This article was written by Karli Lightner, a recruiter in the Dayton, OH office.

Since spring 2020, both college and office life have looked different. The days of in-person career fairs and interviews have been put on hold. Just like college and university campuses have adapted to remote learning, Reynolds has adapted to virtual events and recruiting.

In the recruiting office, we have been handling virtual career fairs on different platforms. The ones we use in Ohio are different than the ones used in Texas. On some platforms, students sign up for an online video session with us for 10 or so minutes.

Another common type of online career fair has virtual booths for employers and students can click on whichever ones they would like to learn more about. A chat box will open up and recruiters and students can chat about opportunities and job listings. If we are interested in them further, we can send over a Zoom link to continue our conversation in more depth.

One of the benefits of virtual career fairs has been the ability to see which companies will attend beforehand which allows students to research Reynolds and the other companies, then come prepared with questions specifically for us. What we would find during in-person career fairs is students would show up and decide on a whim who to talk to, possibly based on the visual appeal of the booth or company logo. Virtual career fairs have allowed us to have more fruitful conversations early on with students.

My biggest piece of advice to students about these online career fairs is to just go to them. You will be able to become more comfortable on video chat programs. Our interviews are virtual as well so a career fair is good practice for that. Talking to companies during these fairs also helps students gain confidence. By asking questions about the company or culture, you will know more about us before going into an interview. That can build a sense of confidence and excitement.

While our recruiting may be virtual now, we do not plan on staying virtual. Reynolds will open our office buildings up when we can, which I know is something new college graduates are excited for. We can’t wait to show our new hires and soon-to-be new hires the Reynolds culture.