Many employer, higher education, and other clients of College Recruiter are continually looking for new ways of engaging with recent college graduates and students. They want something that will stand out, be innovative, and allow them to interact with difficult-to-reach young adults in new and innovative ways. Enter our new virtual career fair solution.

Ever been to an on-campus information event where one employer delivers a presentation on their organization and opportunities to a room full of interested candidates? That’s what our virtual career events are like when we set them up with a single booth.

Ever been to a job fair where multiple employers have booths and they either talk with multiple candidates at once or one at a time? That’s what our virtual career events are like when we set them up with multiple booths. (more…)

If you are a tech savvy job seeker or employer, you might benefit from participating in a virtual career fair.  Job seekers can learn about employment opportunities, while employers can find the candidates they need.

Virtual career fairs are similar to career fairs but take place on your computer.  You can meet with recruiters, conduct interviews, and watch live speeches online.

According to ON24, the global leader in webcasting and virtual event solutions, one of the fastest growing applications for virtual event technologies is the virtual career fair. The total number of virtual job fairs produced on the ON24 platform doubled in 2011 over 2010 totals. In addition, the virtual job fairs attracted the largest audiences. (more…)

ERE.net just published another great article for those engaged in college recruiting. This article was written by Kevin Wheeler, President and Founder of Global Learning Resources, Inc.

Kevin’s article first made the point that college recruiting hasn’t been as easy for employers during this recession as one might expect for a variety of reasons. For example, instead of graduates looking for work like they would in a normal economy, many more have chosen to stay in school for a double major or to go to graduate school while still others have chosen to travel or work abroad.  Kevin then provided employers with the following five excellent suggestions:

1. Focus on brand building and on getting your best employees to engage with students in discussions, webinars, and in ongoing interactive conversations. This builds trust and starts to develop a relationship that can lead to high interest in a job offer.
2. Let managers do the recruiting. If HR is doing more than 50% of your college recruiting, you do not have an effective program. By using HR staff, you are adding expense and reducing the quality of the interaction that the candidate could have with a potential boss. Avoid the temptation of thinking that HR has some “magical” ability to psyche out candidates or do something a hiring manger couldn’t do. It isn’t true! No one knows the job better or can get a sense of whether a student might be a good candidate or not than a manager.
3. Don’t focus your attention so much on the school itself. Developing a relationship with a particular school usually means getting known to the placement office. This may have some limited value, but it is far better to get students to join your Facebook fan club or your Twitter stream.
4. Develop a longer-term approach to recruiting college students. Start your initial contact with a candidate when they are in their freshman year. Build an internship program and invite candidates in to work, even if only for short one- to two-week stints, so you can establish some face-to-face understanding. Follow up with email by offering them research help, mentoring via the Internet, or whatever makes sense and meets both of your needs and abilities. By the time they have entered their third or fourth year of school, both of you will know if there is any commitment in the relationship.
5. Use print, video, and even campus television to drive candidates to your social media and websites. Don’t waste time on campus-based job fairs. The best campus job fairs attract only a few candidates, most of whom have no interest in your firm at all. Create a virtual job fair that you advertise via the print media. Do this job fair every few weeks and keep up the advertising.

Source: 5 Tips for Getting Ready for College Recruiting in 2011 – ERE.net.