What?

We’re excited to announce that booking is now open for #GEC12: The Graduate Employment Conference.

If you were at #GEC11 you’ll remember Graduates Yorkshire introducing Gradcore, its latest national employability division. This year it’s Gradcore’s turn to host the conference, but we’ll still be keeping true to our Yorkshire roots with local insights, local venue and most of all good old Yorkshire hospitality.

When?

 30^th May 2012, Aspire, Leeds,

 Twitter hashtag #GEC12

What is the conference about?

•  View from across the pond- Steven Rothberg, CEO of the leading U.S.  graduate recruitment site collegerecruiters.com, is flying in to share the latest trends from the U.S graduate labour market.

• Going mobile- Hear the latest opportunities and pitfalls in mobile graduate recruitment from Bill Boorman founder of #TRU events.

• In it together- Paul Hazell, Policy Adviser, Skills Policy Team, HEFCE, will be evoking the spirit of collaboration between policy makers, universities and recruiters to get the most out of our graduates. 

•  The real graduate job market- A look at the recruitiment industry, graduate employment and utilisation outside of London. Plus the results of The SME Survey, Gradcore's research into employers' experiences of graduate recuitment beyond the M25.

• The graduate labour market today- We’ve got a panel of large and SME graduate recruiters, a graduate job seeker and Head of Careers primed to answer your questions on today's graduate labour market.

See the full programme>>

What makes #GEC12 different?

In the morning we follow the trusted format of panel debates, key note speakers and talks. Then after a scrumptious lunch (we promise!) we launch into the popular un-conference format. Powerpoint is banned and we operate on the basis that “the wisdom of the room is greater than that of the person at the front” so be prepared to give as much as you get.

Speakers

Steven Rothberg – CEO of the largest graduate job board in the USA, Collegerecruiter.com

Paul Hazell- Policy Adviser, Skills Policy Team, HEFCE

Bill Boorman  – Founder of #TRU events @Billboorman

Martin Edmondson – CEO Gradcore and Graduates Yorkshire

Unconference Tracks

• Recruiting beyond the M25- led by Chris Jackson – Marketing Manager AGCAS

• Engaging the disengaged- led by Stephen Boyd, Head of Careers – University of Huddersfield

• So, Lo, Mo- led by Matthias Feist, Head of Careers and Business Relations, Regents College. Chair of Placenet and Bill Boorman, founder of #TRU events.

• Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics- led by Andy Westwood, CEO of GuildHE and Rowan Foster, Research Manager, Gradcore
  

• What can graduate enterprise teach about employability?- led by Allyson Glover -Programme Director, Unlocking Cornish Potential and Louise Bermingham, Graduate Entrepreneurship Project Manager, University of Huddersfield.
  

• Social capital: What is it? And why does it matter?- led by Naeema Pasha, currently conducting Doctoral Research in Social Capital in relation to Career Happiness @naeemapasha

Who is the conference for?

We’ve got an exciting line-up that should piqué the interests of everyone involved in the graduate labour market, whether you are a careers advisor, policy maker or recruiter.

Careers and Employability Advisors

Learn about how to engage hard to reach students in employability initiatives, graduate enterprise, what today’s graduate recruiters are looking for in a graduate and the impact of the Wilson Review and KIS.

Graduate Recruiters

Learn about So, Lo, Mo, recruiting beyond the M25 and share best practise with the U.S. graduate labour market with speaker Steven Rothberg, CEO of the leading U.S. recruitment site collegerecruiter.com. Also hear about the challenges faced by large and SME graduate recruiters in our panel debate.

Policy Makers

Learn more about graduate employment statistics and get the true picture of the market. Understand the experiences of SMEs from our survey results and hear from Paul Hazell, Policy Adviser, Skills Policy Team, HEFCE speak about collaborative working between policy makers, universities and graduate recruiters.

Make the conference work for you…

Want to the opinions of industry experts on a particular issue? Just let us know and we might be able to arrange an afternoon track on the subject! Email katie.johnson@gradcore.co.uk

Want to know more?

If you aren’t sure if our conference is for you just contact Katie Johnson, Marketing Manager on katie.johnson@gradcore.co.uk 0800 077 8377

A full programme for the day will be released shortly.

Freebies

We have a limited number of free tickets for graduates and bloggers to attend GEC12. Please contact Katie Johnson, Marketing Manager on katie.johnson@gradcore.co.uk 0800 077 8377 to find out more.

Competitions

Graduates: Tell us in no more than 50 words why you deserve a free ticket to #GEC12. Email your reason to katie.johnson@gradcore.co.uk by the 21st May. Winners will be announced by the 25th May. Or if you tweet "I'm a graduate get me a free ticket to #GEC12: The Graduate Employment Conference http://bit.ly/JZvpIE" you'll be entered in a random draw. Why not do both?

Careers Professionals: To be entered into a draw for a free conference ticket tweet "I'm a Careers Professional, get me a free ticket to #GEC12: The Graduate Employment Conference http://bit.ly/JZvpIE" Winners will be drawn on the 25th May.

Graduate Recuiters: To be entered into a draw for a free conference ticket tweet "I'm a recruiter, get me a free ticket to #GEC12: The Graduate Employment Conference http://bit.ly/JZvpIE" Winners will be drawn on the 25th May.

Staying over?

The conference venue is right in the centre of Leeds, just a short walk from the train station. The following hotels are in walking distance of the conference and train station:

The Met 

Park Plaza

The Hilton

See the full programme>>