COVID-19 has spurred a rise in virtual recruitment from entities that range from prep schools to major corporations. The practice of virtual recruitment is likely to continue long after the pandemic ends, which presents opportunity for promotional products professionals. Here’s a look at what’s going on with virtual and how to capitalize on it.

The Boom in Virtual Recruitment
The coronavirus has forced the cancellation of career fairs, school open houses and other in-person recruitment-focused events. And yet, the need to recruit remains, and so, businesses, nonprofits and education institutions have adapted and taken their recruitment efforts online in a big way.

80% of recruiting will remain virtual for the foreseeable future. (Handshake)

Consider: The Future of Work Survey by Cielo, a recruitment process outsourcing provider, found that two-thirds of businesses globally have successfully interviewed, offered and onboarded new hires virtually during the COVID-19 outbreak. The survey showed that 59% of talent acquisition teams have interviewed candidates over video, 65% have extended offers without having met their candidate in person, and 67% have managed new employee starts remotely with a virtual onboarding program. Read more about how to onboard virtually with success here.

Why Virtual Is Likely to Continue
For one thing, it can be more efficient and cost-effective than participating in in-person events. But also, a savvy virtual recruitment strategy empowers talent acquisition teams to draw from a much wider and deeper pool of candidates.

Take Under Armour, for instance. By instituting a proactive virtual recruitment approach, the apparel maker increased the number of colleges/universities from which it seeks to hire from a handful near its Baltimore headquarters to nearly 500 across the United States. Similarly, Box, a firm focused on secure content management, workflow and more, grew the roster of colleges from which it recruits from six to a staggering 629. That meant thousands and thousands of more students to choose from.

There are other related benefits that have organizations across industries keen to continue and step up virtual recruitment, including that it can potentially help entities achieve goals on diversity and inclusion.

The Power of Promo
Nicole Baker (pictured on the right) is immersed in the world of virtual recruitment. The account executive with Top 40 distributor American Solutions for Business (ASB, asi/120075) has been extremely busy helping education clients on their virtual recruitment initiatives.

“Right now, I’m living in the campus recruiting world,” Baker says. “Promo is playing such an important role in my clients’ virtual recruitment strategies. We can’t create an in-person experience, but promo can help create a positive experience with the client’s brand at home. It can show off the client’s culture. With schools especially, promo can help create the campus experience at home. It’s so important.”

For virtual initiatives, Baker says her education clients have been partial to branded face masks, mugs and “cozy” items like sweatshirts, socks and even food/beverage gifts like coffee. Typically, the items are sent in custom boxes that showcase the school’s brand. “The custom boxes have been the biggest piece that clients have loved,” Baker says. “They leave a huge impression and serve a function.”

Baker has been working on a project with a private K-12 school client that involves providing recruitment targets with up to three boxes of branded products. Each person who signs up for a virtual open house receives a box. Then, each person who is accepted to the school receives another box of branded goodies. Finally, each individual who enrolls is given a third custom box.

“It’s been a really fun project to build out and has allowed me to ‘wow’ my customer with kitting, custom packaging and great service,” Baker says. “The products are important, but the packaging and presentation are really what’s selling it.”

How to Target This Market
If you haven’t already, reach out to every human resources contact on your client roster and act as a consultant by seeking to understand what virtual recruitment initiatives they’re planning. Then, develop creative promo solutions that help drive the success of those endeavors.

Better yet, if your budget can handle the investment, begin with a self-promo campaign aimed at current and prospective HR clients and recruitment specialists at schools/universities. The promo can feature a custom box packed with the kind of recruitment-focused items you might seek to deliver to clients for their initiatives.

After the boxes deploy, follow up with an email and/or call to ensure they received the box and to let them know you can provide similar customized direct mail solutions for their recruitment efforts.

For those that are interested, act as consultant, understanding the audiences they’re trying to attract and then creating campaigns with boxes, products and graphics/messaging that will appeal to those audiences while staying on-brand for the client.

Be sure to network. Talk to current clients at larger organizations to see if they can refer you to their colleagues who work in HR/recruitment.