With sweeping digitization revolutionizing the education industry, MBA hiring is increasingly moving online.
From April 25-28, over 350 MBA students from some of Europe’s leading business schools took part in the European MBA Virtual Career Fair, an innovative, entirely digitally-based careers event.
EADA Business School was one of a group of seven top-ranked, accredited business schools participating in the collaborative venture, representing Ireland, Italy, France, Spain and the U.K.
“Collaborating in this way means our MBA students have a wonderful opportunity to access companies with many opportunities,” says Melissa Claire Handley, Director of EADAAlumni and EADA Careers. “It gives them the chance to explore what the companies do and what they look for in an applicant.”
A variety of top employers signed up for the event, including luxury goods leader Louis Vuitton, pharma giant GSK, global hospitality company Hyatt, recruitment consultancies Hayes and Global Career Company, Fin-Tech firm Kantox and a number of leading consulting firms including Mars & Co, OEE Consulting and Camelot.
“The benefits for companies are clear,” confirms Melissa. “The virtual platform allows companies to engage with top talent from European schools without the extra cost associated with more traditional MBA fairs.” She adds that the benefits of the virtual format are mutual: “MBA students can sign up for company presentations that they want to see and adjust the fair to their busy class schedules.”
The virtual career fair is open to all MBA students at the participating schools. Based on a consolidated cross-cohort average, companies can expect to have access to a professionally and culturally diverse group; 45% of European nationality, 25% South American and 17% Asian. The students – 40% of them women – have an average of six years professional experience.
Admissions Director for International Degree Programmes at EADA Bibiana Camba confirms that the diversity of EADA’s classroom is highly valued by employers: “One of the highlights for EADA participants is the opportunity to work closely with classmates from all over the world,” she says. “This offers graduates a real competitive advantage post-graduation in today’s globalized business world, where multicultural teams are the norm.”
The first-time imitative – run through virtual event platform vFairs – represents the latest innovation in the trend towards the digitization of corporate recruitment. Companies can use live text, audio and video chat features as well as presentation tools to engage with the participating students.
“The ultimate aim is to match top talent with opportunities over the long-term,” reaffirms Melissa.
Portions of the article were originally published in BusinessBecause.