Skip to main content
  • Personal
  • Business
  • Foundation
    Close
    • Global
    • India
    • MENA
  • mySHRM Login
  • MySHRM
    • Dashboard
    • Account
    • Logout
SHRM
  • Membership
    • Membership

      As a SHRM Member®, you’ll pave the path of your success with invaluable resources, world-class educational opportunities and premier events.

      Membership Benefits
  • Certification
    • SHRM Certification

      Demonstrate your ability to apply HR principles to real-life situations.

      • How to Get Certified
      • Eligibility Criteria
      • Exam Fees & Options
      • SHRM-CP
      • SHRM-SCP
      • Which Certification is Best for Me?
      • Recertification
      Prepare for the Exam
      • Exam Preparation
      • SHRM BASK
      • SHRM Learning System
      • Instructor-Led Learning
      • Self-Study
      Specialty Credentials

      Demonstrate targeted competence and enhance your HR credibility.

      PMQ

      Gain a deeper understanding and develop critical skills.

  • Events & Education
    • India Events

      Demonstrate your ability to apply HR principles to real-life situations.

      • Talent Leadership Summit
      • Tech Conference
      • India Annual Conference
      MENA Events
      • MENA Annual Conference
      Global Events
      • US Annual Conference
      Webinars
  • Resources
    • Resources

      Stay up to date with news and leverage our vast library of resources.

      • Compliance
      • HR Research
      • Legal & Compliance
      • Latest News & Trends
      • Tools & Guides
      HR Topics
      • AI in the Workplace
      • Civility at Work
      • Compensation & Benefits
      • Inclusion & Diversity
      • Talent Acquisition
      • Workplace Technology
      • Workplace Violence Prevention
  • SHRM Connect
  • Shop
    • SHRM Store

      Shop for HR certifications, credentials, learning, events, merchandise and more.

      Workplace Essentials
      • SHRM Memberships
      • SHRM Certification
      • Specialty Credentials
      • HR Tools & Tech
      Education
      • Seminars
      • eLearning
      • Books
      Merchandise
      • Accessories
      • Apparel
      • Office & Home
Become a Member
Renew
Rejoin Now
Renew
Close
  • Personal
  • Business
  • Foundation
  • Membership
    back
    Membership
    • Membership

      As a SHRM Member®, you’ll pave the path of your success with invaluable resources, world-class educational opportunities and premier events.

      Membership Benefits
  • Certification
    back
    Certification
    • SHRM Certification

      Demonstrate your ability to apply HR principles to real-life situations.

      • How to Get Certified
      • Eligibility Criteria
      • Exam Fees & Options
      • SHRM-CP
      • SHRM-SCP
      • Which Certification is Best for Me?
      • Recertification
      Prepare for the Exam
      • Exam Preparation
      • SHRM BASK
      • SHRM Learning System
      • Instructor-Led Learning
      • Self-Study
      Specialty Credentials

      Demonstrate targeted competence and enhance your HR credibility.

      PMQ

      Gain a deeper understanding and develop critical skills.

  • Events & Education
    back
    Events & Education
    • India Events

      Demonstrate your ability to apply HR principles to real-life situations.

      • Talent Leadership Summit
      • Tech Conference
      • India Annual Conference
      MENA Events
      • MENA Annual Conference
      Global Events
      • US Annual Conference
      Webinars
  • Resources
    back
    Resources
    • Resources

      Stay up to date with news and leverage our vast library of resources.

      • Compliance
      • HR Research
      • Legal & Compliance
      • Latest News & Trends
      • Tools & Guides
      HR Topics
      • AI in the Workplace
      • Civility at Work
      • Compensation & Benefits
      • Inclusion & Diversity
      • Talent Acquisition
      • Workplace Technology
      • Workplace Violence Prevention
  • SHRM Connect
  • Shop
    back
    Shop
    • SHRM Store

      Shop for HR certifications, credentials, learning, events, merchandise and more.

      Workplace Essentials
      • SHRM Memberships
      • SHRM Certification
      • Specialty Credentials
      • HR Tools & Tech
      Education
      • Seminars
      • eLearning
      • Books
      Merchandise
      • Accessories
      • Apparel
      • Office & Home
Become a Member
Renew
Rejoin Now
Renew
    • Global
    • India
    • MENA
SHRM
mySHRM Login
  • MySHRM
    • Dashboard
    • Account
    • Logout
Close

  1. Topics & Tools
  2. Workplace News & Trends
  3. Talent Acquisition
  4. Are Your Recruiting Events Worth It?
Share
  • Linked In
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus convallis sem tellus, vitae egestas felis vestibule ut.


