Cheezhead Recruiting News and Opinion

The second ChicagoJobs.com’s live virtual career fair on September 16 was all about the avatars.

Some depicted themselves as tigers leaping through a forest. Some were pigtailed youth with backpacks looped around their arms, while others were muscular superheroes with gap-toothed grins.

Because here, both job seekers and corporate representatives had the ability to create an image that would best-represent themselves while maneuvering through this virtual world peppered with company logos and booths.

Job seekers ventured into the main exhibit hall, where they were “greeted” by employers such as Alzheimer’s Association, Allstate, and L.L. Bean. There they could submit a resume or chat with a live company rep about current job openings. They also had the ability to click on a company’s booth and gain access to corporate literature, locations, and job postings.

According to Tina Krater, Director of Sales for Shaker Recruitment Consultants, who partnered with ChicagoJobs.com, a total of 15 companies and 170 recruiters attended the event, which registered about 2,500 job seekers.

Reaction from the job seekers about the virtual format vs. a traditional job fair was mixed, with some stating that they prefer face-to-face encounters while others lauded the event for its convenience and ease of use.

Ron Washington, an MBA student seeking an accounting position, said that he liked the format but wished there could have been more vendors. “It is very unique, and so far I am okay with it,” he said. “Although the reps seemed to be just pushing everyone to apply for jobs using their web sites; thus, what is the need for the career fair?”

Gail Bozeman, a job seeker looking for a position in medical sales, said that she enjoyed the networking room the most “because networking with people is my passion.”

She did go on to say that she prefers face-to-face career fairs. “I have better response when I get that personal one-on-one time,” she said. “This is more like, mmm, let me see if I like chatting with this person.”

But another job seeker, James Hobson, was quick to point out that you can get the brush-off anywhere, whether it be in the virtual world or in person.

Joe Shaker, CEO of Shaker Recruitment Advertising in Communications, who partnered with ChicagoJobs.com to deliver the event, said that ChicagoJobs wanted to connect their online audience with a virtual recruiting platform.

Shaker said, “The primary challenge in doing so was to utilize the right technology that would allow employers and job seekers to interact in a virtual environment in real time, with more than the standard benefits typically associated with an on-site event, including: branding/exposure opportunities, resume collection, ability to chat simultaneously with multiple job seekers, low costs, event reporting, and more.”

Shaker said they promoted the event through a variety of media channels, including promotions on Facebook, targeted search engine marketing on Google and Yahoo!, and email blasts to ChicagoJobs.com users.

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