In times of full employment, almost all companies are desperately looking for suitable junior staff. Silpion, the organizer of solutions.hamburg, has recognized this need and organized the “Corporate Innovation Park” the day before the fair, a recruiting day to bring pupils and students together with interested companies.
In the context of one of the most important digitization fairs in Germany, the Corporate Innovation Park, or CIP for short, was to offer a whole day of various opportunities to introduce companies and inform future employees. In an innovative pitch and workshop format, companies could go to the War for Talents to convince potential employees of their capabilities. But above all, the young generation should be addressed. Therefore, the CIP was put under the motto:
Innovation – Dialogue – Contact
Innovation: “Various well-known companies show you how they live innovation and what they have to offer.”
Dialogue: “Go into direct dialogue with the decision makers of the companies and gain deep insights into practice”.
Contact: “As a participant of the CIP you will receive valuable contacts for your future career choice.”
mgm consulting partners gmbh, which is currently growing strongly, did not miss this interesting opportunity and was represented as Premium Partner at the Corporate Innovation Park. During many discussions at our stand, pitch presentations and targeted workshops, we were able to get to know many young digital talents and position ourselves as a future employer.
The trade fair stand as a meeting point
The anchor for the whole day was our exhibition stand. Well “equipped” with many young colleagues and experienced managers, every CIP visitor was able to have a first conversation here or even get their individual questions answered in peace and quiet. The exhibition stands were staffed throughout the day, so that there was enough time for intensive discussions.
The interest in the activity as a management consultant was pleasingly large and the pupils and students were surprisingly well informed about the activity, requirements and challenges. In exciting conversations, we got to know many pupils and students and gained a good impression of us as an employer.
Of course, the physical well-being (and the marketing) did not come too briefly and thus innumerable Goodie Bags were distributed to the prospective customers.
For pupils: From foil pusher to problem solver
In addition to the stationary trade fair, there was also an event program. The morning began for the approximately 200 high school students with an intro from a student who had already successfully founded a start-up company at the age of 18.
Afterwards, the 12 participating companies – among them mgm – briefly introduced themselves in a 3-minute pitch and advertised for their subsequent workshop. Afterwards we went to the partly interactive workshops. In four rooms there were four parallel workshops of 45 minutes each, of which there were three rounds each. For the students we had chosen the motto “Battle of clichés – from foil pusher to problem solver”.
Based on the not yet very pronounced specialist knowledge of high school students, we worked with them to develop personas and clichés about the profession of a consultant as well as pros and cons. What does management consulting actually mean? What does our everyday life look like? And above all: What values do we use to approach our activities? It was important for us to explain that we are not a concept producer and speechwringer, but roll up our sleeves and “act” together with the customer.
In our interactive and well-attended workshop there was lively discussion, busy post-it gluing and good presentation. We were able to convey well that our profession is fascinating and never boring and above all why we practice this profession at mgm.
For students: What does a shoe seller have to do with digitalisation?
After a lunch break and a common lunch with all representatives of the enterprises and all interested pupils and students then personnel changed. The pupils were bid farewell and the stage was prepared for the university students. As in the morning, about 200 students had come to find out about career opportunities and 12 different employers.
The exhibition stands with the company representatives were still available for individual discussions and once again the companies introduced themselves briefly in 3-minute pitches to advertise for the subsequent workshops. Since most of the students already have a greater amount of prior knowledge, we were able to become more concrete in this workshop. The “digitization of a shoe retailer” was accordingly on our agenda. In doing so, we deliberately wanted to create the link between digitization on the one hand and an industry that at first glance appears to be remote from technology on the other.
We then worked out and discussed a concrete business case with the students. What services are needed to master an entry into the digital world? Which things have to be considered in the “big picture” and which concrete ones? What challenges or stumbling blocks are there during the project? What could a possible timeline look like? Is it better to organize such a project agile or waterfall like? We have tried to work out all these questions.
This workshop was again well attended and there were exciting discussions at a high professional level. The students got a first insight into how we approach our projects and especially why you should work for mgm.
Résumé
Countless interesting discussions were held, including some very interesting and concrete ones. The next day we saw some interested people again in our theme track and deepened our conversations. Our entry into the world of “company presentations and career fairs” has been very successful. We are looking forward to further exciting trade fair and case study events.
We are looking forward to next time!
