In total, there were about 550 students and 29 companies at the career fair, including Van Oord, BearingPoint, Gartner, Unilever, The Social Hub, Uniqlo, Rituals, Adidas, EF Education First, and AkzoNobel. Around 120 students had speed interviews with 13 companies. During the career fair the RSM Career Centre also helped guide the talented students with their CVs to show which experiences and education they can offer the business world and ace the application process.
Ask anything
“Everyone was so open and friendly, you can ask anything. I was surprised there were so many companies, and I made some good connections,” said Camille Roecker, from RSM’s MSc Marketing Management programme. Janice Yang from RSM’s MSc Finance & Investments agrees: “It’s good for expats and internationals to network and gain insights from companies about the job market. I also talked to several students who started their own companies too.”
For the students, it was useful to ‘open doors’ to see what it’s like inside of various companies. “It opened my eyes to how many companies there are that I didn’t know about and I was surprised about how open people are to offering internships and advice,” said Andreea Marica, a first-year BSc International Business Administration student.
Finding the right match
There are many job opportunities now, but it’s often hard for recruiters and students to find the right match. “Recruiters have high standards and are looking for specific profiles with the right mindset. They often find this in RSM students, so this is a great place for them to connect,” says Laura van Steenwijk, employer relations manager at RSM.
The students were so passionate, said talent acquisition specialist Marjolein van der Wegen from The Kraft Heinz Company. “We’ll definitely get some leads from this event, for example for marketing and other positions that we have open right now. People are attracted to our brand, we had good conversations about our company culture, and they were enthusiastic about the people working with us.”
Ismay van Noort, recruiter at Hilti, said she also met several candidates with a lot of potential. “Usually campus events lead to investments in the long run. But now we have quick success because we invited four students for job interviews.”
Sustainability
Recruitment co-ordinator Tom Gehlen from G-Star was also impressed with the RSM students: “They’re positive and want to see what's out there. They came specifically to our stall for our sustainability efforts and to meet our company which was nice to see.”
Van Steenwijk notices a notable shift towards sustainability is seen in the recruitment landscape. “Job advertisements across various sectors incorporate elements of sustainability in the roles they present. RSM’s mission to educate future leaders for positive change fits in this need.”
The International Career Event was organised by the RSM Career Centre as part of the STAR Management Week. This year’s annual STAR Management Week focused on engaging with others, creating your own future, and daring to inspire. It was organised by study association STAR which is run by students from RSM, and open to all students from Erasmus University Rotterdam. There were almost 70 activities, including speed interviews, talent talks and a ‘bachelor running lunch’ with companies.
