Career fairs are prime opportunities to connect with top talent, but the follow-up is where you truly seal the deal. With Gen Z leading the charge, expectations have evolved: Talent now prioritizes immediacy, clear timelines, and personalized touches, per 2025 candidate experience reports from TheTalentGames.To help you sustain your momentum, we’ve updated this guide with modern strategies that resonate with today’s digitally savvy candidates. Let’s break it down so you can refine your post-fair plan without missing a beat.
💡Before you start scheduling, here are 10 critical mistakes to avoid when checking candidates’ availability for interviews.
I. How To Plan A Good Post-Career Fair Communication Strategy?
1. Embrace Multi-Channel and Mobile-First Outreach
Email alone won’t cut it anymore. Gen Z talent checks their inboxes sporadically, but platforms like LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and even SMS get near-instant attention. With SMS boasting a 98% open rate, it’s a game-changer for quick updates and reminders.
💡Go mobile-first to ensure reach: Start with a thank-you text or LinkedIn message recapping your chat, or to provide quick updates, then layer in emails for deeper details.
💡When reaching out to students, build a dedicated talent pipeline for undergraduates, and time your messages thoughtfully, especially SMS, so they don’t clash with class hours.
This approach maximizes engagement, resulting in higher response rates and fewer drop-offs. For example, combining multichannel outreach with personalized messaging can increase response rates from an average of 18% to 34.5%. Use tools like Rakuna’s Text Recruiting to send bulk, customized messages from your dashboard, keeping things efficient for your team.
2. Leverage AI and CRM for Personalization
A follow-up email is a staple tactic in any post-career fair communication strategy, and it should be applied to every candidate you meet.
This is your opportunity to share key information, such as open roles, the recruitment timeline, or insights into your company culture, while also leaving a lasting impression on the candidate experience.
Acknowledging them will earn you a plus point in candidate experience.
You can mention some of the following:
- A quick personal introduction, as well as your position and responsibilities at the company
- Current opening opportunities that your organization is looking to fill from candidates at the career fair
- A recruitment process with a timeline
- Additional information about your company, such as websites or social media accounts
But when you’re facing hundreds of leads, manual follow-ups, and keeping up with the standard, it can quickly become overwhelming. That’s where an AI-powered recruiting Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) comes in: it lets you automate personalized messages at scale, segment candidates based on fair interactions, and ensure no one slips through the cracks.
💡 For instance, hot leads can receive priority invites while others get tailored nurturing content, all without draining recruiter bandwidth.
💡Case in point: Stanford Healthcare used AI to deliver personalization at scale, streamlining hiring and boosting candidate satisfaction. By adopting similar AI-driven recruiting CRM features, your team can save time, boost engagement, and position your brand as innovative and candidate-centric.
3. Amplify Employer Branding with Short Videos and Microsites
💡Gen Z is all about video, which is key to how they view an employer.
This generation is highly visual-first; in fact, 81% prefer short-form videos over traditional images or text. Additionally, around 75% of candidates consider employer branding elements, such as diversity and culture, when deciding on a job.
Bite-sized clips, which generate 2.5 times more engagement than longer videos, should be used on LinkedIn or our microsite to showcase company culture, team stories, and a typical day in the life at our organization.
💡Microsites act as personalized hubs
They link candidates to role-specific pages that include videos, FAQs, and application portals. For instance, Klarna’s career microsite offers step-by-step application timelines and interview tips. Sympa includes employee testimonial videos and downloadable FAQs on hiring processes, both designed to resonate with Gen Z’s preference for transparent, visual content. Brands using short-form video strategies see higher engagement from Gen Z. Tie this into your post-fair plan by sending a video recap of the event, then directing to a microsite.
4. Build Communities for Ongoing Engagement
Single follow-ups seldom place your organization at the top of candidates’ awareness.
How about shifting to community-building for long-term pipelines? Create alumni groups, LinkedIn communities, or newsletters where candidates can engage with your brand beyond hiring, fostering loyalty, and referrals.
This strategy pays off big time: By nurturing talent communities, organizations report up to 30% faster hiring timelines and 30% lower recruitment costs, alongside stronger employer branding through sustained engagement. According to Recruiteze, proactive pipelines transform passive leads into active hires over time, while ongoing engagement and enhanced candidate experiences yield higher-quality talent that stays longer.
5. Keep The Relationships Warm – You Never Know What Prospective Candidates Can Bring You
Angie Verros, founder of Vaia Talent and former talent acquisition leader at high-growth organizations, said, “I’ve maintained relationships with a lot of the candidates I’ve met throughout my career. You never know where those relationships will take you.”
Stay connected with former potential candidates via social media. LinkedIn provides a professional way to maintain those connections. Celebrate your former potential candidates’ new roles and provide support by responding promptly to any questions they may have.
Recruitment is human-centric, after all. Returning to your previously assessed candidates will help you reduce your time and effort in sourcing new talent and develop yourself as a representative of an open-minded company that does not hesitate to support talent.
II. Template For A Standard Follow-up Email
While multi-channel is key, a solid email remains foundational, especially since email is the preferred tool for 42% of Gen Z in professional settings, more than double other apps. Customize this template with personal details, and automate via CRM for speed. Send within 24-48 hours to meet expectations.
Subject: Great Chatting at [Event Name]: Next Steps with [Your Company]
Dear [Candidate’s Name],
It was fantastic connecting with you at [Event Name]. I’m [Your Name], [Your Position] at [Your Company], and I enjoyed hearing about your [specific interest or background mentioned at the fair].
To recap, we’re excited about these open roles that might align with your skills:
[List 2-3 positions with brief descriptions]
Our recruitment timeline: Applications close on [date], with interviews scheduled to start on [date]. Expect [number] rounds. Here’s a quick overview: [brief timeline].
For more on our culture and opportunities, check out our microsite: [link] or this short video: [link].
Questions? Reply here or connect on LinkedIn: [your profile].
Thanks for your interest. We’d love to see your application!
Best,
[Your Name]
[Your Contact Info]
[Company Logo/Signature]
III. Conclusion
In today’s fast-paced recruiting landscape, your post-career fair strategy can make or break talent acquisition. Going multi-channel, personalizing with AI, branding visually, and building communities helps create lasting impressions and a stronger candidate pipeline. Remember, it’s about timely, authentic engagement. Tools like Rakuna’s Total Recruiting Solution (from Text Recruiting to Event Management) can automate the heavy lifting, giving your team more time for what matters. Ready to level up? Start with segmenting your latest fair leads and watch the results roll in.
Team Rakuna
The Rakuna Team comprises a diverse group of professionals hailing from various corners of the world.
With a passion to enable organizations to hire their next waves of talents, we are dedicated to help organizations stay updated on important recruiting technology and industry best practices.