Error message details.

Copy button
Reuse Permissions

Request permission to republish or redistribute SHRM content and materials.


Learn More
News

Are Your Recruiting Events Worth It?

Tracking leads with intent is the only way to know, talent pros say

April 16, 2018 | Roy Maurer

A group of people shaking hands at a job fair.


​NEW YORK CITY—Recruiting events can pay off in building your talent pipeline, making new hires and spreading your employer brand, but without effective tracking and reporting, the resource-intensive practice can also be a drain.

A panel of New York City-based recruiters and recruiting-operations leads talked about the events they hold, what they track and what they report on at the recent Greenhouse OPEN 2018 conference for recruiting professionals.

Recruiters at Peloton, a company that makes Internet-connected stationary fitness bikes, hold onsite meet-up groups to discuss certain skill sets like Python or Android at their Chelsea office and participate in college and university campus recruiting events.

"Our in-house events are initiated by current employees who want to bring the local software engineering community together to show off our brand and company but also to bring new ideas to the team," said Kevin Minchella, a senior technical recruiter at Peloton.

The company uses the events to "show what it's like to work at Peloton," added Will Blaze, also a senior technical recruiter.

Courtney Kraus, a people operations analyst at Squarespace, a website-building software and content management firm, said the company engages in recruiting events to meet lots of prospects and advance its brand. Squarespace focuses on campus recruiting in the fall and attends industry events year-round.

"Diversity initiatives also direct our events schedule," she said. "We host events at our office in the West Village, like Built by Girls, which is focused on embedding young women in technology roles."

Peloton is new to campus events and intends to use them for showcasing the company as an innovative technology brand to compete with more well-known employers like Amazon and Uber. "We want to educate students who may not know us and what we do," Blaze said.

Getting your message across to potential candidates live and in-person is invaluable, Kraus said. "You can dress up your careers page as much as you want, but you can't force people to go to it," she said. "If you can get people in front of you, then you can tell them exactly what your message is."

Not every event will be a smashing success. "Sometimes it doesn't work out," said Nick Reyland, people tech operations lead at Squarespace. "You're always excited to host a group at your office, and you figure they will get something out of it just like you will. Sometimes you find that's just not the case. Sometimes they are not doing what you thought they were doing, or it's just not very interesting."

You've got to decide whether you will cater to groups looking for a space, or create events and invite targeted prospects from sourcing channels like LinkedIn, Blaze said. "It comes down to a mix, experimenting to see what works."

[SHRM members-only online discussion platform: SHRM Connect]

The Importance of Tracking Events

Even when events seemed like a success—attendance was high, energy was positive—that doesn't mean it had an overall positive impact on hiring, said Nada Chaker, content lead at Beamery, a recruitment marketing technology company based in London.

She added that some of the things that can stymie the return on investment are not collecting enough information to properly follow up with prospects, not moving quickly enough to engage with leads, or choosing events and invitees that end up being misaligned with your hiring goals.

"Tracking events prevents these situations from happening, but most importantly, it helps to calculate the return on investment," she said. "The strategic benefit of understanding the ROI of events is having a better grasp on what drives it up or down."

For example, you'll know if it's easier to boost attendance by promoting the registration page more widely, or by nurturing existing registrants with more information on the event, she explained.

What to track depends on what you're looking for. It's worth deciding early in the process what data you want to collect and how that data will live in your system, Chaker said. "This will ensure you don't miss an important window to collect data from candidates, like the event registration or the satisfaction survey, for example."

Blaze said that his team tracks as much information from candidates as possible to build a passive candidate database. "It's necessary for us to collect information from anyone who has a touch point with our company so we can make that actionable down the line," he said. "The first thing we do after an event is import information from the sign-up sheet and the form that shows who actually attended. Once [leads have been imported], we notate things like who they talked to and if they showed interest in the company."

Using online forms that load into a candidate relationship management platform will make it easier to exploit the data later. "You don't want to be typing rows and rows of handwritten names and e-mail addresses [into your applicant tracking system] after the event, or keeping track of random business cards on your desk," Chaker said.

