Once again, the Peter Bøgh Auditorium was completely filled, as the Department of Computer Science at Aarhus University organized Katrinebjerg Career Day (also called Kdag) for the fifth time. 52 companies from Denmark and abroad participated to tell what they can offer some of Denmark's most sought after students.
Getting responsibility from day one, working in small, agile teams and being part of a social workplace were some of the things the companies highlight that can offer the students. At the same time, the companies were ready with a surprises, sweets and smart gadgets to lure the students to their stand. "We might attract the students with a little popcorn, and then we can talk to them," said Anne Nørgaard from Zitcom. Many other companies had the same idea and for instance brought along Formula 1 simulator, ice cream truck, coffee bar, Super Nintendo tournament, drones and much more to lure the students to their particular booth for a talk about their future.
Stine Ramsing, who is studying IT product development, Kdag is a great opportunity to start the job search. She is finishes her studies this summer, and has started to look for a job: »I went to Kdag to get an overview of which companies are relevant to me. At the same time, it is a good way to get in contact with the companies. "
The retail company Bestseller participated for the third time in Kdag, and they would like to make the students aware that Bestseller is also a large IT company: »We are a global company and have about 300 employees who work with IT, of which 100 of them sit in Aarhus, "said Dann Bleeker, Head of Bestseller IT, and continued" we are looking for students with a technical profile who want to try new things and who want to inspire. "
For the companies, Kdag is a unique opportunity to get in touch with the students: "We are present today to meet the students where they are," explained Daniel Maass, Specialist in Innovation Lab, Discovery & Incubation at Terma, which had several open job listings for the career fair. The contact with the young IT talents, who soon will be entering the labor market, is particularly important, as over 40% of Danish IT companies last year had problems getting their open positions occupied.
Common for all the participating companies is that they all urgently need employees with a background in IT. According to a study prepared by the Danish government, Denmark will lack 19,000 IT specialists in 2030. This means that the IT students from Aarhus University are in very high demand, which also showed by the companies' enthusiasm for Kdag.
"There has been a huge demand from the companies to participate in KDag 2019", says Sofia Hedegaard Rasmussen, who is one of the organizers of Kdag, and continues "you can really see that our students are in high demand, because the 52 booths were sold out in just 24 hours and 47 minutes, and another 15 companies were on the waiting list.”
The meeting between the companies and the future IT staff is also something that makes an impression on the students. Computer students Oliver Pedersen said, among other things: "It is nice to know that there are so many opportunities to get a job." This is supplemented by Maximilian Scheid from Germany, who reads his master's degree in computer science at Aarhus University, "The interest of the companies is absolutely overwhelming. I have only managed to walk 50 meters through the stand area, and I already have five different job offers.
