Did you know that you could attend career fairs virtually online? Well, if you couldn’t before, you better start preparing for them now because today, career fairs are being held virtually all over the world! You can sign up for virtual careers fairs in the same way that you’d sign up for a webinar or online course.
In this post, we will explain what a virtual career fair is. But let us first understand why these virtual fairs are on a rise in 2021 are?
The covid-19 pandemic has made the globe adopt digitization at a breakneck speed. Classes and schools are online, corporations are operating digitally, shopping is online, and what is more, even all marketing activities have moved to the digital marketing sphere.
Hence, it’s not a surprise that career networking events and fairs are also going online. According to a report, 80% of the recruitment will stay virtual for the foreseeable future.
Let us now understand what a virtual careers fair is.
What is a Virtual Career Fair and How Do they work?
Virtual career fairs work the same way as webinars. Recruiters and job seekers get on a platform together. This platform can be any virtual space, for example, it can be done through teleconferencing, emails, chatrooms, web, etc.
The key element is that virtual job fairs happen at a designated time, just like any traditional job fair. And the context of these fairs is that information is exchanged related to various jobs.
Now the best part about the virtual job fair is that hiring managers don’t just see your resumes, but they can interact with you and interview you on the spot and if you are good, you have the opportunity of landing a job right there and then.
While these fairs are on a rise due to covid-19 but hiring platforms like Careerbuilders has been holding virtual job events and fair since the year 2013. And let us add here, these events turn out to be very successful and people do end up landing jobs.
So next we will tell you how you can land a job at a virtual career fair in 2021.
How to Land a Job at a Virtual Career Fair?
1. Find the Career Fair that is Right for You!
To find the right virtual career fair, you need to do some research. So whether you are a recent graduate or a professional looking to switch jobs, you need to be actively looking for these kinds of events. Here are a few tips from us:
- Check with your college career advice/alumni department for any college job fairs.
- Follow your favourite company’s pages on Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter and keep a close eye on when they are hosting job virtual fairs.
- You can also find a lot of job fairs through websites like Eventbrite and CareerBuilder etc.
- Also in 2021, we see a lot of career-oriented online groups that cater to niches like tech or any particular job field. There are also groups for just women. So depending on your preference and field join these Facebook groups and slack channels. They are posting about virtual job fairs all the time or other opportunities.
Once you have found the relevant career fair you want to be a part of, it’s time to just register for it and participate.
2. Do Your Research
The second step is to research the job fair. Meaning, what companies will be attending this job fair? What kind of opportunities will be offered? Is it a tech-related job fair only? Is the job fair offering internships, contractual positions or full-time positions, etc.?
If you know which employers will be attending the job fair, it’s a good idea to search on them and get an idea who you are talking with. You can do this by checking them up on their LinkedIn profiles.
Make the list of companies, employers that you are interested in who are attending the job fair and prepare yourself accordingly. Research on the company as well, what kind of products they are dealing with? What’s their corporate culture? What is their vision and mission statement etc?
3. Build Your Resume
You must update your resume with all the current information. A resume is still an important factor today, even in the virtual fair. Employers do look at your resume, so you must impress them with it.
Here are a few tips for your resume building:
- Make sure everything in your resume is accurate
- The information must be up-to-date
- There must be no grammatical errors or typos
- My resume should reflect concisely on your experience, skills, and interests.
- Don’t add unnecessary details
- Pay attention to the layout of your resume, it should be easy to read.
- The content of the resume is all that matters to make it concise but to the point.
4. Work On Your Communication Skills
Since a virtual job fair is a direct recruiting platform, you need to make the impression right there and then. Attitude and the way you talk to your recruiter matters a lot. So you need to be on the A-game of your communication skills.
So work on it and make sure there are grammatical errors in your speech. Also, your communication will reflect your personality to the employer so there is that. We also suggest you ask a few questions from the employer too, so prepare a few questions for that as well.
Think a bit about these questions:
- What makes you stand out from the competition?
- How can you effectively tell your employer about your career life and experiences?
- Think of a sales pitch for yourself. What aspect would you want to highlight to your employer and how? So they would want to hire you
5. Prepare Some Anecdotes
Prepare for some professional anecdotes that can showcase your skills. For example, if you are interested in marketing, it is wise you have a story prepared to just relay that. This would work very well if you are interviewing with a real estate company, of course.
6. Close the Deal and Follow Up
If you get offered an opportunity you like at the virtual career fair, it’s important that you seize this opportunity right there and then. Also ask the employer, how they would like you to follow up with them.
Where to find virtual career fairs
- The UK’s careers Fair
- TARGETJOBS VIRTUAL CAREERS FAIR – Open to all students and recent grads
Author Bio:
Shoaib provides ghostwriting and copywriting services. His educational background in the technical field and business studies helps him in tackling topics ranging from career and business productivity to web development and digital marketing. He occasionally writes articles for Dynamologic Solutions.
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