Squarespace organizes the events data in two ways: by source of candidate and by candidate tags, Kraus said. "Source of candidate shows how many candidates you're getting from each event, how many you're converting and how those candidates are doing throughout the process." Tagging—which denotes specialized skills or qualifications to more easily find leads later in your database—provides more context around candidates, she said.

"We ask them questions that help us determine if they're interested in full time or intern opportunities, for example, and tag them accordingly."

For a tagging system to work properly, the recruiting team needs to agree on what the tags mean beforehand and how they should be applied. Standardization is critical to success.

Minchella said that Peloton goes beyond comparing the success of each event and benchmarks events against other recruiting channels, such as inbound applicants and third-party agencies.

"We're trying to find the best value," he said. "In-person events had a very high return for the least number of applicants reviewed, but it's not a silver bullet for every type of role. We also got a lot of return from third-party job boards."

Was this article useful? SHRM offers thousands of tools, templates and other exclusive member benefits, including compliance updates, sample policies, HR expert advice, education discounts, a growing online member community and much more. Join/Renew Now and let SHRM help you work smarter.


Employer Branding
HR Function Strategy
HR Technology
Recruiting
Workforce Planning


Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace

​An organization run by AI is not a futuristic concept. Such technology is already a part of many workplaces and will continue to shape the labor market and HR. Here's how employers and employees can successfully manage generative AI and other AI-powered systems.



Related Content

Kelly Dobbs Bunting speaks onstage at SHRM24
(opens in a new tab)
News
Why AI+HI Is Essential to Compliance

HR must always include human intelligence and oversight of AI in decision-making in hiring and firing, a legal expert said at SHRM24. She added that HR can ensure compliance by meeting the strictest AI standards, which will be in Colorado’s upcoming AI law.

(opens in a new tab)
News
A 4-Day Workweek? AI-Fueled Efficiencies Could Make It Happen

The proliferation of artificial intelligence in the workplace, and the ensuing expected increase in productivity and efficiency, could help usher in the four-day workweek, some experts predict.

(opens in a new tab)
News
How One Company Uses Digital Tools to Boost Employee Well-Being

Learn how Marsh McLennan successfully boosts staff well-being with digital tools, improving productivity and work satisfaction for more than 20,000 employees.

HR Daily Newsletter

Stay up to date with the latest HR news, trends, and expert advice each business day.

Success title

Success caption

Manage Subscriptions
  • About SHRM
  • Careers at SHRM
  • Press Room
  • Contact SHRM India
  • Book a SHRM Executive Speaker
  • Advertise with Us
  • Copyright & Permissions
  • Post a Job
  • Find an HR Job
Contact Us

SHRM India Corporate Information
Email: shrmindia@shrm.org
Phone: (1)800.103.2198
WhatsApp: +919810503727

Follow Us
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • SHRM Newsletters
  • Ask An Advisor

© 2025 SHRM. All Rights Reserved

SHRM provides content as a service to its readers and members. It does not offer legal advice, and cannot guarantee the accuracy or suitability of its content for a particular purpose. Disclaimer


  1. Privacy Policy

  2. Terms of Use

  3. Accessibility

Join SHRM for Exclusive Access to Member Content

SHRM Members enjoy unlimited access to articles and exclusive member resources.

Already a member?
Free Article
Limit Reached

Get unlimited access to articles and member-exclusive resources.

You've reached the limit of 1 free article this month. Join to access unlimited articles and member-only resources.

Already a member?
Free Article
Exclusive Executive-Level Content

This content is for the SHRM Executive Network and Executive Content Subscription members only.

You've reached the limit of 1 free article this month. Join the Executive Network and enjoy unlimited content.

Already a member?
Free Article
Exclusive Executive-Level Content

This content is for the SHRM Executive Network and Executive Content Subscription members only.

You've reached the limit of 1 free article this month. Join and enjoy unlimited access to SHRM Executive Network Content.

Already a member?
Unlock Your Career with SHRM Membership

Please enjoy this free resource! Join SHRM for unlimited access to exclusive articles and tools.

Already a member?

Your membership is almost expired! Renew today for unlimited access to member content.

Renew now

Your membership has expired. Renew today for unlimited access to member content.

Renew Now

Your Executive Network membership is nearing its expiration. Renew now to maintain access.

Renew Now

Your membership has expired. Renew your Executive Network benefits today.

Renew Now