REVIEWS & OPINIONS Want a job? Launching a career? You may have to log on first Ah, the job or – more euphemistically perhaps – the career fair. The in-person meet and greet, a sort of more professional version of speed dating perhaps. The noisy ballroom, applicants snatching up free T-shirts and other assorted swag, nibbling chocolate cookies from the refreshment table, waiting in line for a few minutes with the HR gatekeeper from the companies on their must-visit list. For many right now, that’s so 2019. Or pre-March 2020. Nostalgic even. With COVID still surging across the US, many companies have turned to virtual career fairs as a hiring strategy. For example, The Exelaration Center, a software development company based out of the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg (with other related offices and a training center in Arlington) went virtual during Virginia Tech’s Career Fair in September. My son (a senior in the aerospace engineering program at Tech) said he missed pressing the flesh live, but NextUp Solutions (and Exelaration Center) CEO Steve Cooper thinks virtual career/job fairs are here to stay: fewer distractions for both the interviewers and the candidates and the flexibility of meeting people who may not be in town at that moment. “In a virtual environment it really is just two people talking together one on one with zero distractions. You can really get a lot of intense questions going on … in both directions.” Case in point, Exelaration, which hires 15-20 Virginia Tech students as paid part time interns every semester, was able to interview VT students (with backgrounds in engineering, math, etc.) that were back in their native India, with classes this semester online due to pandemic safety precautions. Also says Cooper – students can “line up” virtually in more than one queue and can jump into an interview when the first available slot opens up. “Once you make that contact the tension dissipates and you have a great conversation.” Cooper is also proud to point out that Vault (an online career advice firm) has rated Exelaration #3 nationwide for Tech & Engineering internships. Those hires help provide remote software development and support to clients in the federal, commercial, and non-profit sector. Live in-person career fairs will return to some extent once the COVID all-clear is given; we all probably continued on Page 37
THERE’S SOMETHING HAPPENING HERE By Gene Marrano Executive Summary: The virtual job fair could become the norm—at least for the near future.
Submitted photo
Steve Cooper NextUp-Exelaration Center CEO
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