Leave from home with a perfect suit up. Roar your vehicle in traffic. Search for parking. Propagate your way in the crowd. Wait for a long in line to meet employers – It is the way career fairs have always been.
Let’s make a full stop here! With so much hassle and downfall, traditional career fair finds a new wayside with recent innovation called – the “Virtual Career Fair”. Whether your family commitments keep you at home or you’ve tied up with other work, virtual career fair tips allow you to meet recruiters and employers to discuss your qualifications and their open position.
So, it’s no surprise that virtual career fairs add a whole new format to the mix. These online events aren’t new; they gained popularity back in 2010 but they took hold when COVID-19 make in-person/physical events impossible.
If you’re thinking about attending a virtual career fair, do follow these hosting a virtual career fairs which help job seekers to avoid certain mistakes and keep them going beyond the foreseeable future.
Table of Contents
- Virtual Career Fair Tips for Job Seekers
- 1) Update Your Profile
- 2) Research About Employers
- 3) Prepare a Few Talking Points
- 4) Make Sure Your Technology is Ready to Go
- 5) Dress Professionally & Find Neutral Background
- 6) Avoid Using Jargon & Unprofessional Words
- 7) Maintain Eye Contact & Demonstrate Good Body Language
- 8) Don’t Expect To Get Hired On the Spot
- 9) Reach Out to the Recruiter After the Fair
- Get Ready for Future Career Fairs
Virtual Career Fair Tips for Job Seekers
1) Update Your Profile
The very first step in preparing for the virtual fair is to, keep your profile updated and complete. Yes, check the basics like graduation date, GPA, work experience, job type, location, and roles are correct. Don’t let an incomplete or outdated profile, keep you away from getting discovered by recruiters.
2) Research About Employers
Once you sign up and update your profile, view the list of employers who are hosting the sessions. Check out their website and search online for their recent news articles and other related information. With all those information in handy, sign up early for sessions with the employers you like so.
3) Prepare a Few Talking Points
Employers generally wish to like more about you. So, it’s time to think of an elevator pitch about yourself like your career goals, previous experience, ongoing projects, and more. Practice a lot with your friends or family before introducing yourself to the recruiter.
4) Make Sure Your Technology is Ready to Go
The primary virtual career fair tips is, to make sure your device is capable of supporting all the necessary software for the fair. So choose your device wisely, check camera capabilities if your recruiter like to speak with you in person, and take headphones handy to avoid noise cancellation.
5) Dress Professionally & Find Neutral Background
Even though it’s a virtual one, dress up yourself in a good and neat manner to create a first impression with recruiters and employees. In addition to this, wearing a polished outfit will boost your confidence in time for the event. Along with this, set the place with a neutral and plain background to keep the recruiter’s eye focused.
6) Avoid Using Jargon & Unprofessional Words
It’s common to use the words like ‘oops, lol, btw, omg’ in chatting, but it’s unfair to use in a virtual career fair. So, one of the important virtual career fairs is to communicate with the recruiters professionally.
7) Maintain Eye Contact & Demonstrate Good Body Language
Like traditional fairs, present yourself as a self-confident and proficient job seeker. If you’re in a video chat with a recruiter, stay conscious of your body language. Also, it is more important to keep eye contact with the recruiters you’re interacting with. So, be bold and speak clearly with a minimum of hand gestures.
8) Don’t Expect To Get Hired On the Spot
Think of the virtual career fair as part of the hiring process because we didn’t know how many people were going to participate. Consider, if around 4000 job seekers are attending a fair- in that case, the chances of getting an interview are very less. However, there are times some recruiters may even secure interviews at the fair. If that’s the case, you’re the luckiest one. So, keep your finger crossed and don’t expect to get hired on the spot.
9) Reach Out to the Recruiter After the Fair
Yes, reach them with a personal thank you message and thank them for their time and eventual session. Why because recruiters from the career fairs reach out to the panel and come in contact with many candidates. So, you can use this chance to prove, why you’re a promising candidate and express your interest to work with their company.
Get Ready for Future Career Fairs
With this expert guidance in hand, you’ll traverse the new waters of virtual career fair tips with ease. Think about what you’d like in virtual career fairs. I think you’re ready to face challenges at your virtual career fair.