Seeking and Finding

by Alfred Max

On 27 March, 67 well-known companies from all over Germany presented themselves in the best possible light to around 900 students at the International Business Fair (IBF) organised by ESB Business School at the city hall of Reutlingen. A real win-win situation: For the companies, there was a ‘free choice’ among highly qualified candidates, and for the students of the university there were very many firm offers for their internships or the start of their careers. The following day, pre-scheduled virtual one-to-one interviews were on the agenda.

The International Business Fair is organised by students from higher semesters and the Career Center at ESB Business School. Christoph Binder, Dean of ESB Business School, thanked the student teams and the 60 helpers. Coordinator Celine Metzger addressed her fellow students: “Make good use of our International Business Fair – and have fun”. And that’s what the ESB students did – the aisles were buzzing. “We want to establish contacts, get an insight into what the companies do and find internships”, explained Thomas Riester and Laura Lierz, who are enrolled in the second semester of the International Management Double Degree programme (IMX).

A very high level of commitment
The companies – from Adolf Würth to TRUMPF – also showed a very high level of commitment. They presented themselves in Reutlingen with professional exhibition stands and over 250 competent contact persons. Expectations were correspondingly high: “Our goal is to increase the level of company awareness and to find two new employees today”, said Arna Jakoblev from the KELLERGROUP, which was exhibiting at the IBF for the first time. “We are looking to talk to candidates who are of interest to us”, explained Leonhard Klug, an ESB alumnus, who now works at Oliver Wyman.  Marius Bönisch from LIDL was delighted, saying “it is good that the fair is now taking place in person again”. The company currently has between 250 and 400 jobs to fill in Germany that could be suitable for ESB students. In total, there are 19,000 vacancies, not even counting the company group. Andrea Haug from BELDEN, a network solutions provider, which was at the IBF for the first time, said: “ESB and its graduates have a good reputation. With our stand here we are jumping at this opportunity.” ALDI SÜD was also there: “We are regular participants because we always find good candidates here. We have close connection with ESB Business School, which is very important to us”, emphasised Bastian van Kaldekerken.
In the afternoon on the campus students then stood together in small groups and made their own personal assessment of the IBF: “My internship for the summer is secure.” The next day, some of them took the next steps towards employment in virtual one-to-one recruiting interviews on the ‘Talentspace’ platform.