Five tips for taking your recruitment events virtual
It’s no secret that the K-12 hiring market is more competitive than ever and the strongest teachers are accepting offers earlier in the year.
Hosting virtual recruitment events can help you level up your recruitment strategy by highlighting what makes your organization unique. Does your school have an exceptional SEL curriculum or teacher mentorship program? What about an attractive benefits package? These events are a perfect place to share the things candidates care most about.
They also give you an opportunity to build relationships with a larger, more diverse applicant pool. A great teacher who is open to relocation may not be ready to submit an application (yet!), but they are likely to hop on a Zoom call to learn about your open roles.
In a recent webinar, Nimble and co-hosts, Edgility Consulting, were joined by three K-12 recruitment experts. Here are their top five tips for an effective virtual event:
1. Invite others to share their firsthand experience
Fabiola Breton, Director of Retention and Recruitment/Retention Manager at KIPP Massachusetts, shared that having their HR team, Executive Director, and current teachers share what it’s like to work in the organization has helped ensure their virtual events are relevant and engaging.
2. Create a casual, conversational environment
Fabiola also said she wants attendees to feel comfortable and get the information they need. One way to do this is by having them join breakout rooms based on grade level/school preference so they can ask questions specific to their job search.
3. Drive attendance by co-hosting with another organization and including fun incentives
Bonnie Dilber, Recruitment Manager at Zapier and former K-12 recruitment leader, shared that teaming up with another mission-aligned organization can increase turnout because attendees get to hear from multiple employers. She also encourages fun incentives like giveaways and “invite a friend” raffles.
4. Follow up, follow up, follow up
Fanny Tellez, Senior Director of HR at Tennyson Center for Children, recommended creating email templates in advance and making a plan for reaching out to both attendees and no-shows after the event.
5. Don’t forget the data!
Fanny emphasized the importance of analyzing data after the event. One of the most important parts of experimenting with a new recruitment strategy is reflecting on what went well, what can be improved, and whether your event had an impact on your applicant pool.
Leveraging the right hiring tools is also an important part of the equation to make your virtual events successful. Nimble can help your team analyze the success of a new recruitment strategy and monitor progress toward your hiring goals. Within Nimble, you have access to real-time data dashboards to track applicant volume, the diversity of your candidate pool, length of time to hire, and more.
You can also use Nimble to analyze candidate source data and evaluate the success of your virtual recruitment event. By determining what percentage of event attendees applied for a role with your organization, you can make more informed decisions about how to use recruitment and hiring resources.
Ready to get started on your next virtual event? Fill out the form below to download our free virtual recruitment event planning resources and learn more about how Nimble can help you track progress toward your hiring goals!
