Business Networking Day had over 540 participants
The Business Networking Day event was organised for the third time, this time as a joint effort of three faculties. Business Networking Day is a networking event arranged by the University of Jyväskylä, introducing the competences and needs of companies and stakeholders as well as the expertise of JYU researchers.
“On Business Networking Day, we wish to bring together researchers and companies so that the companies would know what kind of research is pursued at the University, and so that the University would know the full range of companies’ needs. We seek closer cooperation to increase the University’s impact in the corporate field”, says Suvi Harsunen, Business Services Manager from the Faculty of Mathematics and Science and the chairperson of the organising committee of this year’s Business Networking Day.
Also students have a chance to get acquainted with the operators of their field and, vice versa, the operators with their potential future employees.
“Students can get acquainted with companies that could employ them, and the companies can use the event for recruitment purposes,” Harsunen summarises.
Three faculties and a full house
This year, the event was organised as a joint effort of three faculties: the Faculty of Mathematics and Science, the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Paviljonki was crowded with students, researchers, and representatives of companies and stakeholders. The number of signed up participants was over 540, including over 300 students and over 240 representatives of companies and stakeholders. Altogether, in total 60 organisations from Central Finland and other regions of the country participated in the event.
In addition to an exhibition, the day included interesting discussions, posters, good food, and networking.
“New things in this year’s event were researchers’ elevator pitches, theme-based speech sessions in nine categories, and parallel sessions between which participants could freely move and choose according to their personal preferences,” says Harsunen.
Cooperation between the corporate field and the University
Business Networking Day enables networking broadly to many different directions. There are many different operators on display both from the public and from the private sector. Accordingly, many operators are exploring different cooperation possibilities or strengthening their relations to students and potential future employees.
“The event offers a good opportunity to advertise our company to students, talk about available internships, and make the company better known among the students,” says Päivi Oikarinen and Johannes Ilomäki from Envineer, an environmental consultancy and design firm.
Business Networking Day also seeks to dispel the border between the corporate field and university and research, and hence promote a new kind of cooperation.
“In the corporate field, we need a better understanding of what the University of Jyväskylä can offer, and conversely, the University and researchers need a view to the corporate field. This event is an excellent forum to meet within these themes,” say Mika Fisk and Neea Blåfield from the Startup Factory, which is an in-house company owned by the University of Jyväskylä, the City of Jyväskylä, and JAMK University of Applied Sciences.
An opportunity to get acquainted with a future employer
For students, Business Networking Day provides an opportunity to learn widely about the corporate world and the fields of research. The event exhibits companies and stakeholders ranging from large corporate groups and public organisations to smaller start-ups. Hence, students have a unique opportunity to get largely acquainted with different potential employers, get ideas for their personal career paths, and take interest in new things. Also those planning for a research career can get acquainted with several research teams and topics in the same occasion.
“We came to chart future employment possibilities as well as to search inspiration and information, as graduation and transition to working life is already soon ahead,” say Venla Laine, a fifth-year student of environmental management and sciences, and Olivia Söderena, a fifth-year student of aquatic sciences.
