If you’re thinking about attending our summer Student Recruitment Conference and Awards but aren’t sure how to broach it with your seniors, Chief Executive Stephen Isherwood gives you the ammunition you need to present your case to the business. 

Having recruited both experienced and graduate management consultants, I’ve always thought the student market is the more collegiate. I think this is because we all understand that our sectors need to increase the size of the talent pool before we compete for individual talent. 

Whether this is through working with colleagues in education or developing industry-wide initiatives, the more students have the understanding, skills and aspirations to work in a particular sector, the more all employers win. 

Nothing encapsulates this way of working better than our ISE summer conference taking place over the 8 and 9 July. Used wisely, the conference can be a real boost for you and your organisation.

Innovation

Even if we have time to hear a pitch, often we don’t get a chance to fully review what is on the market or get a 360-degree view of a new product or methodology. Our recruitment conference, through the case-study sessions, exhibitors and work profiled in the awards, offers the chance to see how other organisations are innovating. In the day-to-day we often only get to focus on our own sector. Hearing how other industries have tackled a significant problem can highlight solutions that can transfer to our own organisations.

Market intelligence

Line managers can be guilty of a grass-is-greener view of the world, always thinking that others are investing in different ways of working and the latest tech. Sometimes this is true, sometimes not. Conferences are great at showcasing best practice and often employers will discuss their constraints and implementation issues as well as their successes. Understanding the broader landscape can give you the type of knowledge that is great to play back in the office and makes you sound even more like the expert you already are.

Power of networks

There aren’t many HR functions that are as external facing as recruitment, which means that our colleagues in other teams often don’t understand or relate to the pressures faced by a student recruiter. Your peers can be full of help and guidance on how to deal with specific problems and can help find solutions to your current challenges. Networking with your peers and understanding their issues can often put your own career into perspective or provide an alternate way of thinking. Many relationships formed at industry events last a career and be a source of continuing support and guidance.

Space to think

How often do we get two days out of the office away from meetings, time to discover, think and reflect? We can’t turn your email off, but we can give you the content, the people and the space to create an environment that will help you to learn and develop. Yes, it can be hard to turn the aspiration and buzz of conference into reality once back in the office, but the seeds planted when away can often sprout many months later when you least expect it.

In the current climate, conferences have to deliver a return on the investment in time and cost to attend. We’ve designed this year’s conference to do exactly that.

Find out more about the sessions and opportunities or book your place at this year’s ISE Student Recruitment Conference and Awards.