The Keys to Running a Successful Virtual Career Fair with Steve Edwards | Live with Bottleneck
On this episode of Live with Bottleneck, our guest Steve Edwards discuss the keys to running a successful virtual career fair, and what planning goes into building it. We also talk about Premier Virtual, Steven’s company, and what pushed him to build it.
Steve Edwards is the founder of Premier Virtual, a company that helps businesses host successful virtual hiring events. Steven used to be in the Army, but when he entered the corporate world via job fairs, he noticed that it wasn’t getting enough engagement. Steven had a lightbulb moment, thus working hard to create a solution that would forever change the way job fairs are conducted.
If you’re interested in joining a job fair or creating a company like Premier Virtual, continue listening to this episode.
Who is Steve Edwards?
Steve grew up in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. When he graduated from high school, he joined the army and started jumping out of planes. He did that for 4 years, and then joined the Florida National Guard for two years. Steve then realized that it wasn’t a very lucrative career, so he decided to go to college. He earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology at Florida Atlantic University.
Afterwards, Steve worked in the mortgage industry and went into B2B sales. He traveled across Southeast and Southwest America to conduct events. After a few years of doing this, he realized that there was a major slowdown in the business, and people weren’t coming to job fairs. They preferred going online and applying virtually.
So Steve decided to build a company that focused on virtual job fairs. He launched it using his personal savings, and he got involved with the VMT, FAU Tech Runway, and the FAU Veterans Entrepreneurship Program. The 2020 pandemic launched him to success because people needed jobs after being laid off.
Steve Edwards on Creating Career Opportunities For People Online
After the success of in-person job fairs dying down, and realizing that virtual career fairs are much more lucrative, Steve Edwards decided to go online. He created Premier Virtual with the intention of helping businesses organize successful online job fairs.
Steve helped these businesses realize that there is nothing to lose and no resources to be wasted since everything will be done virtually. No tents to be set up, no food to be given out, no papers to be wasted.
A business could simply send the invite link to candidates, talk about who they are, what positions they’re hiring for, and set chosen candidates up in a personal room with a separate interviewer.
It’s an easy and efficient process that Steven created, and he felt the influx of people flocking to virtual job fairs during the pandemic.
“Our phone started ringing, because we had a virtual platform. We did events and then more events, and we decided to go after certain industries.” – Steve Edwards
This was what led to Premier Virtual having 7,000 virtual hiring events, and they had the largest job fair event in Massachusetts.
To know more about Premier Virtual and joining an online job fair, stay tuned to this episode.
Bio
Steve Edwards is the founder of Premier Virtual, an innovative company helping businesses host successful virtual hiring events. In this new hiring landscape, virtual hiring events are an essential component of recruitment efforts, and Steve and his team are committed to help usher in this new era.
After jumping out of planes in the Army, Steve entered the world of job fairs and noticed an emerging trend. In-person hiring events were getting less engagement. With Millennials and GenZers moving towards remote work and distributed teams becoming more prevalent, the hiring process was transitioning from in-person to virtual. With decreased engagement, companies were struggling to hire and retain quality talent. This inspired Steve to create a solution with Premier Virtual.
Connect with Steve Edwards!
Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube
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About Jaime Jay
Meet Jaime Jay – a man who wears many hats, and wears them all admirably. He's a master connector, an entrepreneur extraordinaire, and a published author who knows how to get things done.
Before he found his way to the business world, Jaime served his country as a brave paratrooper in the U.S. Army. But that's just the beginning of his many accomplishments.
He's the founder of the renowned Bottleneck Distant Assistant Services firm, and his book "Quit Repeating Yourself" has become a must-read for entrepreneurs everywhere.
When he's not busy building his empire, you can find him on his beloved Harley Davidson, cruising through the countryside and taking in the invigorating effects of Uitwaaien – a Dutch practice that involves facing the wind to boost health and relieve stress.
He enjoys spending his free time outside building stuff with his wife, Nikita the dog and their two kittens (for now at least) Tommy and Tater.
He is ‘over-the-moon’ happily married to his wonderful wife Sara, his amazing daughter, Jessica, who is serving our country as a United States Army soldier. Jaime and Sara are the proud grand parents of two beautiful little girls.
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