Today鈥檚 job interview is evolving. Companies that once recruited solely from a local talent pool are expanding their talent searches beyond the radius of their home cities, identifying top performers through virtual career fairs and diversifying their workforces through remote hiring.
Your college or alma mater is a great place to start when looking for virtual career fair opportunities. 好色先生TV视频 has held several virtual career fairs and typically hosts one virtual career fair a year. Be sure to watch our social channels for dates and register. In the meantime, read on and find out how you can prepare for this and any virtual career fair. And as always, reach out to Career Services for more help in your job search.
What Is a Virtual Career Fair?
Typically, when you register for a virtual career fair, you will have the opportunity to engage with a number of employers inside their respective chat rooms. Participating employers will provide a window of time as well as a list of posted jobs, as well as required qualifications or academic experience. By doing so in advance, they are giving you a chance to prepare and develop specific questions about specific positions.
Usually, you won鈥檛 be alone in these chat rooms, and other participants will be there asking and responding to questions. However, there typically are opportunities for private chat and some employers will be ready to conduct one-on-one video interviews on the spot.
4 Tips on How to Prepare for a Virtual Career Fair
So, how can you become one of these virtual hire success stories? Here are four ways to prepare for a virtual career fair.
1. Get your resume up to date and optimized
Unlike a conventional career fair, you won鈥檛 be carrying around copies of your resume to hand to recruiters, but you still need one. At a virtual hiring fair, a recruiter may ask you to send a resume directly via email or submit it via the company鈥檚 online hiring portal.
In both cases, you鈥檒l want to update your resume and ensure it includes these basic components:
- Contact Information
- Education
- Professional Experience
- Community Involvement (if applicable)
- Professional Organizations (if applicable)
- Summary of Qualifications
If you鈥檝e been asked to submit your resume through an online hiring portal, you鈥檒l want to be ready for the 鈥渞esume robots,鈥 Resume robots are Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that scan your resume for keywords and phrases relevant to the position, and determine whether it will be forwarded to a database for hiring managers.
While you already know that you should always tailor your resume to match the company and position you鈥檙e seeking, overcoming an ATS requires an optimization strategy. Services such as or can help you identify essential keywords that should be included within the text, so that a hiring manager combing the resume database for those keywords will find yours at the top of the search results.
2. Do your research and prepare to ask questions
Just like an in-person career fair, you鈥檒l know in advance which companies will be participating. Recruiters or hiring managers in the chat rooms will want to see that you鈥檙e prepared, so do your research by looking up the company and posted position online. You鈥檒l want to write down specific questions related to the job you鈥檙e seeking, and make the connections between the job requirements and your skills and experience.
There鈥檚 more. You can start networking in advance by connecting with present or past employees on . With the right connection, you can learn more about the company or even start a conversation with a hiring manager before you join the career fair.
You should also do some research into the company鈥檚 culture. Look for reviews of the company on sites such as , and use them to inform your questions.
3. Practice your elevator pitch and interview skills
In a virtual hiring fair, you may only get a few minutes to talk to a hiring manager, so you need to make them count. Rather than practicing your elevator pitch in the mirror, try recording yourself giving your pitch. You can also have a friend or family member ask you some interview questions. These exercises will give you an opportunity to practice your technique, overcome camera shyness, and receive feedback on your performance. Just as you would in a real-life job interview, you鈥檒l want to go into your . Before you press record, make sure that you:
- Research the opportunity
- Check your background and computer settings
- Know where to direct your eye contact
- Keep your notes close by
When the interview is complete, you should send the recording to trusted colleagues that can provide feedback on your performance.
There are multiple websites that allow you to practice your video interview skills, and you may already have easy access through your college. The UAGC Career Services team also works with students and alumni to practice their interview skills one-on-one career coaching appointments.
4. Dress to impress
While some virtual career fairs might be chat-based, many event platforms are able to support video interactions. Attending an online career fair requires the same level of professionalism as an in-person event, so if you attend a virtual event that has video sessions with a recruiter, be sure to dress to impress!
Here are some tips regarding your on-camera appearance:
- Dress professionally in business attire
- Consider wearing solid colors as they tend to look better on camera
- Ensure you are well-groomed
- Make sure you have good lighting and a clean, uncluttered background
Dressing appropriately for a virtual career fair can help boost your confidence and leave a lasting impression on recruiters and potential employers.
For more information on career advice or networking opportunities, contact Career Services.
