Virtual career fairs have exploded in popularity over the past few years, largely fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic. As more recruiting and networking events went online, organizations realized the immense benefits of connecting with talent virtually.
Now, virtual fairs are here to stay as companies embrace more flexible and cost-effective ways to source candidates. Whether you‘re an employer looking to recruit top talent or a university helping students land jobs, choosing the right platform is key to hosting a seamless, successful event.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the top 8 virtual career fair platforms to consider in 2023 and provide insider tips to help you make the best choice.
What is a Virtual Career Fair?
A virtual or online career fair provides the same core utility as an in-person one, bringing together multiple employers and candidates to network and discuss job opportunities. However, everything takes place virtually through the hosting platform‘s features like chat, video call, virtual booths, and more.
Compared to physical fairs, virtual events provide unmatched convenience, cost-efficiency, and flexibility:
- Employers and candidates save on travel and logistics without location restrictions
- Fairs can accommodate more attendees and run longer with lower overhead
- Data and analytics provide actionable insights to refine recruiting strategy
- Specialized platforms enhance interactivity, customization and engagement
For these reasons, virtual career fairs are rapidly replacing traditional in-person events for the majority of universities and companies.
Key Benefits of Virtual Career Fairs
Let‘s explore why you should be leveraging virtual career fairs more in 2023:
Access to Untapped Talent Pools
By removing geographical barriers, you can source candidates across states and countries like never before. This means finding ideal talent for even highly niche roles.
Enhanced Diversity & Inclusion
Exposing your opportunities to underrepresented groups leads to more diversity in your applicant funnel and workplace. This also helps meet important DEI goals.
Improved Candidate Experience
Between no travel and flexible log-in times, virtual fairs are exponentially easier for job seekers to attend and engage with. This facilitates positive impressions of your employer brand.
Rich Analytics for Data-Driven Decisions
Robust analytics around attendee engagement, interests and more from specialized platforms empower more strategic campus recruiting and talent acquisition efforts.
Cost & Operational Efficiency
Without venue rental, printing, shipping, travel or swag costs, virtual hiring events enjoy much higher ROI. Plus, it’s faster and simpler for your team to manage events online.
Year-Round Scheduling & Extended Reach
Unconstrained by academic calendars, virtual events can run year-round to align with hiring needs. And with lower costs, you can easily expand reach to more candidate sources.
Environmentally Sustainable
With no participant travel or paper waste, virtual career fairs are much greener. This helps reinforce commitment to ESG goals around sustainability.
Clearly, the advantages of modern virtual recruiting are too substantial to ignore. So which platform should you choose? Let‘s explore the top contenders for 2023.
8 Leading Virtual Career & Recruiting Fair Platforms
Here are 8 stellar options to consider hosting your next virtual hiring event, career fair or campus recruitment initiative:
1. Brazen
Best For: Mid-large companies seeking lots of customization and branded experiences
Founded in 2007, Brazen optimizes virtual career fairs and recruiting events for talent acquisition teams through robust personalization and event management capabilities.
Customizable online hubs with your logo, colors and content help reinforce your employer brand to candidates. Then utilize real-time chat, video, and advanced prerecruiting to drive engaging candidate interactions.
Brazen also provides detailed analytics on event and staff performance to refine your initiatives. Pricing scales based on features and attendee count, but largely aimed at enterprise needs.
Key Features:
- Customizable online hubs
- Chat, video, audio, screensharing
- Candidate interest tracking
- Robust analytics & reports
- CRM integrations
- Dedicated event management
2. Premier Virtual
Best For: Universities and large companies wanting lots of visual customization
Premier Virtual focuses on delivering visually engaging, branded environments to showcase organizations online. Companies can emulate career fair booths, networking lounges, presentation halls and more with interactive features embedded.
The experiential fairs and events crafted on Premier Virtual feel distinctive and lifelike. Employers also benefit from rich data and Tampa Bay leads captured during activities. Fairs can accommodate 5,000+ attendees.
This platform is best for companies, universities, and event planners prioritizing high visual immersion. Enterprise-tier plans unlock the most custom layouts and assets possible.
