COVID-19 has dramatically impacted higher education, forcing institutions to adapt to online teaching in a matter of days. And we have done exactly the same from a Career Services and recruiting perspective.

The EFMD Virtual Career Fair Series by Highered is the newest launch to the Global Talent Ecosystem, allowing schools to connect their students and alumni with companies and organisations from around the globe, in a sophisticated job fair simulation environment that enables real-time interaction between recruiters and candidates.

The Virtual Career Fairs (VCF) kicked off on 24 March with the China-focused career fair with 153 participating schools, 54 companies and 1700 participating talent.

We launched the Spring Series of Fairs at the end of April with a general fair for EMEA and a general fair for APAC, which attracted more than 6,500 talent and 200 recruiters. There were more than 650,000 page views on the platform during the event and 200,000 views of the Virtual Fairground.

The average visitor time at the fair exceeded 20 minutes, which is double the industry average!

Join the upcoming Fairs

From the beginning of May, we are continuing with FMCG/Retail/Luxury – Banking/Finance/Consulting – Tech/Telecom/e-Commerce, Energy/Industrial/Engineering and Biotech/Pharma.

The Fall Series of Virtual Career Fairs will kick off in September and will see the addition of the North America and Latin America geographical regions, as well as specialised fairs including international organisations and start-ups, finalising during the month of December.

The virtual fairs replicate an actual recruiting event, where candidates and organisations alike can easily interact at sophisticated virtual stands, allowing talent to view company profiles/videos, chat with recruiters, view opportunities, apply for jobs and attend webcasts and seminars. Moreover, talent can upload their CV upon registration so that recruiters have all the necessary information about their profiles when they interact during the fairs.

The changing recruitment landscape

The current recruiting landscape reflects the trend for online recruiting, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The traditional way of recruiting is declining, because it is no longer efficient or sustainable, and above all, it is not sufficiently targeted or focused for either the organisations or the students.

Online fairs go hand in hand with the applicant tracking systems (ATS), used by more than 75% of companies and up to 98% of Fortune 500 companies. Furthermore, thanks to virtual career fairs, organisations can access business schools they have not previously considered, and talent from anywhere in the world. In return, students and business schools have access to a greater range of organisations than ever before. Using online technology, VCFs enable both recruiters and students to be much more focused and targeted. It addresses the problem of finding the ‘needle in the haystack’.

Learn more about recruiting & talent development in a post COVID-19 world with Amber Wigmore Alvarez, PhD. Chief Innovation Officer, Highered EFMD Shared Career Services and explore the benefits for companies, talent and the career services. ?

Register now for the EFMD Virtual Career Fair Series by Highered and join fellow schools and companies that are already on board!

The overwhelmingly positive response received by EFMD schools to open the Virtual Career Fair Series to their talent, as well as that of the recruiters looking to connect with prospective candidates around the world in a matter of days, leaves me optimistic that our graduates’ outcomes will thrive once again. It’s this kind of spirit that will sustain us through the crisis and beyond, ensuring future-ready graduates with solid employer connections.

As the pulse of the world will continue to beat as one to overcome COVID-19, we remain committed to our member institutions and corporate recruiters. We understand the clear need to assist in accelerating the matching of opportunities in the market with the talent in our network.