All four companies recruit business and management graduates. The informal sessions were attended by students looking for the first steps in their careers; they heard the companies describing their graduate recruitment programmes. The presentations were designed to familiarise RSM students with what they can expect from recruiters and how to approach the companies that match their ambitions. Companies used the opportunities to meet RSM’s smart young business brains, understand the students’ interests, and show them the roles and opportunities available.
The event was facilitated by Veronika Brantova, CEMS Corporate Relations Manager, and Satya Autar, Employer Relations Manager.
Online formats work well to meet RSM top talent
Artus Braekeveldt, Senior Consultant at Zeb said: “We regularly organise events with RSM and are always happy to show students a glimpse into the consulting world, as well as introduce our consulting firm to the students.” He commented that he was impressed that the digital format of the event did not hinder the personal touch he brought to his storytelling and the interactions with students.
Luke Rogers, University Recruiter EMEA for Gartner said: “I enjoyed the interaction from the students – it was great to see the students get involved with the quiz, polls and word clouds.”
Representing Bayer, senior consultants Martin Hristov and Frederik Montanus said it was exciting to experience strategy and business consulting through the eyes of the students. “We asked them for their assumptions about the company via the Mentimeter survey prior to the presentation. This gave us some excellent feedback of how our team is perceived externally. So many of the answers were spot on! What stuck out in the end is that 100 per cent of the survey participants said they were highly interested in a future with Bayer’s Strategy and Business Consulting division.”
The Bayer consultants found RSM students to be very engaged and enthusiastic about a potential future with Strategy & Business Consulting at Bayer. The students raised interesting questions and the consultants were happy to spend extra time answering them. “What is even more remarkable is that we experienced a high number of RSM top talents reaching out via LinkedIn after the event, and we continue to exchange with them regarding job opportunities with us,” they said.
Dominic Botez, EMEA University Campus Recruiter for Palo Alto Networks said that becoming a recruitment partner for RSM augmented its graduate and internship programmes in the EMEA region. “Hearing wonderful things about RSM and the immense and diverse number of students that are enrolled, we considered it as a natural step.”
Brief yet effective
Palo Alto networks hosted a Meet and Greet session to present the company and opportunities for RSM students in just 20 minutes. “I would say the format of the Meet & Greet session is the highlight. It was brief yet very effective.”
“It was great to see students listened carefully, almost everyone had their cameras turned on and they took advantage to ask as many questions as possible in 40-45 minutes. Their involvement, curiosity, and interaction were very impressive and made the session a great success.”
Some students conducted their own desk research about Palo Alto Networks and the cybersecurity industry in advance of the company presentation. This “made the conversations much more interesting,” said Botez.
After the event, Palo Alto Networks received a large number of connections on LinkedIn from students who wanted to stay in touch or discuss opportunities in more detail. The company has also received some ‘good applications’ for its Graduate and Internship programs from RSM students.
For companies, the advantages of joining an event organised by RSM include being able to raise brand awareness among the soon-to-graduate students, and allowing recruiters to interact personally with students and answer their questions. Company presentations show what roles are available and what recruiters are looking for.
There is more information for companies about connecting with and recruiting RSM students on the RSM Career Portal.
