ESEI Career Fair: Helping students connect with international businesses

It was our first Career Fair of 2019 and the sun came out for us again! There was a buzzing atmosphere as dozens of students took the opportunity to speak with international companies, learn about their career options and apply for internships.

Our blogging team spoke to staff, students and company representatives to find out what the day was all about.

A great opportunity for students to see what’s out there

First, we spoke to Simisola Okoya, who heads up Admissions and external relations at ESEI.

“What mainly distinguishes ESEI – a business school – from any other university is that we place a lot of emphasis on practical methodology, on links with business, and on networking,” she said. “At the end of the day, it’s not just about education, it’s about how you apply that new knowledge to the working world.”

And career fairs are an opportunity for students to put themselves to the test.

“A lot of our students come with the intention to gain new skills, to have more specialised knowledge in the programmes that they’re taking, but they also have dreams to grow in their careers and to start businesses of their own,” she continued.

One of our biggest strengths at ESEI is our connection with the business community.
“We want to link our students to companies so they gain the experience they need and so that they can apply what they learned in actual business scenarios here in Barcelona – it’s definitely something we want to encourage.”

Frank, a student who attended the event, told us:

“I’m studying business management at ESEI. I have a business at home in Cameroon called Complex Metal Construction – and I’m here to get more skills and knowledge and apply those skills there. Today, I met with lots of companies and saw that they are very interesting. I want to get in touch with some of them again and see how we get on.”

Which companies came to our Career Fair?

PTC

We spoke to Konstantina Antonopoulou from PTC, an international software company founded in 1985.
“We have software products for computer-aided design, product lifecycle management, internet of things and augmented reality solutions,” said Konstantina.

“We’re a global company looking for business development representatives in our Barcelona office. These will be full-time positions or internships. Mostly we’re focusing on native or native-level French, Italian or German speakers. So that’s why we’re here because it’s an international school.”

Talent Point

Marta de Llauder Santomá spoke to us about Talent Point, a platform that connects students and junior job seekers with enterprise-level companies.

“We’re specialised in university and junior graduate profiles of all backgrounds. We have a platform to connect these job seekers with companies – our website is jobinplanet.com.”

Marta explained that her company organises a number of events throughout the year, in Madrid and Barcelona. The next event, which will feature 112 companies, will take place on the 29th March, in Palau de Congressos de Catalunya on Diagonal.
“The objective is to bring businesses from all sectors together to meet our junior and university candidates. It’s a great opportunity for ESEI students to meet with some huge companies, have interviews and connect with them  – like Louis Vuitton, PepsiCo, Amazon, and many others.”

But it’s not just a meet-and-greet for students.

“During the event, we organise a programme of conferences, escape rooms, workshops – all with the aim to help students jump-start their careers. We’re here at ESEI’s Career Fair to explain how this platform works – and show students how they can get involved.”

travel2study

travel2study is a Barcelona-based company that provides a full service to students who want to go abroad to study.

“We provide services that students need to study abroad – from paperwork to accommodation and everything in between – and, of course, we stay in touch with our students throughout the experience” said Leidy Pimentel.

“ESEI is an important international school here in Barcelona, which makes it a very interesting place for us to come. We want to recruit students from all over the world. Today, we chatted with lots of people, got to know them, and explained to them what we are looking for. At the moment, we have two or three internship opportunities in digital marketing, sales and international relations.”

Camelia beauty

Christina Kao is the managing partner of Camelia Beauty, a brand specialising in nails, makeup and skincare.
“My partner and I lived in Shanghai for 11 years before deciding to move the business to Barcelona. Our number one struggle in the new city is related to HR, but I think BCN has a lot of international talent. I have experience hiring business students – and right now we’re looking for ambitious and hungry people. I’ve found really interesting students with specific skills who could maybe work on some projects for us.”

What are your future career plans? Are you interested in taking on an internship with an international company? Talk to our team today!