Anyone looking for a job in the past few years has probably attended at least one virtual job fair. Virtual job fairs are just like physical job fairs, but the entire event is conducted on the computer screen.
So what is a digital career fair? Exactly the same thing as a virtual career fair. It’s just a difference in labels.
Virtual and Digital Career Fairs
Why would a job applicant prefer to go to a virtual or digital career fair rather than trying to get an interview the old-fashioned way?
For one thing, it is so much easier for the applicant and the employer. Nobody has to worry about finding a building, getting lost in traffic, or finding a parking space. Students particularly like digital career fairs because they don’t have to worry about what they look like, and they can check into the fair on their phone between classes.
Shy people can really shine at digital career fairs. Many candidates for jobs feel tremendous anxiety about sitting down and talking face-to-face with a hiring manager. Young people today are more comfortable texting. They may communicate better in a written format where they have more time to think. When sitting in an interview situation a candidate must be thinking on their feet. The candidate must be able to organize a coherent sentence on the spot. Texting gives candidates more time to do that.
Benefits for Employers
Especially when an employer needs employees for their IT department, digital career fairs make a lot of sense. Computer skills cover such a wide variety of qualifications, it is imperative that employers find a huge pool of potential employees.
Each employer already has a functioning computer system and their challenge is to find the right people to take care of that computer system and to teach others in the company how to use that particular computer system.
The right tech person for the job might not be readily apparent. That person might be still in school or honing their skills at another company. Employers need a large pool of applicants, like there is at a digital career fair, so that the employer has a greater chance of finding the right person.
Time and Money
This is particularly good for small companies that don’t have a big budget for finding the right tech person. Digital career fairs are so much cheaper than physical career fairs. With a digital career fair, the employer doesn’t have to travel to colleges to try to find the right person. They don’t have to pay for set up and tear down at a location far from home. They have a chance to talk to many more people even though they are a small company.
Not only does the digital career fair save a lot of money, but it also saves a lot of time. Many times it only takes a couple of hours to set up a digital career fair online. Choose the time, decide how to interact with candidates and it’s done.
