Virtual Career Fair Tips | Career Advising and Experiential Learning

Caltech Spring 2022 STEM Career Fair

- on Next Steps Caltech (powered by Symplicity)

Before the Fair

Before you start the registration process, please confirm that you have information about your organization (website, industry, overview, etc.), and a list of all the representatives attending the event. You will need each representative's name, email address, title, primary video chat link (e.g. Zoom, webex, etc.), and alternate meeting instructions if students have difficulty (e.g. email address or work phone number to contact.) Each representative should have a unique video chat link. Your organization will have the option to host a group chat. If you wish to do that, please have the group chat schedule available - the period(s) that a rep will be available in the group video chat room, and the unique group video chat link (e.g. Zoom, webex, etc.)
You will have the option to post an opportunity connected with your recruiting at the virtual career fair. Please have all the job/internship information ready to add during the registration process.
To register: Log into your Next Steps Caltech account and click Events > Career Fairs > Caltech 2022 Spring STEM Career Fair from the left-hand menu. If you don't have a Next Steps Caltech account, please click on the Sign Up option to open a free account.
Make sure to confirm your external meeting information for individual representatives and the group chat. It's very important to hyperlink the URL (use the insert/edit link button) so that it's easier and less time consuming for students to jump into chats.
Representatives will have access to the fair 60 minutes before it starts.

During the Fair

Once you have joined the fair, set your status to "Online". Start your video chat meeting using the same video link provided in Chat instructions and keep your video meeting running for the entire length of the fair.
During the fair, make sure you have two browser windows opened side-by-side, one for the video chat meeting, and one for Next Steps Caltech where your chat queue and feedback is managed.
When the fair starts, you will see students joining your queue.
Select the student at the top of the list, unless the student is already video chatting with another representative from your company. It may take a few minutes for a student to join your video chat.
When you start a video chat with a student, a timer will appear which will count down from the maximum time set for a chat to zero. When time is up, you will see an alert pop up on your screen.
When you finish the chat, click "End Chat" (on the Next Steps Caltech screen), and dismiss the participant from the video chat meeting.
After dismissing the previous participant, you can go back to your queue on Next Steps Caltech and invite the next participant to chat.
You can take notes through Next Steps Caltech. This information is for your review after the fair - it will not be shared with participants.
If you need to step away for a short break, please set your status to Busy.
Before you leave the fair, set your status to Offline to clear your queue and chat activity.
Internet Explorer is no longer supported. A white screen/error will occur when initiating a student chat if IE is used. Please use a different browser.
If you need to reach a CAEL staff member during the event, click on "Help and Information" on the main career fair page. The message will include a link to a Zoom video chat room hosted by CAEL staff.

After the Fair

Review your notes and follow up with participants as appropriate.