Hosting an Employer Information Session (EIS) is a great way to connect with Waterloo co-op students and new graduates.
These sessions allow you to showcase your organization, highlight job opportunities and attract top talent. Follow these six tips to ensure your session is engaging and impactful.
Six tips to rock your Employer Information Session!
1. Promote early and often
Get the word out about your event early through your social media channels. Tag us on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook or X and we’ll reshare your content with our student audience. Connect with your former or current co-op students to help spread the word among their peers.
You can also submit a company video to be featured directly on our Instagram channel. Download these video guidelines and check out this employer post for inspiration! A member of the EIS team will be in touch after you register with more details.
Pro tip: Have you recently posted a role? Use WaterlooWorks to invite your applicants to attend. You can find their email addresses on their resumes.
2. Craft compelling content
- Plan engaging content such as a presentation, video, panel discussion, fireside chat or other interactive activities.
- Ensure your content is informative, easy to understand and relevant to keep students’ attention.
- Include current roles students are working in at your organization and full-time job opportunities.
- Describe your work culture and what makes your organization stand out.
Our EIS WaterlooWorks calendar names events following this format: "Employer Name - Session Title - Session type".
Pro tip: Choose a title with a specific focus to let students know what to expect. For example, Christie Digital - Engineering Fireside chat - IN-PERSON Information Session.
3. Choose the right speakers
Use engaging and passionate team members to convey how awesome your organization is. Engage multiple presenters from different backgrounds and job functions who can offer diverse perspectives and networking opportunities.
Pro tip: Recent graduates and past or current co-op students connect well with students. They can provide authentic perspectives on working at your organization.
4. Use the right platform
If you're hosting an online session, select the best platform for your needs. Consider ease of use and interactive features (like breakout rooms or chat functions).
Although you can choose your virtual platform, we do recommend Microsoft Teams. It supports polls, messaging, breakout rooms, screen sharing and more. Microsoft Teams is ideal for engaging students with audio/visual interactions, multi-presenter presentations and sharing screen content with audio.
Remember, our team is here to provide support.
5. Encourage interaction
Incorporate interactive elements such as free food, live polls, Q&A sessions, interactive polls (e.g., mentimeter.com) and icebreakers.
If you’re online, offer virtual breakout rooms. If you’re in-person, showcase a demo of your product or service.
Who doesn’t love SWAG? Bring in your company’s branded goodies to giveaway. Or consider having a prize giveaway with a raffle or trivia competition. You can even ship out swag to international or out-of-province students to further your reach!
Pro tip: Advertising giveaways in your session description can help attract students to your session.
6. Collect feedback
Gather feedback from students about your event and how to improve it. Use surveys, polls or post-event follow-ups.
Pro tip: Plan to collect students' contact information if you plan to send a post-event survey.
Christie Digital staff and students networking at an Employer Information Session
PWC staff doing a giveaway to students at an Employer Information Session
