Best practice sharing
Hear from your peers on their best practices in the early careers world
71% of organisations say that early career recruitment is critical to building a strong talent pipeline, yet over 50% struggle to effectively engage and retain young talent due to rapidly shifting career priorities and expectations.
Join us on 26th February to learn from the best, network with like-minded professionals, exchange ideas, and leave with actionable takeaways to elevate your early careers strategy, drive meaningful results and make a lasting impact.
Exclusively for talent acquisition professionals looking to attract, nurture, and retain the brightest emerging talent in today’s competitive landscape, #IHREC25 will feature an incredible line-up of talent acquisition experts, ready to share actionable insights and proven strategies. Through engaging keynotes, dynamic panel discussions, and strategic roundtables, you’ll explore the latest trends shaping early careers recruitment.
Premium Members can unlock FREE tickets (worth £295) using their Membership ID (found in My Account) as the promo code at registration.
Speaker Topics
Unlocking gen Z talent
Explore strategies to effectively engage and recruit Gen Z candidates
Building a talent pipeline
Dive into the nuances of creating a robust early careers talent pipeline
Driving diversity
Explore how early-career recruitment can become the cornerstone of a diverse and inclusive workforce
Managing expectations
Learn how to set realistic but inspiring expectations for early-career candidates
The role of social media
Explore how to leverage social media platforms to attract and engage early-career candidates
Agenda
26 February 2025
Unlock the secrets to attracting Gen Z talent in this essential session, where you'll dive into insights gathered from student surveys and social mobility initiatives. With a focus on school outreach, work experience, and apprenticeships, you'll learn how to effectively engage with this generation while also supporting marginalised students. Gain a deeper understanding of the preferences and behaviours of young professionals, and discover how to tailor your approach to attract and retain Gen Z talent.
Key Topics: What to Expect
- Effective strategies for reaching Gen Z through school outreach, work experience, and apprenticeships.
- The role of social mobility initiatives in supporting marginalised students and enhancing diversity.
- Key insights into the preferences, behaviours, and expectations of young professionals in the workplace.
With 2 in 3 students now using AI to craft applications and excel in assessments, recruiters face an overwhelming number of identical submissions. This session will offer five practical steps to refine your sifting process, leveraging automation effectively while addressing concerns around compliance, equity, and diversity. Gain valuable insights from industry leaders and understand how AI is reshaping the recruitment process for early careers talent.
Key Topics: What to Expect
- Practical steps to refine your sifting process and adapt to the rise of AI-generated applications.
- How to balance automation with compliance, equity, and diversity in your recruitment practices.
- Insights from early careers leaders on overcoming AI recruitment challenges.
Recruiting early careers talent across different regions can be a challenge, especially in hard-to-reach areas. In this session, Charlie Ball, Head of Labour Market Intelligence at Jisc, reveals the power of location-based insights to supercharge your recruitment strategy. Armed with data from the "What Do Graduates Do?" report, Charlie will show you how to tap into graduate migration trends and pinpoint exactly where to find the talent you need – no matter where they are in the UK.
Key Topics: What to Expect
- How to harness regional data to sharpen your recruitment strategy and target the right locations.
- Actionable insights into graduate migration patterns and how to engage talent across the UK.
- Practical tips for transforming location-based challenges into recruitment opportunities.
Join experts from SMRS as they uncover the secrets to effectively using social media to engage with Gen Z talent. This session will explore how young people research career opportunities, what content they trust, and how to craft a content strategy that aligns with your employer brand. With insights from ACCA, you'll gain practical tips for amplifying your social presence and building an authentic connection with early careers candidates.
Key Topics: What to Expect
- How to use social media to build an influential early careers brand and attract Gen Z.
- Which social platforms and content formats resonate most with Gen Z when researching careers.
- Practical tips for partnering with influencers to boost your brand's reach.
Join leading experts in early careers recruitment as they dive into the power of employer branding to create an unforgettable candidate experience. This panel discussion will reveal how leveraging technology, storytelling, and thoughtful preparation can engage early careers talent at every stage of the recruitment process. Learn how a strong employer brand can attract top talent and ensure every candidate feels valued and connected with your organisation, leaving a lasting impression whether they’re hired or not.
Key Topics: What to Expect
- Using technology to boost candidate engagement and streamline recruitment.
- Using storytelling to build an authentic employer brand for early careers talent.
- Practical strategies to make candidates feel valued and connected to your organisation.
Join award-winning early careers leader Rebecca Foden for an inspiring session as she shares the audacity, lessons, and bold strategies that have redefined early careers leadership. Through personal stories, career insights, and the power of mentorship, discover how to embrace fearless leadership, thrive on non-linear career paths, and shape the future of EC leadership.
Key topics: what to expect
- How bold leadership transforms early careers strategies for award-winning results.
