7 Mistakes to Avoid When Hosting a Virtual or Hybrid Job Fair

For companies and organizations, the past two years have been difficult. Nowadays, it is even more crucial for businesses to plan in advance and respond to unexpected situations as efficiently as possible. Hosting a virtual event is one thing that will surely still be in demand in 2022. Virtual events started to become needed towards the beginning of the pandemic. Even in a COVID-19-free world, their cost- and user-friendly form will probably keep them in the market. However, we discovered that hybrid events offer us the best of both worlds.

Even if it is not your first time planning a virtual job fair, there are a few things to keep in mind that could make a promising event into a forgettable.

Insufficient planning of the virtual or hybrid job fair

It can be challenging to host a virtual event. It calls for a great deal of planning and coordination. The worst thing you can do is to put off event planning until the very last minute. When hosting a job fair, you should consider recruiters' busy schedules and need to contact them soon as possible. That means at least 4 to 6 months in advance. Fewer employers will likely attend your fair if you do not get it on their calendars. Time is also an important factor when booking a venue for your event. Planning ahead of time is necessary if you don't want to settle for your second or third choice. A proper venue is essential for the event's future planning. That is why you should start planning early to ensure you find the ideal one. In addition, having more time allows you to make any necessary improvements. Not everything will go as expected. When you plan well enough in advance, you have enough time to make needed changes.

Choosing an unsuitable virtual job fair platform

The first thing on your job fair planning checklist is finding a suitable virtual job fair platform. Many virtual event platforms on the market cater to a global clientele. Not all of them, though, offer the features you require. If you plan to conduct a virtual event in 2022, keep in mind that you will need software that can handle all of your event's requirements. And then some more!

Make a note of all the virtual job fair features you are looking for, and then compare the platforms until you find the best virtual job fair software for you. Don't simply choose the cheapest or first solution you find. Another good idea is to write down a list of questions you should ask before choosing your virtual job fair platform.

The b2match virtual job fair software offers a broad range of features to help you host amazing virtual job fairs. That includes meeting features, live streaming, live invitations, post-event questionnaires, and meeting feedback. The b2match top-notch customer success team does a quality check on an event before it is published to ensure everything is properly configurated. The technological setup of a virtual event must function flawlessly.

The software may be used to manage a career fair's whole life cycle, whether in-person, virtual, or hybrid. In addition to providing a wide range of configurable tools that increase the number of meetings and connect employers to the top candidates, b2match hybrid job fair platform focuses on event matchmaking. Its features include integrated video meetings, chats, rich participant profiles, a job board with recruiter offers, branded corporate pages, and more. The AI Meeting Recommender will help your participants find the perfect match. The system uses machine learning algorithms that process a large amount of information to offer interesting profiles to each user. As a result, there is an increase in engagement, and the interviews are of excellent quality.

When hosting a virtual or hybrid job fair, the biggest mistake you can make is to choose a virtual job fair platform without researching the features. If you pick the right one, you can easily avoid any other mistakes that may occur when utilizing an unsuitable tool.

Not understanding the technology

You are essentially going through a technology change when you switch for the first time from physical to virtual events; therefore, you should familiarize yourself with the virtual event networking platform before the event. If you are familiar with the platform, teaching your sponsor and exhibitors how to use it will be simple. If you have never hosted a virtual event before, be sure you are familiar with the platform and the event technology. That helps to resolve any technical issues that may arise on the day of the event.

b2match online job fair platform offers you valuable and efficient product onboarding. Before you start setting up your event, customer support will make sure you are familiarized with the tool during a one-hour consulting session. During the session, you will get a tour of the tool, learn the basics, discuss the pain points of your event, and highlight what to focus on and what to avoid. The event customer support team will guide and support you during the setup process and advise you on how to create the best version of your event.

Lack of proper event promotion

You need as many qualified attendees as you can for a job fair to be successful. That requires efficient marketing. It takes more than just sending an email or tweet to advertise virtual recruiting events. Attracting top talent to your virtual job fairs is more of a long game. A great job fair begins with building relationships and expanding your talent community. To avoid scrambling when it is time to hire, you should develop interest and awareness over time. There are many ways to promote your virtual job fair. However, companies who develop a promotion plan that takes their employer brand and the preferences of their talent community into consideration typically get the best results.

Not following up after the event

A virtual recruiting event's aftermath is almost as significant as the event itself. Maintaining candidates' interest after a virtual job fair improves your chances of selecting the best talent, but that requires effort. Utilize automated systems to gather candidate feedback on the event, email them to tell them of the following steps, and to schedule interviews. Always let candidates know if they were not chosen to advance. Even if they don't get an interview or a job offer, today's job searchers value organizations that frequently interact during the hiring process, so it is critical to have a strategy for communicating after your events.

Not providing potential virtual attendees with a reason to attend

The newest innovation in the world of corporate events is hybrid events. Both the event organizers and attendees are unfamiliar with it. So, it makes sense that prospective virtual participants would be wary of it. Give them clear directions on how to participate, discuss the advantages of attending the event virtually, and demonstrate how they will receive the same benefits as in-person participants to persuade them.

Not offering virtual attendees networking opportunities

The majority of business professionals attend events primarily to network. However, when it comes to hybrid events, it is your responsibility as an event organizer to ensure that your virtual attendees have the same networking possibilities as your on-site attendees. Find strategies to encourage interaction between online and in-person attendees to make this possible. While meeting your live guests could delight your virtual attendees, this isn't the case for live attendees. As a result, encourage your live attendees by offering rewards or incentives for interacting with remote participants. Create online chat rooms and have breakout sessions where members of both audiences can interact, network, and form new connections.

Knowing the most common mistakes businesses make when organizing a virtual or hybrid job fair can help you develop a strategy to prevent them. When used in combination with best practices, this method will enable you to enhance your event, attract more quality applicants, and eventually hire better workers from each event. By avoiding these mistakes, you may also give candidates a better experience which increases candidate engagement and builds trust, allowing you to fill more positions in the future. Spending the time and effort to develop a plan that you may employ for every event you host will enable you to avoid these common missteps and enhance your outcomes.

If you want to learn more about how to host a virtual job fair, you should check out our complete guide to hosting a university virtual job fair. But if you are still unsure whether to go virtual, take a loot at virtual job fairs’ pros and cons.