Take Marybeth Gillespie. For the past 3 years she has been hard at work--looking for a new job.

"I used recruitment agencies. I had done cold calling. I had answered classified ads," Marybeth recalls.

No jobs offers turned up, until she tried a career fair--right from her very own living room! She says, "I was able to study the companies that were offering local jobs, click through to their web sites, learn their culture."

That's right--the career fair has gone digital. With the unemployment rate inching towards 9%, and companies looking to broaden the applicant pool, the virtual career fair has exploded in popularity. Malcolm Lotzof is with INXPO, one the leading platforms for virtual events, which he says thousands of people attend.

"We have companies like Microsoft that we've done that with. We have 3m we've done it with, and P&G. Right now, we run probably a couple of hundred events every year," Lotzof says.

Some organizations host their own virtual fairs, while others join group fairs held by sponsors. You don't need to be tech savvy to scout them out. Participants simply log on, upload their resume, and visit a variety of virtual 'booths', organized by company, or by field. Tony Lee works for careercast.com. He says, "They're given the opportunity to see job opportunities at the companies that are participating, and then actually apply, and in many cases interview via chat."

Chat through either video or instant message. So you can virtually do it from your home, or in front of your computer. It's very efficient and very time effective. It's also effective because recruiters have the chance to pre-screen resumes, then target potential employees.

"The recruiter is able to seek out the attendee at the event and bring them into the booth, or connect with them, so it kind of turns the process on its head," Lotzof explains.

Eventually, you may be contacted for a telephone or in-office interview. Still, experts says virtual career fairs may not be for every job seeker.

"You do not have the opportunity to look an employer in the eye, shake their hand, and try and make a good first impression," Lee warns.

That didn't bother Marybeth, who felt she made a first impression with her work history. Sure enough, after a face-to-face interview, she was offered a position on the spot.

"I found that the job fair experience was simple, uncomplicated, and most importantly, it got me a job," Marybeth exclaims.

Virtual career fairs are free. You can learn about them through the newspaper, a company's web site, social networking services like Facebook and Twitter, even Google searches or word of mouth.