The festivities were in full swing as 54 companies showed up for Katrinebjerg's Career Day, Kdag 2024. With a sizzling IT job market, there's a high demand for young talents, and the day provided students with the opportunity to learn more about the various paths within IT.
Kdag is always the busiest day of the year at the institute, but in 2024, a record was set: 236 company representatives from 54 companies, along with 800-1,000 students, flocked to the institute for a day of career discussions, creative presentations, meetings with new people, and countless booths.
The job market in the IT industry is hotter than ever before, and this was reflected in the eagerness of companies to secure a spot on the program: all slots were sold out just eight minutes after registration opened - another record for 2024.
The day was kicked off with 1 Minute Madness in the Peter Bøgh Andersen Auditorium, where each company had exactly one minute to introduce themselves to the students. 60 seconds isn't long, and companies used creative means to both inform and stand out: everything from confetti cannons to robots and role-playing was utilized.
Then, the event moved to the exhibition area, where students and company representatives met at booths for discussions about IT and work-life in general, as well as opportunities for internships and full-time jobs. Contact books were filled with new connections, ears with exciting conversations, and pockets with snacks and cool merchandise.
"Kdag is an awesome opportunity to talk to a lot of companies and find out what career opportunities are out there. You can also see that there's a great interest in IT students and the knowledge and skills we possess: companies are just as interested in getting to know who we are, as we are in learning who they are, which I think is great," says Jakob Worm, who studies IT Product Development in the 8th semester at the Department of Computer Science, Aarhus University.
At 3 p.m., when most students had made their rounds in the exhibition area, companies packed up their booths. Some bid farewell for the day, while others continued the festivities in the Friday bar, where student associations SOFA and Fredagscaféen had joined forces to create a cheerful end to the eventful day.
After a brisk walk around the exhibition area, it was clear that companies were really making an effort to appear attractive to the students; both serious career discussions and eye-catching gimmicks and gadgets were on display. This reflects the fact that the shortage of IT-skilled employees is far from cooling down. Fresh figures from the IT industry's IT Barometer 2024 show that 63% of Danish IT companies see the lack of employees with the right IT skills as the biggest barrier to growth in the IT industry. It is even estimated that the IT job market will become significantly more competitive and red-hot in the coming years.
Last year, based on statistics from Statistics Denmark, the Confederation of Danish Industry could announce an analysis that left people astounded: a whopping 79% of all Danish companies struggled to hire qualified IT professionals.
One way for individual companies to address this challenge is by directly engaging with the sought-after young candidates, so that both parties can learn more about each other and potentially build a relationship.
"We're here at Kdag to talk to a lot of IT students but also to listen to what they're interested in and what they find exciting," says Josefine Franklin Hansen, Graduate Programme Lead at Arla.
This year marks the 7th time Josefine has attended Kdag, and she speaks enthusiastically about it:
"I think Kdag is a wonderful event. We've been here for a few years, and we keep coming back."
It is gratifying that Kdag provides both companies and students with the opportunity to create new connections and explore how their talents can be utilized.
