In 2020, college classrooms have faced major disruptions. As the 2020-2021 school year begins, 27% of institutions plan to operate primarily online, with 6% committing to a completely virtual experience and 16% embracing a hybrid model.
For college career office organizers and recruiters, however, this year’s challenges also extend outside of the classroom. Traditional on-campus events are no longer an option. Organizers need to ensure that students can find jobs and recruiters can fill positions via virtual events.
But remote career fairs and networking events pose unique challenges. To succeed, they need to deliver a natural, engaging experience that’s comparable to an in-person meetup. Organizers need to ensure that connections sparked at the event are long-lasting and fruitful – even if attendees never meet face to face.
As schools and businesses alike explore their options, many are finding that the capabilities of their technology platform are critical to meeting these requirements.
Establishing a High Watermark for Online Career Networking
At Workstorm, we’re applying our collaboration technology to help colleges and organizations deliver forward-thinking and completely virtual networking events.
To help solve your current challenges, we’ve compiled a list of four technology essentials for virtual career networking. Consider them building blocks to a more memorable and secure online experience.
#1: Persistence
Many consumer-grade tools don’t provide access to chats or shared files after sessions conclude. For students and recruiters, this means application links, important conversations or critical contact information can easily be lost.
Persistent messaging and long-term shared file storage provide attendees with access to critical information after a session or event ends. Of course, ensuring that this data is stored securely by your provider is also critical (more on that later).
#2: Full Communication and File-Sharing Capabilities
Participants need a full array of options (voice, video, messaging) for communicating with each other. Likewise, they need to be able to easily distribute files and share their screens as needed, sometimes simultaneously. Virtual “hand-raising” functionality helps facilitate interaction between participants without creating disruptions. Attendees that are running late should be able to enter discussions seamlessly. Joining should be as simple as clicking a button – no cumbersome link-sharing required.
Without the right experience, attendees can become distracted or frustrated. And the event’s value can suffer for all involved.
Ideal solutions also provide a method for candidates, college officials, alumni, and recruiters to stay in touch after the event via secure messaging. Fostering lasting connections and meaningful relationships is one of the primary functions of a career fair. The supporting technology needs to make it a priority, too.
#3: Privacy
In the era of remote-work security failures and widespread data breaches, everyone needs assurances about cybersecurity. The technology you select should embrace stringent security and access control standards to keep organizers and participants safe.
Shared file security is a particularly critical consideration. Information such as resumes, employment offers and job applications needs to be comprehensively protected and kept private.
Workstorm is laser-focused on compliance and security. We embrace stringent security standards and ensure that our solutions comply with FERPA regulations for higher education institutions.
#4: Centralized Management
Event organizers and school administrators need the ability to oversee each participant’s experience. Your platform should provide simple methods to contact students or corporate recruiters; the visibility to resolve issues quickly; and streamlined workflows for connecting specific professionals, recruiters, students and college staff.
Critically, your solution needs to empower you to do it all from a single interface. Centralized management ensures that you’re always in control and aware of what’s happening during your event.
At Workstorm, we’ve worked with customers to enable comprehensive, real-time visibility of all current sessions, giving them a “bird’s-eye view” across all participants.
Taking Career Networking Virtual, Together
Bringing career networking online is an unexpected challenge – and it’s one we’re ready to help our customers solve.
We’ve helped a number of higher education institutions craft customized solutions. Our experts can work with your team to design pricing solutions based on your needs and budget requirements – whether we’re supporting a single event or crafting department-wide, long-term solutions. Our comprehensive, flexible and highly secure collaboration platform offers an ideal foundation for building an unforgettable virtual career or professional networking experience.
Keep these technology essentials in mind as you assess options for your events going forward. To learn how Workstorm can help make your move to virtual recruiting successful, explore our career networking solutions or reach out directly to our team.
