Recruitment in the 21st century has become heavily digitalised. There are job boards, cv banks, recruitment/advertising agencies, social media platforms, the list is endless.
Of course, there are many perks to applying for and finding work this way. Its quick, easy and there is no shortage of options. However, there are also glaring limitations, nothing more apparent than the most common issue of all; “I never hear back from my online application”.
Enter the knight in shining armour, face-to-face recruitment. It is classed as “old-fashioned” nowadays, but it is still prominent and desperately sought after by recruiters and job seekers alike. See below some of the key advantages, and why face-to-face recruitment is still important, even in 2021:
1. Put a face to a name – whether you are attending a Job Fair, or maybe you have popped into a company specific “career day”. The element of handing over your CV in person is like gold dust to a job seeker. As much as online applications are easy, there is no better way to make a great first impression, than doing it in the flesh!
2. First impressions – in today’s day and age, it is sad and unfortunately true that many star candidates are not even considered for interviews due to the CV they have submitted online. At a live face-to-face event, you are given the opportunity to prove why you ARE the perfect fit for an organisation. It is also an ideal chance for an employer to gauge whether your personality and skills are correct for their existing teams’ dynamics.
3. Save time! – face-to-face recruitment is a fantastic way to speed up the recruitment process. Whether you are a job hunter, who was interested in a job to begin with but after a chat with the HR Rep attending on the day, decided it is not for you. Or you are a company, and you find that absolute peach of a candidate at the event, you can conduct interviews on the spot. Make the event the first interview, or maybe even the only interview based on the qualities each candidate possesses!
4. Networking – more for the recruiter than the job seeker but can easily apply to both! Face-to-face events can provide the opportunity to set up new partnerships (business) or gain useful tips from other people about jobs that may be right for you (job seeker) via word of mouth.
5. High volume – face-to-face recruitment can also be a great asset when recruiting in large scale numbers. For example, if you have a brand-new site opening in Birmingham with numerous positions on offer, the Jobs Fair hosted by www.thejobfairs.co.uk sees over 1,000 candidates in just 4 hours.
6. Variety – not sure what job you want to go into? Keeping an “open-mind”? A face-to-face event could be exactly what you are after. Attending your cities local Jobs Fair event usually sees numerous employers, both local and national brands, exhibiting from a wide-ranging number of sectors. You could be spoiled for choice!
7. Improve interview technique – not had much experience of doing interviews? Or maybe you are not particularly confident? A face-to-face recruitment fair is an excellent way to sharpen your interview skills as you will be in front of, and speaking too, a variety of different exhibitors on the day. It is a great way to build your confidence and refine how to conduct yourself for that all important job interview.
Face-to-face recruiting? It’s not going anywhere, anytime soon.