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.

A quick guide in Employer Branding for beginners

This short article summarizes my previous five articles about employer branding: step 1) conducting research, step 2) finding your EVP, step 3) making a communication plan, step 4) making communication material and finally step 5) bringing it all to live.

All five steps must be followed
Employer branding is an ongoing process and the chain will not be stronger than its weakest link. Lack of investment or commitment in a single stage of the process can spoil all your other employer branding efforts. Make sure that you carefully consider how the different stages of your work relate to each other in order to maximize the efficiency of your work.

Co-operation of functions crucial for success
HR and Communications/Marketing have to work in an integrated way for successful employer branding. Commitment and involvement of top executives are crucial for the success of your efforts. There are several reasons for this. First, all communications from your company affects your employer brand. Second, employer branding is a subset of corporate branding, and needs to be consistent with it. Finally, employer branding campaigns need to support the strategic objectives of the business.

Internal and external perception interdependent
You attract talent with your employer value proposition, your brand promise. If you do not deliver on your promise, it will result in frustration, low commitment and high employee turnover. Furthermore, it is important to remember that current employees are the most trusted sources of information among potential employees. They are very important ambassadors and use social media to spread the word, both bad and good. Therefore you need to ensure that you pay equal attention to your internal attractiveness as to external image perceptions.

Employer branding is strategic and long term
Do not confuse employer branding with recruitment. A strong and attractive brand is a prerequisite for successful recruitment. It takes time to create the brand and it needs to be upheld, even during economic down turns. It will be too late to start thinking about branding when you need to recruit again. Therefore you need to work with employer branding continuously, even during bad times.

A strong brand leads to profitability and ROI
An attractive internal and external employer brand is a base for successful operations. It diminishes costs of your ‘regretted losses,’ i.e. your unwanted turnover. It diminishes cost of
recruitment. Most important though, it ensures your supply of strategic talent for growing your business, for efficiency and for productivity. Working with the brand is therefore an investment.
Done professionally, it should lead to high returns on investment (ROI). Therefore you need to allocate sufficient resources to employer branding. Go and tell your boss!