We've all been told that a college degree guarantees success. With U.S unemployment at 9.6% and college students are facing a 19% jobless rate, college students are facing limited employment opportunities, a mountain of debt and they are being forced to reassess employment options as well as location. In today's economic climate a college degree does not guarantee a job, but there are many employers out there who are actively and aggressively hiring college level talent.
UBM Studios Unicruit understands how difficult it is to find employment and has created a revolutionary approach to career fairs targeted at university recruiting. The Unicruit virtual career fair essentially brings the career fair to the employer and job seeker. 
Today's youth live and interact in a virtual world and they rely on an immediacy of information available at their fingertips. They text, Tweet, Facebook, and it only makes sense that employers looking to attract the best and the brightest would adopt an online strategy to meet and interact with students where they live each day, online.
In an effort to introduce more students/graduates to more employers, Unicruit is partnering with the Big East Career Consortium to deliver The Big East Virtual Career Fair -- a fully interactive, 3D virtual career fair for students of 16 colleges including Cincinnati, Connecticut, DePaul, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Providence, Rutgers, St. John's, Seton Hall, South Florida, Syracuse, Villanova and West Virginia. This event will take place on November 10 and is FREE of charge for college students and alumni of the Big East schools to attend.
The virtual career fair presents an excellent opportunity for participating employers to showcase their organizations to thousands of students and alumni. Each employer will have a customized virtual booth that will include full branding, videos, presentations, job postings, chat, resume exchange and video interviewing. More than 40 employers will participate such as Verizon Wireless, Geico, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Procter & Gamble, Hertz, Aon, Memorial Sloane Kettering, General Electric, Waste Management, Sears, Progressive, Vanguard, ADP and many others.
The virtual career fair is just like a traditional career fair, except that it will take place online! It allows students and alumni an opportunity to visit employer booths, view and apply for jobs, upload resumes, chat with recruiters, network with peers and video interview, all from the comfort and convenience of home. Because the career fair is virtual, it is cost effective; time efficient and environmentally friendly -the job seeker will only need a high speed internet connection to participate. And since no travel is required - the virtual fair opens the opportunities for individuals all over the country and provides employers with a wider talent pool to choose from.
Imagine being able to recruit at 16 campuses in one day. Now imagine being able to do so without spending one dime on airplanes, rental cars, or hotels. What would that do to your bottom line, your work/life balance, and the environment? That is exactly what the employers who participate in the Unicruit virtual career fairs achieve.
Here's a link to a short video that show you how it works If you are a Big East college student or alumni, you can register for this exciting event at: BigEastCareerFair.com. We hope to see you at one of our upcoming events! If you are an employer wishing to participate in this revolutionary approach to recruiting, simply send an email to kobrien@unicruit.com.
Kevin O'Brien is the vice president of business development for UBM Studios. and prior to joining UBM in 2010, Kevin enjoyed a 15 year career in the virtual communications industry.