About Petrus

Events and Research

Petrus at the 20th Annual EAIE Conference, 2008

Petrus organised a session and a workshop at the 20th Annual EAIE Conference which took place in Antwerp between 10th and 13th September, 2008.

Many institutions would like to increase areas of interaction with business and industry but often don’t know where to start or don’t have the contacts in place to initiate new projects. In order to allow interaction between industry or business and higher education institutions Kirsten Williamson, Managing Director of Petrus Communications, chaired ‘Involving business and industry in international education’ session at the EAIE Conference 2008, on Friday 12th September. Together with Anja Stoll, EUROMED Marseille School of Management, she helped participants better understand the needs of the private sector when establishing projects with academic institutions, and identify practical steps which can be taken to develop contacts and improve interaction in this critical area.

Leo Robben and Kirsten Williamson together facilitated the workshop ‘Organising international placements to meet institutional and business objectives’, which took place on Wednesday, 10th September. Work placements play an important role in providing students with the skills and knowledge employers look for. When developing a work placement strategy an institution has a number of objectives. Kirsten, as chair of the workshop, worked through these objectives with institutional experts and business representatives to identify practical ways of ensuring that when offering/sending students on international work placements, both sides are satisfied.

Recruiting in Poland – an exchange among experts

A unique event organized by TMP Worldwide and Petrus Communications allowed UK recruiters to share information about their needs with the renowned Krakow University of Economics, and find out more about student expectations…

In 2007 TMP Worldwide and Petrus Communications organized an interactive one-day event with the Career Service of Krakow University of Economics, one of the Poland’s leading universities, and some big names in British graduate recruiting: Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, PwC and Shell. The event provided a platform to exchange knowledge on the respective graduate markets as well as the profiles and needs of both UK recruiters and Polish students. The event started with TMP’s overview of challenges facing UK recruiters, followed by a review of the Polish recruitment market by Petrus which was seasoned with comments from the career service representatives. Insights into the profiles of students and academic developments at the Krakow University of Economics rounded off the formal presentations leading to an interesting debate. The presentations were designed to help recruiters to understand more about the expectations of Polish students and how the market is changing, for example regarding preferences when it comes to choosing an ideal employer.

Kirsten Williamson, Managing Director of Petrus, had some advice to recruiters trying to recruit both locally and for international positions at the same time. ‘At Polish universities there are many opportunities for students to join an international programme or a course where they study in English and travel as part of their degree, much more so than in the UK. Students choosing these courses are more likely to be oriented towards an international career whereas students who have not chosen the international programmes are often less likely to want to go abroad, allowing recruiters to target the appropriate group. If you want students who are more flexible and want international opportunities then the international programmes are the courses to work with first.’

Global Education for Global Skills

The AGR conference 2008 focuses on the critical issue of developing students with the right skills for the international labour market. Kirsten Williamson, Managing Director of Petrus Communications, is chairing a showcase at this year's conference, on Monday 7th July at 17h.

The number of English students participating in international study programmes such as Erasmus has fallen from 9,500 to 5,500 in the last 10 years, whereas in Germany or France equivalent figures are over 20,000.* This is a cause for concern if we believe that international education - for example including a period of study or work abroad during a degree - can help students to develop key employability skills. If employers in the UK wish to consistently recruit from the best talent available, we need to develop that talent in the UK as well as recruiting internationally. This means that employer attention and support is required to meet the challenge of increasing mobility among UK students. Any international experience can enhance a student's skills, but those students showing the highest potential are looking for a greater challenge than a simple academic exchange. The success of CEMS - a strategic alliance of leading universities and international companies - is testimony to this. Examining the CEMS programme can teach us much about the profile and ambitions of talented international graduates and how we as recruiters can engage with them.
*CIHE report 'Global Horizons for UK Students'

Elisa Chami Castaldi, UK Bologna Expert for the British Council in 2007-2008 and UK ERASMUS Student Committee (UKESC) Member, will lament the lack of mobility among UK students, highlight the challenges to be overcome and the steps being taken to meet these challenges.

John Taylor, Senior Consultant, i-graduate, will present a range of initiatives and opportunities for employer involvement, with particular reference to the CIHE project currently underway which aims to identify the role that businesses can play in developing more global graduates, and recruiting them from UK universities.

Finally, Nicole de Fontaines, CEMS Secretary-General, will offer valuable insight on the profile of the CEMS students and graduates, how this successful programme has been developed and is now going global, and ways in which recruiters can engage with this high potential, international audience.

The Showcase slides will be available here following the conference.

Come to the AGR and have an international sensory experience

Petrus is exhibiting at the 2008 AGR conference for the first time ever, sharing a stand with Dawson Walker Communications. Dawson Walter and Petrus already have an impressive track record in delivering innovative communication and event programmes and have worked together on a range of projects over the last three years.

Whether working independently or in partnership, our teams provide bespoke consultancy and implementation for campus research, marketing communications, campus events and 'experiential' candidate attraction and engagement on a UK, European and global basis.

Our geography is different; what we share is a total commitment to exceptional customer service, and we have a lot of fun working together too!

Because our international teams can't all be with us at the event, we are taking along a sensory directory of our network to tantalise your senses. Within the boxes marked What on Earth? there are a range of sensory experiences that represent a selection of the countries in which we operate.

If you can identify what is in the box and where it comes from, you could be in with a chance of winning a prize from the following options:

• Dinner for two at the acclaimed Dans Le Noir? restaurant in London or Paris. Dans Le Noir? offers diners an extraordinary, heightened experience of taste, touch and sound - but not of sight. At Dans Le Noir? your meal is served by blind waiters and taken in total darkness.
• Relax and unwind with a pampering day of spa treatments at a Health or Beauty Spa close to your office or your home.
• Treat your taste buds to a Wine and Dine experience for two in either London or Paris! Choose from a Cheese & Wine Lunch at O Chateau in Paris or a lunch with wine tasting at London's Vinopolis.