University makes contacts at student fair

Every year, when the autumn darkness is at its deepest at the end of November, the time comes for the Saco Student Fair in Stockholm. Saco organises two education fairs, one in Stockholm and one in Malmö. Uppsala University participates in the fair in Stockholm but not in Malmö as the University focuses on recruiting students from the regions of Mälardalen, Gästrikland, Dalarna and Norrland.

This year, the student fair is taking place on 27–28 November. Uppsala University has participated in the fair for many years.

“The student fair serves as a starting point for upper secondary school students to begin thinking about what to do after finishing school,” says Anna Sonnevi, Communications Officer in the University Administration, who is responsible for Uppsala University’s participation in the student fair.

Four categories of visitors

According to Anna Sonnevi, visitors to the student fair can be roughly divided into four separate categories:

• those who know both where and what they are going to study
• those who want to study at Uppsala University but don’t know what they want to study
• those who know what they want to study but don’t know where
• those who have not decided whether to continue their studies after upper secondary school.

“The largest group at the student fair is definitely the group who have not decided whether to carry on with education after upper secondary school. Many of the visitors are in a kind of orientation phase and one of our goals at the fair is to make them aware of Uppsala University as an option. Surveys of the target group show that less than half know that Uppsala University exists.”

Budget

The budget for the University’s participation in the student fair is SEK 630,000. This budget includes all the different elements, including the fair fee, staffing, fair magazine, etc. The budget is lower than in previous years, one consequence being that the number of student ambassadors has been cut from around forty to thirty.

Focus on person-to-person meetings

Uppsala University’s stand, staffing and organisation are based on the idea of meeting visitors where they are in their decision-making process. Over the two days of the fair, around 10,000 contacts will be made, though this figure should be taken with a pinch of salt as it is based on the number of fair magazines that usually go.

Thirty students are engaged as student ambassadors at the fair. They receive training and represent the programme they are taking themselves. They are also expected to be able to tell visitors more about related programmes and subjects, as the aim is for the student ambassadors to represent the whole breadth of the University.

The ambassadors are divided into four teams, each stationed at a corner of the stand. One corner focuses on medicine and pharmacy, one on science and technology, and two on humanities and social sciences. The ambassadors actively reach out to passers-by, trying to start a conversation, inspire and answer questions about student life, the University and education.

In-depth conversations

“Once they have interviewed them about their interests, they direct visitors to the ambassador who can tell them more about those programmes or subjects for an in-depth discussion.”

Each team corner also has an employed study and careers counsellor who can offer knowledge and facts about the programmes.

In the middle of the stand there are additional study and careers counsellors together with staff from student services.

“We try to stand out compared with other exhibitors. The set-up of the stand and the staffing is meant to create a relationship with the visitor where they are in the process of deciding what to do after upper secondary school. We’ve removed all digital screens from the stand to focus entirely on the face-to-face meeting. Only the study and careers counsellors have access to tablets.”

“There’s usually a good atmosphere at the stand, those of us who are working there have fun. This in turn creates a magical atmosphere and energy that spreads to visitors,” Sonnevi concludes.

Anders Berndt