Throughout the year, ePages is not only joining various events such as conferences and meetups, but also some job fairs for interested developers and students. At ePages, our HR team is taking care of these job fairs and organizes them. In the following interview, our HR Managers Elisa and Katharina will tell us why it is so important for them to visit job fairs and what they have experienced so far.
Which kind of job fairs do you visit? And how do you decide which of them to visit?
In the first place, we are visiting job fairs which are organized by universities in Germany. We’d like to attract young talents and professionals and therefore we choose job fairs near our office locations Hamburg and Jena. In Hamburg, we for example visit the Stellenwerk Job Fair at the Campus University and in Jena the Firmenkontaktbörse at the University Jena.
But we also participate in job fairs for a wider audience like the Jobwalk Jena which is an open-air job fair in Jena, or the Data Science Day in Jena which is a series of lectures with an additional job fair in the break hall. In Hamburg, we take part in the Hacker X which is a special invite-only event to meet talented developers in a rapid interview format to ensure everyone has the chance to tell us their story and background.
Why are job fairs important for you as HR?
Basically, it is not only important for us as HR, but also for ePages as a company. It is the perfect chance to represent ePages and our great company culture. Furthermore, job fairs give us the opportunity to connect with people directly, and to find young talents, especially for internships and working student positions. Furthermore, we’d like to learn more about the needs and wishes of potential candidates but also, of course, to find new colleagues in general.
How do you prepare for such job fairs?
First of all, we think about which job fairs we would like to visit in the area of Hamburg and Jena. Afterwards, we start scheduling the different dates for the upcoming year. Then, we take a look at who is participating in which job fair. We do not only plan who is participating from the HR team but also from the RnD team. Later on, we prepare our material which we need for the job fairs such as give-aways, sweets, or job descriptions.
Why do colleagues from RnD participate in the job fairs?
These colleagues do not take part in each job fair. Sometimes we are only represented by our HR team. But normally, we are a mixed team with 2-3 employees which also includes developers, Project Managers, or Scrum Masters. We are really happy that they support us. Their support makes it easier for us to answer diverse questions, especially with technical background. Furthermore, they can give a deeper insight into their job position and explain certain workflows.
What kind of questions do you get asked (typically)? Which questions would you like to be asked?
Well, students are often interested in the possibilities we offer, such as internships, and working student positions, but also in writing their bachelor or master thesis in our company. Besides that, they often ask about the application procedures at ePages. Many of them are also interested in our tech stack and how international we are as a company. We are always looking forward to having a great conversation with the visitors and we are open to all kinds of job-related questions - so there are actually no right or wrong questions.
What has been the craziest question you’ve ever been asked by a visitor?
So far we did not receive any crazy questions at the job fairs we visited. But one time we were asked for a goodie (which we distribute to interested visitors) by a security guard: ”Well, I don’t need a job, but can I take one of your lovely “Lieblingskollege” cards as a present for my colleague?” So some people just want to grab our goodies - that’s nice but we’d also like them to be interested in our company 😉.
What happens if a visitor is really interested in a job at ePages? How does the further process looks like? And do we have an ePagee that you first met on a job fair?
If the conversation with the visitor turns out to be positive, we often share our contact data with each other. Then, we contact the interested person in the next days and start the application process. That means we check their CV and references, and ideally organize an interview.
And yes, we currently even have two ePagees we first met on a job fair: our working students Gregor and Konstantin in Jena who both support us in our software development.
Which highlights have you experienced so far?
One of our highlights was the Jobwalk in Jena as it is the largest open-air job fair in Germany which takes place at the marketplace. There are so many visitors and it is really crowded what is perfect for many great conversations. Another highlight was a workshop at the Company Days in Jena, where our colleagues did a Design Thinking workshop with students from the University of Jena. But somehow each job fair is unique and a highlight because each of them is different and also takes place at a different location. We always have a lot of fun at these events.
Any last advice for visitors of job fairs?
Just come as you are and be interested and open for a good conversation. Besides that, it’s always helpful if the visitors are a little prepared. They should be able to give us a brief summary of their experiences and projects at their university - it is even more helpful if they bring their CV with them. That’s the easiest way to find out if it’s a match.
If you’d like to meet us on your next job fair, check out our Let’s meet timeline and see where we’re next. We’re looking forward to meet you!
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