Virtual Career Fairs: A Guide for Students
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Virtual Career Fairs: An FAQ guide for Students This guide features top tips for before, during and after a virtual careers fair, from booking on to the event, to researching attending employers, to standing out from the crowd with an impactful elevator pitch. If you still have any questions about the event, you can get in touch with us by: Telephone: 020 75945 8024 Email: careersevents@imperial.ac.uk The Events Team, Imperial Career Service
Top tips: • • • • •
Check out this guide to get clued up on Virtual Career Fairs and what you can expect Use this guide to help you as you research employers ahead of the Fair Ensure your meeting technology is working as expected – tick off the items on this checklist to make sure you’re ready to go! Take look at this example elevator pitch to help you introduce yourself to employers We recommend you plan which Group Chat sessions you wish to attend in advance and note down the timings of the sessions you’re interested in such that you can fit these around your 121-meeting schedule.
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Table of Contents Virtual Career Fairs: An FAQ guide for Students .............................................................................. 1 Top tips:................................................................................................................................................................. 2 What can I do at a Virtual Career Fair? ............................................................................................ 4 How do I register/book for a Career Fair? ....................................................................................... 5 How do I enter the event? ........................................................................................................................ 7 I want to book a group chat or 1-2-1 but the “book” button does not work. ........... 13 Do I get a reminder for 1-2-1 or group chat bookings? ......................................................... 13 Do I have to turn on my camera during a 121 meeting? ...................................................... 15 Do I get an email or meeting invite for my 121 bookings? .................................................. 15 What information is shared with employers? ............................................................................ 16 How do I view an employer’s promoted job opportunities?............................................. 17 I have “saved an opportunity” for later. Where do I find this?.......................................... 18 Why can’t I see any opportunities for an exhibitor?............................................................... 18 What can I access after the event? ................................................................................................... 19 When do I give feedback? ...................................................................................................................... 19 How do I ask a question about the event? ................................................................................... 19 What happens if my internet connection drops during the event or I log out of the platform? ................................................................................................................................................. 20
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What can I do at a Virtual Career Fair? Careers Fairs give you the opportunity to meet a number of employers, postgraduate course providers and/or careers advisers all in one place on the same day. Through your University Careers platform there’s lots that you can get involved with at a Virtual Career Fair. Here’s just some of the things you’ll find: • •
The Event Hall home page – including featured information from your university The list of Exhibitors – you can click into each Exhibitor Stand to: o View the Employer’s profile o View and join the Employer’s group chats - be sure to make note of the Group Chat times and what is covered in the session, so you can pick and choose which Group Chats you’d like to go to and when! o View, book and join 121s with representatives from the employer o View and Save job opportunities
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How do I register/book for a Career Fair? Once you’ve found a Career Fair that you’d like to attend, registering is simple a two-step process. On the Event Details page, click ‘Register’:
You will then be taken to the ‘Bookings’ section. From here you can ‘Book’ the slot you wish to attend:
(Note: Some events may feature multiple days and slots that you can book) You will receive an email notification and/or calendar meeting request to confirm your booking.
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Do I need to book/register for the event in advance? We recommend you book onto the Career Fair as far in advance as possible as this will give you plenty of time to research the employers that are attending, book 121 slots, and plan your day. To get the most of your time at the Career Fair you should prepare the questions you have for employer representatives and have an ‘elevator pitch’ to help you stand out from the crowd/ If you only come across the Career Fair on the day then don’t worry, it is usually possible to book the event on the day – you just need to register/book as normal, and then begin exploring!
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How do I enter the event? The Virtual Career Fair you’re attending may have an Event Hall in place. This is where you’ll find featured information from your university, as well as the list of exhibitors and your meeting schedule. You can ‘Enter the event’ from the Event Details page (note, you will need to be booked on to the event to book on to employer 121 and Group chats):
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How do I access an employers’ Exhibitor Stands? You can explore an employer’s exhibitor stand to view the employer’s profile, Group/121 chats, and promoted opportunities. You can find the list of exhibitors on the Event Details page:
If the event has an Event Hall in place you can ‘Enter event’ and you can also use the ‘Exhibitors’ menu option to view the list of exhibitors:
You can click into an Exhibitor Stand to view: • the employer’s profile • the Group and 121 chat availability • the list of promoted job opportunities
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How do I view/book a 121 chat with an employer representative? You can view and book 121 chats with an employer representative from the employer’s Exhibitor Stand. Once in an Exhibitor stand, select the ‘Chat to team’ option. The list of employer representatives appears beneath the employer’s Group Chat. You can view the employer contacts attending the event (including the person’s name, bio and job title) and you can then book a 121 chat with that contact by clicking on a available timeslot and then clicking on ‘Book’:
Once you have booked a 121 chat, the session with appear in your ‘My Schedule’ page and you will receive an email/calendar invite.
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How do I view, book, and join a Group Session? You can view employers’ Group Chat schedules from their Exhibitor Stand. We recommend you plan which Group Chat sessions you wish to attend in advance and note down the timings of the sessions you’re interested in such that you can fit these around your 121-meeting schedule. Note – it is not possible to book/save Group Sessions so be sure to go into the hosting employer’s Exhibitor Stand slightly before the Group Chat is due to begin in order to join. Once in an Exhibitor stand, select the ‘Chat to team’ option. You can view the Group Chat details and the timings on the ‘Chat to team’ page. The ‘Join’ button will go live during the Session Timings and when clicked will open the employer’s meeting technology in a new browser tab.
