Remote work is trending upward, and is viewed by many potential employees as a highly desirable benefit. The remote work option opens new doors to candidates, eliminating the prospect of having to pick up and move to a different location to begin work with a new company. The shift to offsite labor also means a lot of money is saved by companies, as expenses related to a brick-and-mortar office often make up a hefty percentage (upwards of 70% in some cases) of funds spent on personnel.
The same principles apply to hiring events. If presented virtually, they are cheaper to conduct and much easier for quality talent to attend.
Virtual events have also proven to reduce biased hiring, resulting in a more diverse and inclusive workforce, which is a factor that many new hires say they look for in a company.
Here are four questions to ask yourself before making the decision to host a virtual hiring event. 
1. What Do Your Current Resources Look Like?
Remote hiring events are easier for HR teams to conduct. Though “easy” certainly isn’t always the right answer in business, current employment trends suggest that HR teams feel overworked, and remote hiring is a path to correcting this.
If your team already does a lot of remote work, there is a good chance that a remote hiring framework already exists within your company, making for an easier path to remote hiring events.
Time is an invaluable resource, and efficiency is also a major selling point for virtual recruiting. Removing travel from the equation can mean hundreds of hours of company time saved, depending on how many employees you normally send to in-person events. In addition to being time-consuming, travel is still expensive.
2. Is the Job In High Demand?
Virtual hiring events are great for attracting a massive amount of interest in a given job posting, given the accessibility of the event to potential hires. When conducted correctly, they also allow for easier data collection with digital surveys, and the ability to record each applicant’s interactions that can be immediately shared with other stakeholders in the hiring process.
If the job you’re offering is one you consider desirable, virtual hiring can be a great way to ensure you’re not limiting the number of qualified candidates you find. However, if it’s a niche job or an otherwise tough sell, traditional hiring practices may still be the answer.
3. How Tech-Savvy is Your Business On the Whole?
Even if your HR team is overflowing with tech-savvy personnel who conduct all their work from a remote setting, it doesn’t mean the entire company follows suit.
Conducting virtual hiring events implies that your company attracts technologically-inclined talent, but if this is not the case (beyond the hiring event), you may unintentionally mislead any potential hires who are seeking opportunities with more modern, tech-focused companies.
For some businesses, digital hiring was the only option at points due to a variety of unforeseen issues in 2020 and 2021, so it’s also important to speak with stakeholders about the long-term practicality of digital hiring events.
If taking your hiring process to the web is planned to be a temporary solution, there isn’t as much need to train your teams and invest in virtual hiring events. But considering all the “pros,” making remote hiring events the norm is certainly a conversation worth having with the members of your C-Suite.
4. How Well Do You Evaluate In-Person Events?
Even before a move to fully-remote hiring events, technology was becoming a more important tool in data collection relative to potential hires. An example would be companies having applicants fill out surveys or questionnaires on iPads and immediately being able to compile the data of those surveys. This tactic can be used to quickly eliminate some candidates and move others closer to the top of the list.
Traditionally, surveys were conducted in person. Video and audio recordings would have to be listened to and tallied up, causing a larger workload for HR teams. If this sounds familiar, your team’s data evaluation process might be outdated. By conducting fully virtual events, the ability to collect and analyze data becomes easier, and by using artificial intelligence and machine learning, the data becomes more robust.
Building a process for managing data related to hiring events – including a central storage location and a streamlined organizational process – will allow you to reconsider past candidates for better-fitting future positions.
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With an HR team that is trained and prepared to conduct events correctly, virtual hiring can solve a host of issues. The lack of travel expenses, a venue, and refreshments/food for attendees shifts the cost per person from “very high” to “almost nothing” simply by moving to a digital format.
The data surrounding hiring bias also suggest that digital hiring practices result in less bias and favoritism, ultimately resulting in the right person getting the job, regardless of any implicit bias that may result from a person’s appearance or interactions in a face-to-face setting.
It also invites a larger pool of potential hires, which really is the reason teams conduct hiring events in the first place.
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