Employers have hailed the success of last week’s Leeds Digital Job Fair 2.0 which attracted more than 2,000 people through the doors of the city’s iconic First Direct Arena.
46 exhibitors from the public and private sectors had stands at the event organised by online jobs board Herd to showcase hundreds of wide-ranging career opportunities in the region’s digital and tech sector.
And the response has been hugely positive.
Johnathan Nicolson grabbing a quick rest at the busy Jet2.com and Jet2holidays stand
Johnathan Nicolson, IT Recruiter, Jet2.com & Jet2holidays, said: “We loved it. We enjoyed meeting with some really passionate digital and technology professionals and talking to them about how technology underpins all the success we’ve had at Jet2.com and Jet2holidays. Our IT and Digital Team is made up of colleagues who are highly skilled and passionate about technology who deliver market leading customer experiences and hopefully some of the Herd attendees will be applying to join us soon.”
Vicky Hester, Recruitment Consultant, Callcredit, said: “The Leeds Digital Job Fair was a great success with some strong company brands attending. The venue and layout of the event created a real buzz. We made contact with some fantastic candidates at all levels of experience and hope to be able to make some placements for our current vacancies as well as having good contacts to keep in touch with for future opportunities at Callcredit.”
Gus Thompson, Recruitment Manager, Plusnet, said: "Plusnet was proud to be a part of the Herd digital event in Leeds. What a fantastic opportunity to network with industry professionals and meet the next generation of talent in the Yorkshire tech and digital community. We look forward to next year’s event."
Matt Fisher, Technical Lead, Dubit, said: "We were really impressed with the variety of people, talent and experience available at Leeds Digital Job Fair. We ended up speaking to some really interesting people, and came away with loads more opportunities than we'd considered at the start."
Charlotte Goulding, Recruitment Manager, NHS Digital, said: “I’m delighted that NHS Digital was part of the Leeds Digital Job Fair 2.0. It was the busiest job fair that we have been to so far this year and we spoke with loads of people all passionate about progressing their digital career in Leeds. The fair attracted people at all stages of their careers and we spoke to people about apprenticeships, our graduate scheme and opportunities for experienced professionals. We’re looking forward to keeping the conversation going with the nearly 200 people who signed up to hear more about working with us.”
Amy De-Balsi from Herd – which put the event together with support from LeedsBID, Leeds City Council, Leeds Beckett University and First Direct Arena – said she was thrilled by the feedback.
She commented: “By common consent, the first Leeds Job Digital Fair in February set a new standard for technology recruitment events in the North. But we wanted to surpass this and, by moving everyone into the huge main auditorium and providing a larger area for employers and candidates to interact, we achieved our objective. There were more exhibitors, more candidates and more jobs available. We couldn’t be more pleased.”
Amy De-Balsi (centre) from Herd, organisers of Leeds Digital Job Fair 2.0
And Ms De-Balsi revealed that Leeds Digital Job Fair 3.0 would take place at the First Direct Arena on Friday 28 April 2017.
She said: “Such was the interest from potential new exhibitors in the run up to last week’s event that we thought it best to set a date for the next one. And our confidence has already been justified with a number of them, having attended in an observer capacity, now committed to taking a stand in April.
“The thriving Leeds digital sector was once a well-kept secret but those days are long gone with the ever-growing talent pool standing as testament to this.
“Herd is proud to be playing a key role in bringing tech candidates and employers together.”