Note – be aware that the employer may host multiple Group Chats sessions throughout the event and that the nature of each session may be different.
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Where do I find my meeting schedule and how do I join a booked 121 meeting? If the Career Fair you’re attending has an ‘Event Hall’ in place you can view your 121 meeting schedule by clicking ‘Enter Event’ from the Event Details page:
Select the ‘My Schedule’ option on the menu:
Your schedule shows the list of your 121 bookings and includes the details of the employer contacts that you’re meeting with. You will see your meetings ordered by start time. The ‘Join’ button becomes available at start of the meeting and will open the employers meeting technology.
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Do I get a meeting invite for my 121 meetings? Yes, you will receive an email confirmation and/or a calendar meeting invitation for each of your 121 bookings.
Why can’t I find a booked slot in the ‘My Schedule Page’ If you can’t find a booking that you were expecting to see in your ‘My Schedule’ page, it is likely that this session has been cancelled by the employer – in this instance we recommend you try to re-book another 121 session with the employer event representative.
What should I do if I cannot make my 121 slot? If you’re no longer able to attend your 121 meeting you should cancel the booking to ensure that the employer representative is not waiting for you.
How do I cancel a 121 meeting? You can cancel 121 bookings with event representatives by going to the ‘My schedule’ page and clicking on the bin icon for the relevant 1-2-1 slot:
You will then be asked to confirm the cancellation:
Click ‘Confirm’.
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I want to book a group chat or 1-2-1 but the “book” button does not work. Please check if you already have a booking with another exhibitor that overlaps with the option you are trying to book. TARGETconnect will prevent overlapping or duplicate bookings. You may need to cancel a previous booking.
Do I get a reminder for 1-2-1 or group chat bookings? No, but you can check your schedule for the event using the “My Schedule” option. Top Tip: Have the My Schedule page open in another browser tab and refresh this page to keep up to date.
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Why can’t I join the Group or 121 meeting? For both Group and 121 chats you will be directed to the employer’s preferred meeting technology upon ‘Joining’ the session from the platform. If you are having trouble opening/joining the meeting we recommend looking at the support guides for that employer’s meeting technology provider. Please see the troubleshooting/support guides below for the common providers. For Group chats: If you are unable to join a Group Chat meeting it may be because capacity has been reached for this meeting. For 121s: If you are unable to click the ‘Join’ button for your 121 meeting, it may be that you are attempting to join too early or too late. If you are being held in a waiting area, be patient, the employer representative may be overrunning on their previous meeting. Troubleshooting/support guides: Zoom – check out this support guide Teams - check out this support guide Google Hangouts - check out this support guide
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Do I have to turn on my camera during a 121 meeting? This depends on the meeting technology the employer is using – most online meeting platforms allow users to toggle their camera on or off. You may prefer to communicate via voice, video, or chat only – most employers are completely fine with this and you should interact in a way that makes you comfortable!
Do I get an email or meeting invite for my 121 bookings? Yes – you will receive an email and/or calendar meeting invite for your 121 bookings:
Can I join more than 1 meeting at same time? Here’s some quick information on what you can/can’t do when joining meetings: • • •
You can only book a single meeting with each employer representative You cannot book 121 meetings that overlap each other You can join as many Group sessions – it is possible to join a Group chat whilst you already have a Group chat or 121 meeting in progress, so be careful not too open too many separate meetings... it could be tough to follow them all at once!
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What information is shared with employers? You can find the Event’s data policy on Event Details page:
When you book a 121 session with an employer you consent to share the following information with the organisation you’re interacting with: • • • •
Name Course Year of Study Graduation Year
This information is shared for the sole purpose of this event. You should be aware that any other information you provide via the 121 or Group Chat (for example when using employer’s meeting voice or chat service) will also be made available to the organisation.
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How do I view an employer’s promoted job opportunities? Navigate to an employer’s Exhibitor Stand > click on the ‘Opportunities’ tab:
You can filter opportunities by: • Location • Occupational area • Opportunity type You can click into an opportunity to open the details page – you can also save the opportunity if you’re interested in applying at a later point:
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I have “saved an opportunity” for later. Where do I find this? The opportunity is saved to your platform account. You need to go to your student homepage and click on the “Opportunities” icon.
Why can’t I see any opportunities for an exhibitor? The platform exhibitors to select opportunities to promote at an event. If an employer has not promoted any opportunities, then this tab does not display:
Check out the Opportunities Search (Search > Opportunities) for the full listing of opportunities.
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What can I access after the event? Just because the event has finished that doesn’t mean you can’t access all the great information and resources from the Fair. You can find the event from the Events icon on the platform homepage:
Click into the event to view: • • •
The participating employers, including their stands with information on: o The employer’s profile o Promoted opportunities Any attached resources The list of employer representatives you met with during 121s
When do I give feedback? You may be emailed during the event to give feedback on how you found the event – keep an eye out on your emails for an invitation to give feedback.
How do I ask a question about the event? You can ask the Careers Team a question about the event, by clicking on the question mark icon on the Event Details page:
This will open the My Queries area where you can send a message.
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What happens if my internet connection drops during the event or I log out of the platform? You can log back into your Career platform and re-enter the event as long as the event is still running. Please note that access to the event closes at the scheduled event end time, so you will not be able to join Group/121 Chats after the event after the end time.
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