The Job and Career Fair 2021 has started in Estonia.
From April 27-30, the exhibition will be held online on the basis of the OnlineExpo platform. The fair format allows the job seeker to communicate directly with the employer, ask questions about the proposed place of work, pay and, of course, apply for the proposed position. And already on May 4-5, another event "Summer to work 2021" will start, which is designed for young people aged 16-29 years old. This fair will be held online only and now you can register for consultations and seminars!
The press in Estonia did not ignore these events, here is what they write about us:
Lost your job during the pandemic or just looking for something new?
The true digital age has arrived thanks to the pandemic. Even job searches have mostly moved online. No, this time it's not about posting a resume somewhere on the site. A large digital job fair started yesterday, and another one will follow in early May.
Currently there is no other way. Life is now on the screen. But even if the emergency disappears - some predict that the old "normality" will not return - it is much more convenient to organize a fair and also visit it virtually than physically.
As recurring/prolonged lockdowns blight the economic future of many, it's good to know that you can plan your work life and career at two major digital events now and in the near future. Both are organized by the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund.
On April 27-30, a job and career fair will take place, and on May 4-5, “Summer to work 2021” where young people will find offers for paid or volunteer work and internships.
Olav Kersen, a member of the management team, notes that the exhibition will actually be held virtually (on the OnlineExpo platform) for the third year in a row.
"This year we offer a total of over 500 one-to-one career sessions (such as career counseling and job and school interview simulations) and more 70 different workshops / informational lectures for both fairs.
A special feature of the Summer to Work fair is that in addition to employment opportunities, there are employers and organizations that offer various opportunities for young people.
"Currently any work experience is valuable because due to the current situation there are not many job offers for young people in tourism, culture, catering and hospitality business like in the years before the corona crisis,” says Kersen.
Seminars are organized by, among others, Peaasi.ee, the Labor Inspectorate, the Tax and Customs Board, Teeviit and Junior Achievement Eesti.
"As for both fairs, we are quite confident that even after the restoration of normal life they will remain hybrid fairs - some virtual and others contact," forecasts Kersen.
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Last year's Summer to Work event had 15,000 unique visitors, and this year the organizers are expecting more, with more offers and therefore more advertising, and a total of over 90 employers or organizations offering anything.
"I think that absurdly high salary expectations are by no means typical of young people, it can be in any age group. "Most young people don't have absurdly high salary expectations," says Kersen. “In general, it is clear that young people are ready to work hard. The desire to work, especially during school holidays and after graduation, exceeds all opportunities currently offered in the labor market. This is also supported by the fact that many young people lack places to offer.”
Livia Laas, one of the organizers, notes that the Unemployment Insurance Fund has been organizing such events since 2012, although until now they were held at the county level.
"Some time before the start of the pandemic - in 2018 and 2019 - the Harju County Fair, the largest labor and career fair, was held as a hybrid option - in addition to visiting, people could get acquainted with employers and follow the career seminar virtually,” he says.
Only in a virtual format and throughout Estonia, the Job and Career Fair was first held last autumn. Then it was visited by almost 25,000 people. More than 74,000 people attended the Career Seminar, which ran in parallel in two halls (general hall and employers' hall). 120 employers and partners participated.
"This time around, more than 150 employers and partners will take part in the exhibition, and we also expect more visitors than before," notes Laas.
You can watch the live broadcast of the career seminar for three days in a row, there is simultaneous translation into Russian. (See Program of events)
Laas cannot determine the exact interest of Russian speakers, because many also want to participate in the event in Estonian.
“In the previous fair there was simultaneous translation, but the number of participants in Russian is definitely less than in Estonian. However, the active participation of Russian-speaking people is evidenced by the fact that many of the questions asked of us during the fair were in Russian and, moreover, were primarily interested in interview simulators in Russian. ”
"We did not track the interests of foreign residents of Estonia separately. Since participation in various events at the fair is only possible in Estonian or Russian, it is more difficult to assess their interest.”
Both of the exhibitions presented here will be held on the OnlineExpo platform, which Forte talked about at the end of 2015, when the platform went live.
Surprisingly, OnlineExpo still seems today, years later, to be the only platform in Estonia offering virtual organization. Some competitors seem to be doing something similar but not quite in the same niche as OnlineExpo - for example, worksup.com, which seems to specialize more in conferences.
"The Unemployment Insurance Fund has the longest history among institutions that consistently use part of the web fairs," confirms Margus Tamm, founder of OnlineExpo. “Universities, for example, now have open houses online, but the emphasis is on video broadcasts, and not on the fair as an opportunity to stand out.”
How many events have already taken place at OnlineExpos?
“About 30 in total. In different languages and in different formats - fairs, webinars, seminars, conferences and just promotional events. We have technical solutions, a self-service environment and a support team for every format,” confirms Tamm.
In addition to Estonia, the company now operates in Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Belarus. “We have also carried out tests in Finland and Sweden. In parallel, we have several fairs in different countries and in other languages. The virtual environment allows you to combine them at the request of the customer,” he explains.
Will the big so-called contact events for the corona crisis ever disappear?
"In the world of technology, the impression is that they will not disappear anywhere. There are fewer of them, and the Internet allows you to minimize physical contact and deal only with what is necessary - by collecting preliminary information about participants and exhibitors focused on the event, which increases the quality of real events and saves a lot of time. ”
Tamm thinks hybrid events will be more important. “Today, online does not replace physical events 100%. The best solution is a hybrid event. But there are sectors of the economy in which online is just as successful, such as labor, tourism and technology fairs. It is more difficult to hold virtual fairs with elements of the festival, such formats are still needed by real people in the real world.
Source forte.delfi.ee
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