Online career fair streamlines process

Leave your suits in the closet and apply for jobs in your pajamas.

Yesterday was the first day of the Diversity Virtual Career Fair, sponsored by UBM Studios. The event brought 25 companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, IBM and several government agencies, and students from 27 different universities together in one virtual environment.

“The on-campus career fair is archaic,” said Kevin O’Brien, vice president of business development at UBM Studios. “Students are not being interviewed, not being offered a job on the spot.”

At an on-campus career fair, O’Brien said students simply meet the human resources recruiter, adding that 90 percent of the time the representative at the career fair is not going to be the interviewer.

“The handshake in reality is not what it used to be,” he said.

Tiffany Peery, Intel virtual recruiting program manager, said in a live web chat, “I’ve placed a lot of talent that I never met once in person. Intel is consistently seeking out options to identify talent in person and online. As the web technologies continue to advance, I’m positive we will continue to engage.”

Besides cost-saving benefits to employers, O’Brien said virtual career fairs are more efficient.Peery said she agreed.

“Students don’t like to stand in lines on campus,” she said. “In the virtual events, they can dive right in with questions.”

Students appreciated the convenience, speed and accessibility, Evonne Thompson, a junior finance major at the University of Louisville, said in a live web chat.

“There’s so many places that you can choose from that may interest me. Right now I am speaking to a recruiter,” Thompson said. “I just logged in and the recruiter came right to me and started asking me questions. So really, the recruiter is out looking for someone.”

Though the fair began Thursday, the event is available until Wednesday.

Students can still create a profile, upload a resume and chat with recruiters.

Thompson said she thinks there are additional benefits to the new system.

“You’re not so nervous when talking to the recruiter online. Coming here lets me know that with the unemployment rate still high, there are companies out there that are looking for people to hire.”