Career Destinations are celebrating the success of their annual October Careers Fairs, which for the second year in a row attracted record numbers of students, with nearly 3,000 students networking with over 130 local, national and international employers over the two day event.
The Fairs, split into Business, Finance and Management and IT, Science and Engineering sectors, have gone from strength to strength in the past few years, with footfall rising over 79% since 2010 and employers at the IT, Science and Engineering Fair now exceeding over 100 graduate recruiters.
Amongst the high profile employers on campus for the opportunity to meet University of Southampton students and alumni, included Amazon, the Army, the Civil Service, Dyson, Ernst & Young, HP, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Sky, Teach First, Tesco and Which?
96% of employers surveyed rated students’ preparation ‘good or OK’, and feedback included:
‘We haven’t been to Southampton for a few years – we’ve missed out!’ HW Fisher
‘Preparation and the quality of questions (asked) always impress.’ Tesco
‘…very well researched students with good specific questions.’ ICAEW
A large part of the success can be attributed to record numbers of students attending the Career Destinations led ‘Prepare for the Fair’ sessions, aimed at providing insight into how to sell your candidacy in the few minutes each student has on the stand to speak with prospective employers.
Alongside the Fair, Career Destinations also hosted the breakfast networking event, bringing over 60 academics and graduate recruiters together. Guest speaker, Vice-Chancellor Don Nutbeam was joined by presenters from two of the University’s student enterprise societies: Fish on Toast and national award winners, Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE). This inaugural event enabled leading campus recruiters to network with academic staff and share ideas for collaboration, thus helping to strengthen relationships aimed at increasing our students’ employability skills and employment prospects upon graduation.
For more information of future Career Fairs, faculty statistics on the 2012 Fairs attendance by programme of study or for details of other employers who will be on campus in 2012/13, please visit the Career Destinations Events Calendar: http://www.student.careers.soton.ac.uk/eventcalendar/ or email [email protected]