marketing your virtual hiring event will determine whether or not it’s a success, so this is not something to skimp on.

8. Run a test

Chances are, you will be working on a brand-new platform you aren’t too familiar with. Because of this, you must run tests beforehand. Have your current employees sign up for accounts and attend a mock virtual hiring event. 

9. Stick to the schedule

When you have your virtual hiring event, ensure you stick to the schedule. Since this is a virtual event, it’s easy to lose track of time when talking to specific candidates. Most people have things to do outside of this event, so remember that they won’t be able to spend hours beyond the schedule stated in the ads.

Be respectful of others’ time. That’s why making a schedule and doing the mock hiring event is important to ensure you give yourself enough time with the schedule you have laid out.

10. Follow up with your candidates

Finally, after your successful virtual hiring event, you must follow up with your candidates, even the ones you aren’t hiring. It’s important to let those know they won’t be going through the next step in the hiring process so they aren’t left waiting for a response.

Hosting your virtual hiring event may sound like a long process, but it’s gratifying! Virtual hiring events will allow you to interview diverse candidates cost-effectively. With these tips at the forefront of your operation, there’s no doubt your virtual hiring fair will succeed!

Related: How to Give Your Candidate Interview Feedback (Positive or Negative)

11. Analyze the effectiveness of your virtual hiring event

The overall goal of holding a virtual hiring event is to hire successfully while reducing costs. Assessing your results after the fact is essential to determine how well you’re achieving these goals. 

Some of the most important hiring fair KPIs to measure include:

• Attendance
• Engagement
• Candidate quality
• Candidate experience
• Conversion rates (attendee to application, application to interview, interview to hire)
• Cost per hire

It would be best if you also went back occasionally to assess the long-term impact of your hiring events. You can do this by examining metrics like retention and new hire success six months to a year after the virtual hiring fair. 

Recruit Successfully With Help From 4 Corner Resources

Virtual hiring is new territory for most businesses, so if you need help navigating this uncharted area, we would be happy to assist! 

Our staffing experts have over fifteen years of experience attracting, interviewing, and placing top talent quickly. We offer various services that can meet your unique hiring needs!