The National Graduate Recruitment Exhibition

One exhibition that was recommended to go to was this one. It’s tailored towards graduates or students who will be graduating in 2018, but it’s extremely useful to go anyway.

Before I went to the exhibition I researched the companies attending and the talks occurring. I managed to create a rough plan from this of who I wanted to visit and when. I wasn’t sure how much time I’d have free during the event so I thought it was best to plan ahead.

In the end, I didn’t stick to my plan completely but did speak to someone from each company I was interested in and went to few talks.

One of the first talks I attended was one by Adidas. I was aware that they offer Marketing placements and I thought that it was important to listen to what they had to say. This was a good decision on my part, as they explained in a lot of detail what the brand is about and how you can submit a successful application.  They really highlighted that the most important part is making yourself stand out. They get thousands of applications in for work placements, and you need to make yourself different from the crowd. Being creative is the number one way to capture an employers attention.

I learnt from Adidas that you have to stand out. You have to make something different. In response I made sure my creative CV was interesting and eye-catching, and also developed an online portfolio. I have a link to my portfolio in my CV so employers can see for themselves what I have been creating in University and in my free time.

 

During the day I went around and spoke to as many companies as possible. Aldi and Lidl were both there, and by speaking to them I got to hear how they work. This is a connection that I should try to develop, as one of my potential goals is to get a work experience placement with a retail store. Aldi and Lidl offer graduate schemes and would be most likely willing to consider work experience options.

One of the most important things I can take out of this experience was the ability to communicate to employers. I began to understand what companies are looking for, I could see the attitude certain people had towards the companies they worked for and I also learnt a little about how their company could help me. It’s wonderful being able to develop my verbal communication skills and hopefully as I improve this skill and attend more networking events I can develop my networking map.