Key Features:
- Custom branded virtual venue
- Interactive virtual booths
- Networking lounges
- Presentation halls & breakouts
- Built-in video meetings
- Tampa Bay lead retrieval
- Robust analytics
3. vFairs
Best for: Universities and small-mid sized companies wanting lots of customization
vFairs is an all-in-one virtual & hybrid events platform used widely for career fairs, recruitment events and campus hiring days.
The platform is praised forreplicatingall the core tangible elements of in-person fairs through virtual booths, recruiter chat/video, presentation halls, swag bags and more. Attendees even walk an auditorium path between booths!
Employers receive braned virtual space and appreciategreat data insights from attendee interactions. Streamlined logistics and basic events starting under $1,000 make vFairs great for more budget-conscious recruiters.
Key Features:
- Interactive virtual booths
- Video chat, Group chat
- Presentation halls
- Custom registration forms
- Exhibit hall layouts
- Detailed analytics dashboard
- iOS/Android apps
- Built-in integrations
4. Hopin
Best For: Large universities/employers wanting to combine recruiting and events
Hopin is an all-in-one events platform encompassing career fairs, conferences, seminars and everything in between. It‘s especially popular for bringing recruiting and professional development together.
The immersive digital venue allows moving seamlessly between various virtual "stages" like sponsor booths, breakout sessions, chat lounges, and external links. Native and 3rd party video conferencing powers live events.
Robust attendee engagement analytics help recruiters assess talent pipelines. As an added perk, branded backgrounds and swag are built-in features. Organizations of all sizes use Hopin, but beware – pricing is steeper than other options.
Key Features:
- Hybrid event management
- Integrated video conferencing
- Interactive expo halls
- 1:1 video meetings
- Chat lounges & networking
- Polls, surveys & live Q&A
- Integrated registrations
- Sponsor booths
- Detailed analytics
5. Communique Virtual Trade Show
Best For: B2B companies wanting interactive booth exhibits
Communique is a top contender for B2B and tech recruiters wanting to emulate interactive exhibit halls. Companies build personalized booths then engage attendees vie live video chat, content downloads and lead collection tools.
The focus here is recreating that trade show feel – allowing businesses to demonstrate products/services while interfacing 1:1 with prospects. Downstream integrations, analytics and custom reporting round out a complete lead gen package.
Scalable pricing plans make this platform suitable for SMBs and Fortune 500 companies alike depending on exhibit complexity needed.
Key Features:
- Custom interactive booths
- Native video chat
- Content downloads
- Custom registration forms
- Detailed lead analytics
- Surveys and live polls
- Contest management
- Robust custom reporting
- CRM integrations
6. TalenX Virtual Career Fair
Best For: SMB employers wanting a simple plug-and-play solution
TalenX offers an easy turnkey approach to virtual career fairs tailored to recruiters. Simply select your preferred date and focus areas, then the platform handles building the event, managing registrations and driving student attendance.
The browser-based fair platform itself is straightforward but effective for applicant engagement via text, video and screen share. Dozens of pre/post fair talent sourcing, screening and analytics tools round out a solid end-to-end value proposition.
SMB employers lacking big recruiting budgets or HR resources find TalenX provides nice bang for buck. Packages start around $3,500.
Key Features:
- Turnkey virtual career fair delivery
- Easy student registration
- Text, audio and video chat
- Screen sharing
- Candidate interest tracking
- University talent pipeline access
- Integrated talent sourcing & assessment
- Customizable fair platform
7. Big Interview
Best For: Remote video interviews + standalone career fairs
Big Interview approaches virtual recruiting from the video interview angle first, but can facilitate standalone virtual career fair events as well.
The browser-based video software is easy for recording interviews while enabling custom questions, rubrics and shareable links. This works nicely for high volume student screening.
Complementary virtual fairs then help engage candidates further through group video chat sessions and AI-recommended job matches. University partners benefit from promotion across Big Interview‘s 750K+ student user base.
Together the customizable video software and virtual fairs target improved campus recruiting and intern hiring workflows at an affordable price.
Key Features:
- One-way + live video interviews
- Custom & AI interview questions
- Virtual career fairs
- University talent partnerships
- Candidate interest tracking
- Robust analytics & reports
- Integrated assessments
8. Handshake
Best For: Large university career centers with lots of employers
A honorable mention, Handshake is the leading career network connecting ~700 universities with over 500K employers. Students access millions of jobs while employers tap into massive young talent pipelines.
