The Digital Skills Festival 2019 is getting closer, and that can only mean one thing.
It’s almost time for Talent Day – the UK’s largest digital skills fair – in which around 1400 jobseekers and students from universities across the North West will meet with potential employers.
Now in its seventh year, Talent Day 2019 promises to be our biggest event yet, with record numbers of students already signed up.
If you’re a business in the North West looking to meet potential employees within the digital and tech sector and raise your profile, hurry quick and get a stand before they sell out.
What do other people think of Talent Day?
Thinking of getting a stand? We caught up with some previous exhibitors to discuss why Talent Day is important, what they got out of the day and what advice they’d give to this year’s exhibitors.
Firstly, we caught up with one of our sponsors, Auto Trader.
“Manchester Digital’s Talent Day is one of our favourite events in the skills and careers calendar. The fair gives us the opportunity to speak to students about both our Graduate and Apprenticeship jobs, and are always well attended by a vast array of talented students. We’ve made some great hires from students we’ve met on the day, and are excited to be part of the fair once again.” Sarah Brooks-Pearce
1. Why do you think Manchester Digital's Talent Day is important for the region?
Lydia Kennedy - Head of People at Deep3
Talent Day offers Greater Manchester a wonderful opportunity to cement its reputation as the UK's premiere tech hub. It enables the entire community to exhibit the roles to both students and those looking for a next career step.
Emma Edwards - Resourcing Business Partner at MDS Global
There aren’t many initiatives or events that cover such a wide area. A lot of universities do their own individual events, but to be able to exhibit in one location for one day and enjoy such a wide reach is really powerful.
Jennifer Madeley - Talent Acquisition Strategy Manager at TalkTalk
With many businesses finding it hard to attract the talent they need. Manchester Digital’s Talent Day draws talent both locally, but also further afield – highlighting Manchester as a hub for digital talent. With local businesses partnering together to showcase Manchester as a region, we’re more likely to have talent consider Manchester as a place to pursue their careers. We have some excellent local schools and universities and it’s important that we collectively encourage students to consider both Manchester and tech/digital careers.
Sarah Shaw - Talent Acquisition Lead at Zuto
Manchester’s digital and tech scene is experiencing phenomenal growth and the day is a brilliant platform for some of the biggest brands in the industry, as well as developing businesses, to showcase their opportunities. The day is a fantastic way of bringing together specialists, and, for attendees to network and identify a career move, or even simply find out more about the businesses thriving in this area.
Pedro Silva - Recruitment Manager at BJSS
Manchester is experiencing fantastic growth within IT and beyond. Talent Day is an excellent way to highlight the urgent need to support the skills that will continue to underpin this growth.
What made you want to exhibit at last year's event?
Emma Edwards - Resourcing Business Partner at MDS Global
We subscribe to Manchester Digital and we know that other respectable brands are there. This helps to attract good candidates. We know from previous experience the event is well-attended and busy.
It’s also great to know that many universities and colleges from the North West will be in attendance for what is a well-organised and really relevant event.
What made you want to exhibit at last year's event?
Lydia Kennedy - Head of People at Deep3
We use Talent Day as one of our active recruitment opportunities, plus we find it a great event to be a part of the current tech opportunities in Manchester.
We want to support the showcase for opportunities across the digital and tech arena. These are more varied than people realise. For us, it might be Software Engineers, Delivery Managers, Test Engineers and there are many more various roles in other tech business in Manchester.
Talent day is a great opportunity for us to share our experience and knowledge with others within the industry. In a sector as niche as ours, it’s important that we learn and collaborate with others in the space.
We really saw the benefit of engaging with students, understanding how they think, what they are looking for and some of the challenges they encounter. This has helped us start to build these learnings into our talent attraction strategies. My advice would be to really take advantage of the support and guidance given by MD and allow yourself plenty of time to plan and prepare a truly great experience
Sarah Shaw - Talent Acquisition Lead at Zuto
Our ongoing relationship with Manchester Digital meant we were confident in the level of professionalism the day would attract. We knew the event would introduce us to talented individuals as it has done in the past. The energy on the day is something we look forward to being a part of. It’s fantastic to be involved knowing we are growing as a business and actively contributing to the growth of the industry and also individual’s careers
Pedro Silva - Recruitment Manager at BJSS
We wanted to reach an audience that was engaged with the community in Manchester and felt Talent Day, as part of the wider Skills Festival, was an excellent way to do that.
What benefits did you take from the day and what advice would you give to this year's exhibitors?
Emma Edwards - Resourcing Business Partner at MDS Global
Even if we’re not actively recruiting, it's great for us to get our employer brand out there so that potential employees know that we exist.
I’d tell exhibitors to expect it to be busy, take lots of goodies and take some of your own graduates with you. Doing so was really powerful. The graduates we took were really able to connect with students on a level that was really relatable.
Jennifer Madeley - Talent Acquisition Strategy Manager at TalkTalk
We really saw the benefit of engaging with students, understanding how they think, what they are looking for and some of the challenges they encounter. This has helped us start to build these learnings into our talent attraction strategies. My advice would be to really take advantage of the support and guidance given by MD and allow yourself plenty of time to plan and prepare a truly great experience.
Lydia Kennedy - Head of People at Deep3
We use the day to directly recruit and talk to people about our business. Our advice would be to be prepared for a lot of very different conversations. On the day, everyone you speak with has a different set of experiences and would contribute something new to our business.
It’s also important to be aware that there’s an expectation to have collateral. That being said, whilst you need collateral to catch some people’s attention, it is the knowledge that you share that is the most crucial element of any discussion.
Sarah Shaw - Talent Acquisition Lead at Zuto
Bring more SWAG! With so many attendees last year, we know there will be even more this year, make sure you have enough goodies to go around and a well-organised way of capturing all the information you gather on the day. We really enjoyed speaking with all attendees, learning more about what they’re looking for from employers as well as discussing our exciting projects and that developments future employees could be involved in. Our top tips would be to share your latest and greatest work to show attendees what you’re all about as a business. Personalise your stand and showcase what your business is all about.
Pedro Silva - Recruitment Manager at BJSS
We got a lot of exposure not only to potential job seekers but to other businesses within the tech community as well.
Want to get involved?
Who can blame you? If you want to raise your profile and meet some great talent, get involved in this year’s Talent Day.
