Engagement: what does a successful engagement event look like?

For more than ten years, AllAboutGroup has been working in the legal graduate recruitment sector, helping firms attract, engage and screen candidates interested in their opportunities. Last year, the leading international law firm Simmons & Simmons approached us for help promoting the training opportunities available at their office in Bristol. Paying close attention to the firm’s goals and selection criteria, we were able to deliver a stimulating event attended by high-quality candidates. 

How were event attendees attracted and screened according to Simmons & Simmons’ goals?

When we work with firms to plan engagement events, we always have their specific aims and candidate assessment criteria in mind. Last year, Simmons & Simmons was looking to increase brand awareness among its target demographic —specifically students and graduates interested in a career in commercial law—and to publicise its opportunities in Bristol to them. In order to accomplish this, the firm planned to host an engagement event to showcase their office, their culture and their work.

After meeting with the firm’s graduate recruitment team to discuss these aims, we set up a targeted marketing campaign for the Simmons & Simmons engagement event in Bristol. We made use of our ties with every university in the UK and the more than 7 million visitors to our platforms each year to attract candidates from both local and leading institutions around the country. 

Hazel Stubbs, who works in graduate recruitment at Simmons & Simmons, commended the campaign: “The team at AllAboutGroup listened carefully to and understood our needs, and their efforts in marketing and promoting this event allowed us to focus on what we do best: showcasing the firm.”

In the lead-up to the engagement event, we pre-screened candidates to ensure they satisfied Simmons & Simmons’ entry requirements and various aspects of their selection and assessment criteria. We also made candidates complete a short questionnaire about what piqued their interest about the firm’s office and opportunities in Bristol. These were then processed by our team of early career experts and only the best candidates were selected to attend the event.

“We were impressed with how AllAboutGroup handled the candidate screening for this event. They clearly have an astute knowledge of the graduate legal recruitment market,” Hazel said after the event.

What made the engagement event a success?

In the run-up to an engagement event, AllAboutGroup took care of the logistics and of ensuring a high attendance so that Simmons & Simmons could focus on the event itself and how to best engage their attendees—although we can often provide advice on this as well. 

On the day itself, the pre-screened candidates were engaged and interested in the firm, speaking to partners, associates, trainees and the graduate recruitment team in Simmons & Simmons’ Bristol office. Candidates got to see their potential future office and experience its culture, as well as engaging with current trainees and lawyers. 

To gauge how successful an event was and to follow up with potential applicants, we contact each event attendee afterwards in line with our client’s instructions. We sent additional materials to the engagement event attendees, advising on their next steps and inviting candidates to apply for the firm’s training programmes in Bristol. 

When we sent attendees a short questionnaire following the Bristol event, 100% of candidates informed AllAboutGroup that they intended to make an application to Simmons & Simmons based on their experience at the engagement event. This confirmed that the event was highly successful, yielding a great number of quality applications to the firm’s training opportunities.

Regardless of whether you’re looking to hire school leavers or graduates, we deliver pre-screened candidates that will be a good fit for your company. Using your selection and assessment criteria in our screening process, we can help you attract and engage with the top applicants at your events, and help you follow up with them afterwards. If you’d like to learn more about setting up an event, you can download our case study pack to see who we’ve already helped.