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AGCAREERS.COM
AG & FOOD CAREER GUIDE
W
e’ve all heard it before. In fact,
we’ve all lived it! These past couple
years have completely changed the way
we go about our lives personally and
professionally. For those of us nearing
the end of our college career or who are
new to the workforce, our job search has
evolved from mostly in-person to mostly
digital and now, after the pandemic, a
hybrid approach that we are all trying to
navigate.
Though first born out of necessity,
virtual career fairs opened many
opportunities for both employers and job
seekers. Here are five lessons we have
learned from virtual career fairs and how
we can use them as we transition back to
in-person career fairs:
The Speed of Connection is
Faster Than Ever
While sitting at a computer and
logging onto a virtual career fair, email
and LinkedIn are quite literally at your
fingertips. Having this level of access
increased our speed of connection.
Instead of following up after the career
fair, you could do that instantaneously.
Now, we want to try to keep this same
connection rate.
Throughout the day, build breaks
into your day to pause and connect
with professionals on LinkedIn, send a
thank you message or email a digital
version of your resume while still on
site. Decide how often you would like to
stop (every other booth, every hour, etc.)
and find a spot outside of the fair where
you can stop, sit down, and put all your
focus toward making these connections.
The closer you follow up to the initial
meeting, the more you will impress the
industry professionals you meet. Plus, by
connecting and following up while still
at the career fair, you are less likely to
forget to do it later.
Digital Resources are Important
Most virtual career fair platforms
integrated digital resources beyond
just a chat or video: links to websites,
virtual resumes, LinkedIn profiles, email
URLs and more. Even when off the
virtual platform, having these resources
accessible is still valuable in the in-
person space, you might just have to be
creative in how you keep these handy.
To put it simply, make it easy to share
your digital resources with employers,
even if you are meeting in person. One
way you can do this is to create email
drafts with a subject line and your PDF
resume already attached. Then, while
you are speaking with a professional,
you can share your resume with them
during your conversation. While we
always advise to keep printed resumes
handy at career fairs, it never hurts to
leave both a printed and digital version.
Depending on the type of work you do
or your personal networking preferences,
you may have other digital resources you
want to share with potential employers,
like an online portfolio or a LinkedIn
profile. QR codes are a simple and
effortless way to send employers to your
digital resources. Use an online QR code
generator to create a code. Then, keep
the code handy on your phone or printed
on a business card so it is easy to access
and scan.
Career Fair Platforms Impact the
Time Available
Compared to in-person career fairs
where employers are trying to keep a
line from forming at their booth, virtual
career fairs typically allow more one-
on-one time to speak with employers. If
you have gotten accustomed to having
ample time to sit down with a potential
employer, you will need to reevaluate
your approach before returning to an in-
person experience.
To plan for a limited time with
employers, take some time before the
career fair to define why you are going
to the career fair. Are you visiting to find
a job? To network? To learn more about
certain careers or companies? Once
you have determined your purpose,
find a strategy for that purpose. Keep
in mind that depending on why you are
attending the career fair, the time you
require from employers may be longer
than they have that day. For example, if
you want to explore careers, you might
ask more in-depth questions that will
take longer to answer. A great strategy
for this example is to make an initial
connection at the career fair and request
some time to meet afterwards when they
return to the office.
Regardless of what you are trying to
accomplish at the career fair, an elevator
pitch is always a great way to open a
conversation at a company’s booth. An
Photo by Fauxels on Pexels
THE LESSON
HOW WE CAN IMPLEMENT IT
Lessons Learned
from Virtual Career Fairs
How do we go back to in-person career fairs?
by Kylie Farmer, Project Coordinator, AgCareers.com
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THE LESSON
THE LESSON
HOW WE CAN IMPLEMENT IT
HOW WE CAN IMPLEMENT IT