How to host a virtual hiring event

The pandemic has turned the business world upside down. But surprisingly, one aspect that hasn’t seemed to change is hiring — it’s still challenging to find the right candidates.

Before the pandemic, the economic boom made it difficult to find available workers. Now, social distancing and lockdowns have made it tough for businesses to connect with qualified candidates. So how can companies source the talent they need during a pandemic? By hosting a virtual hiring event.

Virtual hiring events offer all of the benefits of a physical hiring event without any of the dangers or drawbacks of meeting in person. In fact, several large companies — such as Amazon — have been using virtual hiring events to fill staff openings. Let’s see how your business can benefit from a virtual hiring event and how you can set one up yourself.

Virtual hiring events save time and money

While many people long for the days of in-person hiring events, they definitely have some drawbacks. They are expensive to host, it’s difficult to remember which applicants you talked to, and (in the case of college fairs) you could get lost in a sea of other companies. Virtual events solve all of these problems.

Virtual hiring events are cheaper, because you need to pay only for the platform you use and the employees needed to staff it. You can also record video calls with applicants and allow them to directly upload their applications to the event so you can keep track of qualified candidates. Plus, if you’re hosting the event, another business won’t overshadow your company.

Using a virtual hiring event also allows you to draw larger crowds of applicants. People who don’t have the time to travel or are worried about getting COVID-19 are more likely to attend a virtual event. This increased candidate pool can help you quickly and easily find the talent you need.

Clearly, there are major benefits to having a virtual event. However, as with hosting any event, you can experience some challenges as well. How can you overcome these problems and make your virtual event a success?

The ins and outs of hosting a virtual hiring event

Hosting a virtual hiring event can feel like a massive undertaking. Thankfully, following a basic checklist can help you manage this type of project. Here are the basic steps:

• Find a platform. There are plenty of options for hosting your event, such as Brazen and eCareerFairs. If you want a more do-it-yourself approach for your job fair, you can use platforms like Zoom.
• Market your hiring event. To attract potential applicants, you need to let them know your event exists. Market your hiring event on your website, social media, and job boards to get the biggest turnout. Creating an RSVP form or registration form can make it easier to figure out how many applicants will be attending and what they hope to gain from the event.
• Create content. One of the biggest reasons applicants attend hiring events is to learn more about a company, so offer new content and information that applicants can’t get on your website. You can also allow applicants to download this information while they’re at the hiring event so they can reference it later.
• Train your staff beforehand. Creating cheat sheets for common questions allows your recruiters to focus on talking to applicants instead of looking up answers to their questions.
• Draft some application forms. Letting applicants fill out and upload their applications directly to the event platform enables you to collect the information you need. A template like this one from Jotform allows you to easily create application forms for your hiring event.
• Evaluate your results. When the event is finally over, your work won’t be. You’ll still need to evaluate the candidates who applied and reach out to the promising ones. It’s also important to send an evaluation form to all your attendees to find out how effective your event was.

It can seem daunting to host job fairs and other events, but the results are worth it. Finding the right hire helps you build a team that will help your organization grow. By following these steps, you’ll be able to hire the people you need — even during a pandemic.

Just apply online

Hiring is tough to do — so make it easier on your HR staff by hosting a virtual hiring event. These events allow you to draw in a larger pool of applicants and easily sift through them. You can also effortlessly collect essential information about them by incorporating online forms into your event.

At Jotform, we offer the forms and templates you need to host your hiring event. Instead of fumbling to answer applicants’ questions over email or overloading your website with job applications, integrate your application forms into your event with Jotform. Check out our templates and forms today.