50 Most Admired Companies of the Year 2021
The Silicon Review
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many things changed, including how businesses and companies operate. Today, virtual meetings and work are a necessity to survive. Various platforms are bridging the gap between technology and human interaction. One of the foremost SaaS platforms that are making this happen is Premier Virtual, a virtual recruitment platform that has greater functionality and utility for both job seekers and employers. This technology allows for enhanced user analytics and a more personal connection with unmatched ease of use for both applicants and employers. The platform allows clients to host virtual events and specializes in virtual career fairs.
After nine years of managing in-person hiring events, Steven Edwards, the CEO of Premier Virtual, saw the need for a virtual option and decided to establish the company. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Premier Virtual has seen an accelerated adaption curve, and now everyone wants a solution like this. The platform is expected to continue growing in a great way in the near future.
We interviewed Mr. Edwards to know more about the company’s innovations. He talked to us about how the company recently released the updated version of its platform, Version 2.0, and its new features. Read on for the excerpts from the interview.
Q. Competition in the virtual events market is fierce. Companies go for the best available option. Do you have qualified individuals who help you maintain your service standards?
Our company prides itself on customer service. Every client is assigned a dedicated account manager. Our account managers have been with Premier Virtual for over a year and have helped our clients host over 2,500 virtual career fairs in that time period. Our experience, tech support, and training have garnered us industry leading ratings on review sites like Capterra and G2. It is by far what separates us from our competition.
Q. Best events services often come with an expensive price tag. How do you maintain your affordability and profitability?
We have a very unique model in the industry – flat rate licensing. The price you pay for your license, does not go up or down based on the number of events, number of attendees, or any other measure. Most other platforms give you a price based on a minimum, and then increase rates as you go over certain thresholds (like number of booths or consecutive events). Our platform is completely unlimited and as of this review, one of the most affordable in the industry. Because it is unlimited, the price value increases with the more events the client hosts.
Q. A major reason for the complexity in recruitment event is the constant changing of requirements. Do you have a solid process and line of communication to ensure that the outcomes align with expectations and requirements?
We consult with our clients who are the professionals in the recruitment industry. Also, I have hosted in-person job fairs for nearly nine years before developing the Premier Virtual platform. My initial positioning on the platform was that it was ‘built by recruiters for recruiters’ because of my personal experience in the industry. This gives us a unique advantage over many competitors who are simply entering the virtual event space because of the demand increase due to COVID-19.
Q. Tell us in brief about your workforce development services.
Premier Virtual is the number one virtual career fair platform in the workforce development industry. Nearly 200 boards across the United States have secured a license and more come on board every day. This gives us a unique understanding that is required when working with organizations that have special needs and regulatory requirements. In addition to our experience with this industry, we offer webinars that are dedicated to helping workforce development boards host successful virtual career fairs. This has earned us a best-in-class reputation and often leads to referrals from one board to the next.
Q. As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps across the globe, healthcare providers have undoubtedly felt its impact. How are you dealing with the percussion from COVID?
Our platform has been the response that helped thousands of companies connect with candidates and continue to hire during the Pandemic. COVID forced so many companies to consider virtual alternatives and when they turned to us for help, we provided the solution they were looking for. In healthcare, like many other industries there is a labor shortage, and our platform allows companies to increase the candidate pool by giving qualified candidates more options to attend and apply for open positions. Premier Virtual was quite literally the parachute that kept many industries from failing and allowed them to get back on their feet. Now that they have experienced virtual career fairs, there is no going back to the in-person only career fair model.
Q. How do you market your services?
We use many of the standard methods including Google AdWords, social media and Email marketing. We have found that many of our clients come from referrals from current clients that are hosting events, or that have participated as employers in other virtual career fairs. We also get many clients that tried out our competitors’ platforms and were not impressed with either the features or the support offered. We also guarantee a flat-rate licensing price for unlimited events per location.
Q. Do you have any new services ready to be launched?
We just launched a completely updated version of our platform, Version 2.0. It has many new upgrades as well as completely new tools, like the ‘Setup Wizard.’ Now, new clients can simply follow the setup wizard’s prompts, and after just a few steps can have their profile completed, and be ready to attend or host a new event. We encourage everyone to schedule a demo to see the new features for themselves. We believe that this version is a significant improvement over our legacy version and raises the bar in the virtual event platform industry.
Q. What does the future hold for your company and its customers? Are exciting things on the way?
We are a ‘Future-Focused’ company and every day we are innovating and making improvements. Our goal is to create a stand-alone platform that can provide all the solutions human resource executives need, in one place. Our API and strategic partnerships will ensure that using the Premier Virtual platform means you are buying a solution, not a product.
The Leader
Steven Edwards, CEO: Steven is an Army Veteran from the 82nd Airborne and spent 9 years in recruiting and the job fair industry. . His goal as the CEO is building a company that helps people and a culture that people enjoy what they do. They were recently voted as a top place to work. He is dedicated to giving back to Veterans and started a ‘Future-Focused’ scholarship.