The Pandemic has changed SO much in the business world, but one thing remains the same. HR Professionals still need to deliver the right talent to keep the business moving forward.

Hiring events have been a lynchpin of this process for many years, but 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. Here’s how…

A well designed and executed virtual hiring event can provide the key benefits of a physical event without having to manage the potential complications of meeting face-to-face. This is why we see so many large companies, like Amazon, taking advantage of the benefits of virtual hiring events when they need to bring on more staff. How might your business leverage this same advantage to get the talent you need?

Save time and money by going virtual

Any HR professional will tell you hiring the right talent is expensive. Taking hiring events virtual is a great way of helping mitigate that cost and improve efficiency. Right away you can save on hosting costs, streamline the candidate process and save on employee travel.

Instead of these costs a virtual hiring event needs a platform for representatives and your prospective employees to engage through. There are several options offering broad functionality from video calls to application upload and candidate management. This lets you engage with and keep track of several candidates in different places through the platform, and receive supplementary information as they go through your customized process.

Taking an event online lets you appeal to a larger and more diverse pool of applicants, in places it might otherwise be difficult for you to reach or in numbers it may be difficult to fit in the average meeting room. This helps you find the candidate you need more quickly and efficiently. It also saves on the time, expense and fatigue of both your employees and candidates traveling long distances to wait in costly meeting spaces.

There are clearly benefits to hosting virtual hiring events, but how can you get started?

Planning a virtual hiring event

Hosting a virtual hiring event can feel overwhelming so here’s a basic checklist to get you started:

• set your goals. The most successful event plans always start with defining exactly what you want to achieve from hosting this event. We encourage our clients to look at their event budget and determine what will the event outcomes need to be to make that a good return on investment. What do you want your attendees to think, feel and do as a result of attending your event?

• design the experience. Now that your goals are clear and you have articulated the impact you want to have on your audience, it’s time to get specific about the event design. What kind of experience will get you the outcome you need? We love to think outside the box here and come up with new and exciting ways to engage audiences and deliver specific outcomes. What will the format be? Do you need guest speakers? Will the attendees be interacting with each other? Will it be one big group or will their be breakout sessions? There are so many possibilities with the technology we have available to us today.

• Find a platform. Speaking of technology, that comes next! Be careful not to jump the gun on this one and make tech selection your first step. This can result in paying for a platform that doesn’t do what you need or overspending on functionality that you won’t use. There are plenty of options for hosting your event, at a vast range of price points. Contact us for independent advice on which one is right for your event and your budget!

• Market your hiring event. Now it’s time to get the word out to potential applicants that they should attend your event. For best results, create a brand for your event that will attract the demographic you are targeting and advertise it in the places you know they are most likely to see it. That may include your website, social media groups, and job boards.. Create a branded event registration page where potential candidates can find out all they need to know about your event and can easily register online. That also makes it simple for you to track how many applicants will be attending and what they hope to gain from the event. You can also automate your pre and post event communication to remind candidates to attend and to stay in touch after the event.

• Create engaging 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. We suggest having a mix of pre-recorded and live content to maximize engagement. If your budget allows, include a keynote speaker that will be of interest to your target audience. This will boost attendance and engagement. It’s important to ensure that your content is on brand, professional and engaging. Make sure your speakers are well prepared and that they receive assistance with presentations and speaker coaching if needed.

• Make it easy to apply online. Maximize applications by allowing attendees to quickly and easily apply for the roles they are interested in directly from the event website.

• Evaluate your results. Allocate time after your event to review all the applications and contact the best applicants. It is also useful to send a survey to all attendees to get feedback on the event so you can make your next one even better. This is the time to look back at the goals you set in the beginning of the process and evaluate how successful your event has been.

Manage data effectively to find the right candidates

By drawing on a larger pool of potential applicants and putting the relevant data at your fingertips you can manage a seamless virtual process involving online applications and video conferencing that will help you meet your HR goals.

Virtual events can generate a large amount of data from interactions with attendees and when managed effectively can deliver valuable insights for your business. Hiring events are no exception and this is one of the reasons large organizations are turning to virtual hiring events to source the talent they need.

All new processes can seem complex or even daunting at first, but with the right tools and support these steps will help you find the talent you need to help your business flourish.

Ready to start planning your next hiring event? Let’s chat!