Hiring Goes on Through Virtual Job Fairs

How do you connect employers with workers when a pandemic mandates that you stay away from people?

Capital Area Michigan Works! found a solution. The organization held its first-ever virtual job fair, where 113 job seekers met with 29 participating employers, according to Carrie Rosingana, CEO of CAMW!

“Having some flexibility and patience goes a long way right now during a pandemic. … We’re really all in this together, trying to figure out how to navigate in a virtual environment for job-seeking purposes as well as for employers who are looking to connect with employees in the future,” she said.

“We heard really positive feedback from the employers. We had one company that reported that they made a hire in less than 24 hours,” she added. “We had some comments from employers that have said, ‘Above-average quality of job seekers; we appreciated the accessibility; candidates did not need a webcam, they could use their phone.’

“And then from the job-seeker perspective, we received feedback such as ‘I liked the ease of talking to people in industries that I may not have considered before, and it was nice for them to be able to look at my resume and actually help me make recommendations for positions that I should apply for,’” Rosingana said.

Rosingana thinks online job fair formats could very well survive the pandemic.

“It saves travel time, and it saves costs for people,” she said. “It could also potentially increase their candidate pool because it provides an option or candidates” from out of town.