The Search Associates website facilitates communication and interaction between our member schools and registered candidates 24/7. In fact, 60% of our candidates accept an offer through the connections they make through our website. In our ongoing quest to make it easier for excellent candidates and quality schools to find each other, Search Associates considered the benefits of hosting a Search Associates iFair. We carefully researched, "What can an iFair do that our website does not?" After reviewing several iFair products, we concluded, "Nothing."
At an iFair, you can sign up virtually to meet the recruiters from your favored schools. Great! But this is where it gets problematic. You must virtually wait in line, and recruiters determine for how long. Search Associates' Web Developer Rob Snyder clarified,
"Some of the schools could very well be across the world. That means that if a fair runs for 24 hours, some schools will be on during the day and others at night. Candidates will need to be checking for 24 straight hours. Furthermore, even though you're standing in line, there is very little interviewing happening at an iFair booth. There is a timer running during your interaction at a school booth. A recruiter pre-screens the candidate and then set up a time later for a Skype interview."
Search Associates' Chief Software Architect Ed Sunder added,
" …and if you take a break, you might miss the chime, indicating it's your turn to speak to someone!"
During Rob's review of a demo of an iFair, he also noticed that recruiters have the ability to change a candidate's place in the queue.
"If you are in line, and there is a more qualified candidate in line behind you, the recruiter can leapfrog over you to that candidate. Due to the algorithm, you can virtually be in a line forever, for a job you might not be very interested in."
Search Associates felt that the format of an iFair would keep our organization from maintaining the personalized attention that is so critical to our successful process. "How could we offer advice and support at a Search Associates iFair?" We couldn't. Rather than work on occasionally-available iFairs, we decided to invest our resources in our always-available online presence, improving the capabilities that are used continuously by all of our candidates and schools.
Our website, searchassociates.com, provides the benefit of a virtual fair all day, every day—without the wait, but with the personalized attention. Some of the reasons why:
- Email schools directly by accessing any school profile, and each can respond when it is convenient for them. It is not just limited to a specific moment, which may, or may not, fit into the school's schedule.
- Choose from over 650 high-quality schools currently featured on our website that have met Search Associates' high standards in a rigorous screening process.
- Receive "Position Updates" every 24 hours automatically, to show you what open positions match your preferences.
- Schedule interviews, in person or by Skype, very conveniently through our website any time of the day by mutual agreement between you and the school.
- Connect 24/7 on searchassociates.com Our website is highly responsive and accessible on a mobile device or a tablet, enabling connections between schools and candidates all the time.
Our job fair networking connections are unmatched in that we offer the largest number of job fairs worldwide that recruiters and candidates have claimed to be the "best in the industry." Why?
- Organized Interviews: At our job fairs, there is a sign-up session where you stand in line to briefly meet recruiters. The recruiters will schedule an interview time if they feel you are a good fit.
- Multiple Opportunities: Search Associates offers 11 unique and exciting job fairs worldwide. We cap the number of candidates and schools who can attend our fairs. This allows us to keep the numbers manageable, in order to provide you maximum support
- Networking: Our candidates remark on how invaluable the Search Associates job fairs have been for networking, exchanging information with colleagues and like-minded individuals, and receiving ongoing support when needed.
The impersonal environment of an iFair is contrary to what Search Associates offers: the benefits of a Senior Associate helping you land your dream job, your choice of 11 job fairs in various locations around the world, and a website that has been engineered for easy research, which can be utilized 24/7 around the world.
