What the 13th EFMD Global Fairs revealed about the future of graduate hiring
For the 13th consecutive time, the EFMD Global Fairs by Highered brought together students from member schools worldwide with recruiters and senior leaders from some of the world’s most in-demand employers.
This spring also marked a first: the fair moved onto the CareerOS platform, giving students a seamless experience from session registration to company discovery in one place.
Eleven sessions. Seven company spotlights. Three career masterclasses. Here is what the conversations revealed.
Recruiters are using AI, and candidates need to keep up
Kirsten Pilar, Senior Talent Acquisition Leader, was direct: AI filters CVs before a human ever sees them. Keywords and structure matter from line one. But authentic storytelling still wins at the human stage,AI narrows the field, humans make the final call. Digital fluency is now a differentiator in itself.
Visa sponsorship is a negotiation, not a barrier
Bjorn Martin van den Berg, Global Lead Campus Strategy at Euroclear, was honest: landing a sponsored role in Europe is hard, but it is absolutely possible. The candidates who succeed treat it as a business case, not a request. They also think in years, not months.
How you prepare matters most
Tom Lawrence, who runs interview training at Oxford and Cambridge, was clear: employers want proof of what you did and what changed because of it. Not enthusiasm, not a good story, a specific action and a result you can measure. His advice: do mock interviews with someone who will give you honest feedback. Nothing else comes close.
The most in-demand companies are more reachable than students assume
Gartner, SAP, Solvay, Klaviyo, Much Consulting, and The Coca-Cola Company all made the same point in different ways: don’t self-select out. Roles evolve fast, entry paths are varied, and relationships open doors that formal applications sometimes don’t.
All of it is captured in Highered by CareerOS ebook, whether you attended the sessions or are discovering the fair for the first time.
→ Download the Ebook: Key Takeaways from the 13th EFMD Global Fairs
The 14th EFMD Global Fairs returns in October
Registration is now open for career services teams at EFMD member schools. Sign up your institution so your students have access to the next round of company sessions, expert masterclasses, and live recruiter Q&As.
The EFMD Global Fairs are powered by Highered by CareerOS — the official career services partner of EFMD Global for a decade.
For additional insights, trends and announcements, visit the conversation on Career Services.
