The coronavirus pandemic has pushed many school districts to quickly embrace new ways of teaching and learning. It also led them to move teacher hiring online amid uncertainty about the profession.

While some districts — especially those in high-poverty areas — have dealt with teacher shortages in STEM, special education and bilingual education, the pandemic’s impact on school systems may have exacerbated those.

According to a poll conducted by USA Today and Ipsos, a global market research firm, 1 in 5 teachers are unlikely to go back to school if it reopens in the fall because of safety concerns and remote learning challenges.

To combat existing and looming teacher shortages in a time of social distancing, more districts have turned to hosting virtual job fairs.

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Why School Districts Should Embrace Virtual Job Fairs

Beyond the safe hiring environments they offer in today’s world, virtual job fairs bring other benefits that school districts can take advantage of in the near future.

For starters, virtual job fairs are cheaper and more convenient to run because they don’t require any additional travel, advertising needs or location setup. They also enable prospective employers to cast a wider net for teachers because they’re not geographically dependent.

Some recruiters and administrators also say that hosting job fairs and interviews online allows them to better assess candidates and see whether they’re a good fit for their district.

With one-on-one video interviews, Henry County Schools in Georgia found that candidates had more genuine conversations with the hiring committee compared with an in-person interview, Education Dive reports.

Jolie Hardin, executive director of leadership development and employment services for the district, tells the publication that candidates were more relaxed, making it easier to see their true personality. “They appreciate the opportunity to really talk versus the formality of that 30-minute quick interview,” she says.