Everything you need to know about the WBS Undergraduate Placements Fair

With the launch of our WBS Placements Fair, we spoke to Placement Relationships Manager Chris to tell us all about the careers event and share his top tips on how to make a good first impression with employers.

Having worked with the WBS CareersPlus team for three years I have seen how the employment industry has changed and one of the recurring themes that I have seen during my time at WBS is how often graduate roles are being filled by students who have worked at that company previously during a placement year or internship. Fortunately, as a Careers Team we are prepared for this, and alongside our student workshops and careers coaching appointments we also host events where we organise for employers to come to WBS, this gives our students the perfect opportunity to network with these organisations.

For this year, the newly dedicated WBS CareersPlus Placements and Internships Team will be hosting our first annual ‘WBS Placements Fair’ on Tuesday 8 October. The main aim of this fair is to bring our undergraduate students together with a range of employers from a wide variety of different sectors. These employers will be looking to recruit students who want to complete a placement year within their organisation. This event was formally known as the WBS Employer Day, which ran successfully for a number of years, we decided to rebrand the event to have more of a placement focus.

Although the primary focus of this event is to promote our placement opportunities, companies in attendance will also have the opportunity to speak with our students about any spring weeks, insight programmes, summer internships and graduate level jobs as well. The event has essentially been designed to bring students and employers together to provide the following benefits:

• Students are able to find out further information on placements and additional roles which are available within the organisation
• Through 1-to-1 discussions, students will be able to discover hints and tips on different parts of an employer's application process
• To network with recruiters (including companies such as Accenture, BNP Paribas, Deloitte, Muller, PwC, Samsung and TUI) and be talent spotted, right here in WBS!

On the day, students will be able to network with employers in the main WBS foyer over the lunchtime period at individual exhibition stands. Discussions can be around anything to do with the above as well as getting a personal feel for an organisation and to determine whether the company is the right ‘fit’ for them as an individual.

In addition to the main networking part of the day, each company will also have a ‘lucky golden ticket’ to issue out to any students who make a particularly good impression (and who they may wish to pursue a further conversation/application with). Students who are provided with a lucky golden ticket will have the opportunity to attend an additional exclusive networking opportunity with the exhibiting employers, later in the day.

Here are my top tips of what you can do beforehand to make sure you stand out in front of the employers on the day:

• Research the company and the role(s) that you are interested in beforehand – you don’t need to know exact finer details about all areas of the business, but the worst question that you can ask an employer at an event like this, is ‘Tell me what your company does’?
• Come along with some well-prepared questions, that will make it seem like you are genuinely interested in potentially applying to them
• Prepare to answer some potential questions from employers – it’s important for both parties to determine whether you would be a ‘right fit’ for the organisation
• Think of your own personal impact that you are making with these professionals on the day – are you dressed appropriately? (smart casual clothing is fine). Maintain professional body language and conversation – speak to these employers how you would talk to them in the workplace.

Whether you have your career path mapped out or are still exploring where your passion lies, our career events at WBS are the perfect opportunity to network with employers and gather a better understanding of what career is right for you.

Find out more about life at Warwick Business School by downloading our Undergraduate Brochure.