Presidential Management Fellows Recruiting Goes Virtual
Online career fairs save money and are more convenient.
This past spring, the Office of Personnel Management went virtual with a career fair for Presidential Management Fellows program participants.
The online career fair, which used a virtual event platform by ON24, linked up 600 PMFs with more than 60 federal agencies to learn about career opportunities, ask questions and submit their resumes for various PMF positions, said Tom Masotto, vice president of product management for ON24, on Thursday during a webinar sponsored by GovLoop.
“After various fellows are accepted, there’s a process that links them with different opportunities with the different hiring agencies,” Masotto said. “That would traditionally be done in an in-person conference, but that comes with challenges, such as travel to reach the conference, availability and reach of the in-person conference to the new college graduates who often have various things that they’re balancing. “
Masotto said one of the benefits of moving the event to a virtual platform was not only the cost savings and convenience but also the ability to have subject matter experts from various geographic locations who were available to lead training sessions and discussions.
Of the 600 fellows, 420 attended the online career fair, with 90 percent of those participants giving the event high scores particularly in areas of convenience and recruiting efficiency, Masotto said.
“Showing that the agency or government is really on the edge of technology and providing that cool image is important to attracting the younger generation of workers,” Masotto said. “Having that image of using virtual technology is a key aspect in the recruiting process.”
While the cost of virtual events can vary based on a number of factors, Masotto said the basic cost of a one-day virtual career fair or conference with various virtual booths and space for keynote sessions would start at around $40,000.
“It’s a very cost effective approach to running your virtual conference or virtual career fair,” he said.