In addition to online job boards, Handshake facilitates big virtual on-campus recruiting events. Think mega fairs with 100+ employers chatting, reviewing profiles and pre-screening students over 2-3 days.
The ecosystem provides great reach but less control for employers. Learning the platform nuances also takes more upfront effort. However, price and efficiency can‘t be beaten for high volume university recruiting.
Key Features:
- 700+ university partnerships
- 500K+ employers
- integrated campus recruiting events
- 6M+ student profiles
- robust talent analytics
- career centers ecosystem
- CRM & ATS integrations
This covers the main players that bring fantastic capabilities, configurability and user experiences to virtual recruiting. But how do you actually decide?
How To Select the Right Virtual Career Fair Platform
With so many options, here are key factors to consider when deciding on a virtual career fair platform:
Features – Ensure core communication channels like chat, audio/video meetings, screen sharing are included. Nice extras are virtual booths, content sharing, surveys and integrated calendars.
Customization – The ability to add branding, tailored registration forms, custom layouts and more promotes your employer identity.
Analytics – Robust analytics around attendee actions, interests and engagement metrics allow data-driven recruiting decisions.
User Experience – Platforms should be intuitive for all users and offer seamless navigation between areas and functions.
Support – Responsive technical support and an account manager contacts are vital when hosting large-scale events.
Pricing – Cost can vary greatly depending on features, customization needs and attendee count, so plan budgets wisely.
Integrations – Built-in integrations with your ATS, HRM system, teleconference software and other tools boosts productivity.
Focus on core utilities needed, then examine options with packages aligning to your budget and events scale. Securing free demos and trials is wise before finalizing decisions.
10 Best Practices For Running Successful Virtual Career Fairs
Once your platform is secured, what next? Follow these vital best practices:
1. Promote Early – Begin social media and email promotions 4-6 weeks out to build awareness and registration momentum.
2. Send Reminders – Use email, text and social media reminders leading up to and day-of your events to boost attendance.
3. Prepare Attendees – Share platforms walkthroughs, needed device setup, fair schedules and conversation tips so participants maximize time.
4. Train Staff – Conduct platform training with all recruiters, hiring managers and event staff to ensure smooth facilitation.
5. Overcommunicate – During fairs, use canvas announcements, chat broadcasts and standby staff to guide attendees, resolve issues and make announcements.
6. Create Buzz – Contests, games, giveaways and leaderboards make events more engaging while capturing contact info.
7. Spotlight Speakers – Sprinkle in prominent speakers, demos and presentations to add info sharing and energize pace.
8. Use Analytics – Track participation metrics in real-time to shift resources towards most engaged candidates.
9. Solicit Feedback – Ask attendees, recruiters and staff for feedback on what worked and improvements needed for future events.
10. Follow Up Quickly – Rapid follow-up shows candidates and promising leads you’re enthusiastic about progressing talks.
Master these tips for virtual events that attract, engage and convert top talent prospects consistently.
The Future of Virtual Recruiting
It‘s inevitable that virtual components will dominate more recruiting workflows moving forward across industries and role types:
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Video screening will be used earlier to replace phone screens, saving more advanced interviews for ideal finalists.
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Asynchronous interviews via one-way recorded video will accelerate initial evaluations.
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AI analysis scored automatically will enable fast shortlisting of masses of applicants.
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Immersive worlds will take virtual career fairs to exciting new levels, emulating offices, campuses and full ecosystems.
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AR/VR assessments will expand skills evaluation into simulations of real work environments and tasks.
Already platforms are rapidly expanding capabilities in these next-gen areas to meet rising expectations. This promises exciting potential ahead for talent acquisition.
Go Virtual for Greater Recruiting Success
As demonstrated, virtual recruiting delivers immense advantages while opening up new possibilities for sourcing and evaluating talent globally.
Specialized platforms reduce heavy lifting while providing stunning digital environments to showcase brands and opportunities. This drives greater applicant engagement at scale complementing modern, digital-first strategies.
Review leading solutions again that align capabilities and budgets for your needs in 2023. With sound strategy and preparation, your next virtual events will outperform in-person ones across critical metrics – at a fraction of the hassle and costs!
