Matchmaking at Career Fairs: TALENT DAY Case Study
Career fairs are perfect platforms for establishing contacts with potential employers. How does the TALENT DAY Media + IT in Hamburg use matchmaking technology to do it?
Getting to know each other personally is still very important even in the internet age, especially when it is your future employer. Young people want to first orient themselves before applying. Do I rather fit in a dynamic but sometimes chaotic startup? Or am I more suited to a more classic career?
Competition for the smartest minds is well underway. Where can young people better orient themselves than at a career orientation event where companies present themselves and make themselves more tangible?
The annual TALENT DAY Media + IT in Hamburg takes a very special approach. It is specifically directed at school pupils in 10th-13th grade, as well as media and IT colleges and is meeting for its ninth round in 2017.
Matchmaking plays a large role at TALENT DAY Media + IT. Last year, the event organizer, KWB e.V. brought 850 school pupils and 50 companies together.
How did that work?
Trendy Kick-Off Event at CinemaxX
Choosing a career doesn’t always have to be deadly serious! TALENT DAY Media + IT proved that with its kick-off event that took place on 9th November 2016 in CinemaxX cinema complex in Hamburg.
Twitter TALENT DAY
As well as the really cool dance performance of hip-hop group “One Step Closer”, there were impulse presentations by, amongst others, Google manager Antonia Wälzholz and Thomas Mickeleit, executive board member of Microsoft Germany.
With her question “What would you do if you weren’t scared?”, software developer Catharina Kenklies from customQuake motivated her audience to free themselves from clichés and prejudices in career selection.
So, no standard, conventional company presentations, rather very personal stories and anecdotes from people that really have something to say!
But that of course isn’t everything that distinguishes TALENT DAY Media + IT.
Have a Nose around the Company Directly
The event organizers greatly value talents being able to have a look behind the scenes, directly at the company in question. Companies register on the event website and offer an amount of company visit spaces; as many as they want. After the warm-up at the mutual kick-off event, the talents can then visit their selected companies.
Tweet von TALENT DAYThe pupil-company meetings are coordinated via the Converve software. This enables both companies and talents to find the best matches.
Pupils then register and enter their areas of interest, desired occupational profile, as well as their special talents and capabilities. The software then recommends suitable companies that fit to their desired profile.
This enables companies to prepare themselves for visits in advance and are made aware of particularly suitable candidates.
This ensures perfect matchmaking for both sides. The success of TALENT DAY Media + IT offers event organizers a great confirmation of their concept!
Matchmaking plays an important role for Hansjörg Lüttke, executive board director at KWB Coordination cCenter for Further Education and Careers (German “Koordinierungsstelle Weiterbildung und Beschäftigung e.V.“) : “We were able to connect 850 young people with 50 companies. Both talents and companies were excited to establish suitable contacts at TALENT DAY Media + IT.”
The initiators of TALENT DAY Media + IT are the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. The coordinator and event organizer is KWB Koordinierungsstelle Weiterbildung und Beschäftigung e.V.
Bottom Line
When it comes to targeted mediation of contacts and efficient networking, matchmaking software is in demand. Career fairs such as TALENT DAY Media + IT show how it’s done.
They use the possibilities of the software to register companies and talents, as well as for matchmaking, appointment coordination and follow-ups.
