Career fairs and campus activities

Career fairs may have a traditional and old-fashioned feel these days in the social media world, but they are nevertheless still very popular among students as well as employers. Career fairs and other campus activities such as seminars and company presentations constitute a relatively inexpensive way of strengthening the employer brand.

The traditional career fair has not lost its attraction among companies and Universum’s worldwide research (http://www.universum.se/) shows that they are popular among job seekers in most regions. Careers fairs and other campus activities give employers the opportunity to market and communicate directly with their target groups. For recruiting companies, career fairs constitute a cost-efficient recruitment channel. You have all students under the same roof! You never know how you could target them in best way when they are professionals and “out there”.

Objectives and measurements
Careers fairs and campus activities should not be used arbitrarily. In order to get the best possible return on investment, you should define the expected results and – if possible– evaluate the cost-efficiency of different channels. Your company should have a clear idea or objective of using a specific information channel.

Some common objectives are:
• Increasing the knowledge about the company through direct/personal communication
• Making contact with prospective employees
• Attracting students and graduates to internships
• Direct recruitment

Apart from more explicit objectives, career fairs and campus activities fill other functions as well. Employees that take part in the events often get a positive experience. Moreover, they get the chance to represent the company, help build the employer image and recruit new talent to the company. Careers fairs and campus activities thus become means of strengthening the internal brand as well as the external brand. Think about that on more time!

Top three preferred sources of information among graduates
In Univerum’s global research (www.universum.se), students are asked how they prefer to gather information about potential employers. The following show students’ preferred sources of information for different regions and countries:

Denmark: Employer websites, career fairs, employees
Sweden: Career fairs, Internships, company presentations on campus
Germany: Internships, employer websites, employees
Italy: Company presentations on campus, career websites, employer websites
Spain: Internships, career fairs, company presentations on campus
Singapore: Career fairs, internships, employer websites
India: Friends and family, career website, employer websites
China: employees, company presentations on campus, internships
US: Career fairs, internships, employer websites

Universum conduct annually surveys in 31 countries.