Virtual career fairs: Perspectives from Norwegian recruiters and exhibitors

The present work introduces virtual fairs, particularly the perceived benefits, challenges, and relevance of such fairs for recruitment and employer branding. These aspects were explored in a semi-structured interview with an organizer of virtual fairs across Scandinavia, and a focus group composed of Norwegian recruiters and exhibitors. The results of the data collection can be summarized in the form of themes that relate to web analytics, web services and optimization. The benefits of virtual fairs pertain to the (a) visibility and branding; (b) costs; and (c) analytics-based customization. Challenges of virtual career fairs pertain to the (a) lack of online engagement, (b) preparation and staffing costs; (c) lack of guidelines; (d) talent access and identification; (e) security and infrastructure; (f) long-term planning; (g) and inter-dependencies. The discussion summarizes the implications of branding and recruitment and the value they add to business, also noting how context effects may come into play. The article concludes by exploring the possibility that virtual fairs will complement or become the new standard in recruitment and outlines future avenues for research and practice.