Many organisations have used recruitment events to help with their hiring needs for decades. However, with recruitment becoming even more automated, along with the adoption of hybrid and fully remote work, it may seem as if in-person recruitment events are a thing of the past.

Yet, recruitment events offer organisations and their candidates unique experiences that cannot be replicated by other approaches to recruitment.

What Are Recruitment Events?

Recruitment events, also known as career or job fairs, are in-person events held by employers to help hire for vacant roles. It allows them to build their pool of job applications as well as kick start the screening process during the event, quickening the recruitment process. It also allows candidates to learn more about potential employers, discuss and find out more about their open roles, as well as expand their professional network.

There Are Various Types of Recruitment Events Such As the Following:

Job fairs: These are larger events for the purpose of bringing more than one employer and many job seekers in one place, allowing job seekers to meet with many employers at once and apply for positions on the spot.
Information sessions: Companies are able to give job seekers a better understanding of their culture and open roles through information sessions.
On-campus recruitment events: These are recruitment events held on education campuses, allowing employers to hire and expand their talent pool of students, upcoming graduates and fresh graduates.
Open house recruitment events, or on-site recruitment events: These events are usually held at a company’s premises and can include a tour of the workplace and meetings with employees, allowing job seekers to learn more about the organisation and gain first-hand experience of its culture.

Why Organise Recruitment Events?

Not only are recruitment events a uniquely personable approach to recruitment with ample opportunities for face-to-face interactions between employers and job seekers, but they also enable employers to better and more quickly evaluate a candidate’s communication and interpersonal skills. Recruitment events can also allow employers to put their brand and culture on display, boosting their image among job seekers which can help to attract top talent.

Besides also gaining the opportunity to attract candidates from a bigger and more diverse pool, other than through online channels, employers are also able to create a more engaging and unique recruitment experience for candidates, strengthening candidate engagement and their employer branding in the process.

Candidates also appreciate these events as they offer them the opportunity to meet their potential employers in person and ask questions in real time, helping them to gain greater insight into the company and the roles in which they are interested. They are also able to expand their professional network through these events. In the case of on-site recruitment events, which are held on employer premises, job seekers are usually given the opportunity to tour the workplace’s facilities, giving them a better understanding of the company’s culture and job’s demands, while also gaining a unique experience.

On the other hand, some employers may be a bit hesitant when considering a recruitment event as it can be time consuming to plan and execute, expensive, pose a logistical challenge, and may be inaccessible to candidates if they are unable to travel to the event’s location. A way to work around these problems would be to consider conducting virtual recruitment events which may be more affordable and offer a convenient alternative to in-person events. It also allows employers to reach a larger audience since attendees are not bound by their geography.

Yet, while virtual recruitment events may be on the rise, with even metaverse job fairs becoming a new frontier to explore, it can still feel impersonal since it lacks the personable, face-to-face interactions that only physical recruitment events can offer.

Recruitment events can also be powered by technology to help push down time and manpower costs further. For instance, using a technical assessment software like Litmus at an event can help employers assess a candidate’s skill level for a job.

Recruitment events can also be combined with video interview tools, applicant tracking systems, and artificial intelligence talent sourcing tools like Scout which can help source for relevant, top tech talent in one minute. It can be used to help employers source and reach out to a longlist of appropriate candidates for the roles available, and then proceed to use recruitment events to further finalise the pool of candidates to uncover quality hires, maximising the effectiveness of the event.

If organising recruitment events on your own sounds daunting, you can try engaging the help of an experienced partner like HackerTrail which has helped run recruitment events that allow companies to hire top tech talent in a smooth and fast manner.

Examples of Effective Recruitment Events

When it comes to tech hiring for roles that require specific, technical skillsets that can be difficult to find and hire for, recruitment events appear to be well worth the investment. Here are some ways employers have made use of recruitment events!

Bank of Singapore

Bank of Singapore’s recruitment event allowed them to meet candidates back-to-back, assess their skills, experience and culture fit in a structured way, while also giving them a platform to talk about the bank’s strategy and vision. The event empowered them to meet a larger number of quality candidates within a short period of time, allowing them to shrink the time between a candidate’s first interview and hiring.

GovTech

GovTech held a tech hunt for software engineers which comprised of a timed case study for candidates at the event. Not only was this an efficient way to assess candidates’ collaborative skills and technical ability, but it also offered candidates a unique and engaging recruitment experience that gave them greater insight into their potential employer.

StarHub

StarHub’s hacker hunt event helped them attract a large pool of quality candidates and streamline their recruitment process from end to end. The high energy event kept candidates enthusiastic about the job openings available to them and helped them feel more relaxed throughout the technical assessments that gave StarHub a good way to evaluate candidates. This event was described as a cool and unique experience by candidates, and combined with a friendly atmosphere, this helped them remain relaxed throughout the recruitment process.

Conclusion

Recruitment events can be an indispensable and unique way to attract, screen, and hire candidates for multiple roles in the shortest possible time. It remains one of the most effective ways to create a personable and engaging recruitment experience for candidates, offering employers a platform to share more about their vision and strategy, while enabling candidates to gain greater insight to their potential employers in person.

While recruitment events may pose a financial and logistical challenge to organisations, the decision to hold a recruitment event depends on the size of the organisation, the scale of the event, the resources (time, manpower, financial) at hand, as well as the types of roles for which an organisation is hiring.

Backend Technology Interview Questions

What Are Recruitment Events?

There Are Various Types of Recruitment Events Such As the Following:

Why Organise Recruitment Events?

Examples of Effective Recruitment Events

Bank of Singapore

GovTech

StarHub

Conclusion

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