- Why embracing non-linear career journeys and audacity is vital for today’s EC leaders.
- Inspiring future early careers leaders through mentorship, purpose, and bold decisions.
Join Jennifer Schneider, Global Head of Early Careers Talent Acquisition at Kainos, for a game-changing session on transforming your early careers strategy. Discover how to build strong foundations, embrace fresh innovations, and drive transformative changes to future-proof your talent pipeline and empower the next generation to thrive.
Key Topics: What to Expect
- How and why aligning strong early careers foundations with business goals creates long-term impact.
- Strategies to keep your early careers approach fresh, engaging, and innovative.
- How small, strategic shifts can lead to significant improvements in hiring outcomes and efficiency.
Harness the transformative power of inclusivity to redefine early careers and create a thriving, diverse talent pipeline. This session reveals practical strategies to break barriers and inspire leaders to champion early careers excellence.
Key Topics: What to Expect
- How inclusivity fuels success across individuals, teams, and industries.
- Breaking down hidden barriers and unlocking untapped potential.
- Empowering leaders to drive inclusive, game-changing early careers strategies.
Speakers
Why attend
Best practice sharing
Unrivalled speaker content
Be inspired by success stories from talent professionals from tech, healthcare and retail industries
Strategic roundtable discussions
Strategic roundtable discussions
Hear from your peers on their successes, challenges and changes within early careers space
Expert guidance
Learn from industry-leaders from world-class organisations
Networking opportunities
Networking opportunities
Grow your network at our dedicated lounge areas and post-event drinks
Offers, goodies and competitions
Pick up some treats for your team and be in with the chance to win big prizes!
Register for the event
Previous attendees
“It was great to connect with so many different people, listen to expert advice and get an idea as to what other organisations are doing to encourage emerging talent to be apart of their journey.”
“It was great to share my experiences and hear new ideas from different businesses to really drive change within the Early Careers space”
“The roundtable discussions were particularly insightful, and I came away with some valuable takeaways that I'm excited to implement in my work.”
Platinum Partner
Gold Partners
Silver Partners
Venue
Congress Centre, London
0203 916 5025
The Congress Conference Centre is in a fantastic location in the heart of London’s West End, just three minutes’ walk from Tottenham Court Road Underground Station and a short walk from Oxford Street, Covent Garden and theatre land.
The conference venue benefits from excellent transport links by tube (direct to Euston, Charing Cross, Waterloo and Liverpool Street mainline stations), and has two public car parks in the immediate vicinity located in Great Russell Street and Museum Street, as well as metered on-street parking. Cycle racks are available for those preferring to arrive on two wheels, and a ‘Boris Bikes’ Docking Station is conveniently located in Great Russell Street.
Rebecca is a visionary leader in Global Early Careers and Talent Acquisition, renowned for her pioneering work in advancing STEM-based hiring, social mobility, diversity, and digital innovation. With recognition as one of the "Top 5 Most Innovative Women in Recruitment," she has led transformative initiatives for global brands, including EY and Transport for London. Currently serving as a strategic advisor for Tazio and a Board member with the Association of Apprenticeships, Rebecca's strategic approach blends visionary insight with strategic operational excellence to deliver market-leading candidate experiences. She has received over 33 awards for her contributions to the industry, including a RAD award for best digital experience of entry talent and the CIPD award for best diversity strategy.
Jennifer is currently the Global Head of Early Careers Talent Acquisition at Kainos - a UK-headquartered digital technology company who design and deliver digital solutions for organisations around the globe. Her team and her help to ‘future-proof’ the success of Kainos by recruiting the next generation of talent, including Apprentice, Graduate and Placement opportunities across the UK, EMEA and the Americas. She has 17 years’ experience in people-focused roles, specialising in all aspects of the Early Careers talent management lifecycle, including attraction, recruitment, development and retention. She's passionate about building the next generation of talent and creating opportunities for them to thrive.
Aya is the Talent Acquisition and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leader at Decathlon UK, one of the UK’s biggest sports brands. With a background in Advertising and Communications, Aya transitioned her career trajectory towards a more people-centric focus, driven by her passion for talent acquisition and fostering diverse and inclusive workplaces. Her expertise lies in strategically aligning talent acquisition initiatives with DEI goals, ensuring that Decathlon UK attracts, retains, and empowers a diverse range of talent. Her unwavering passion for sports fuels her commitment to fostering environments where individuals from all backgrounds can thrive and perform their best. As a former triathlete, ice hockey fan, and now an avid runner, she seamlessly integrates the discipline, resilience, and teamwork inherent in sports into her professional approach.
Camilla McBride is Head of Early Careers at Sky. Responsible for driving the strategy and leading her team to attract, recruit, develop and support hundreds of people starting in their careers each year.
Previously Camilla worked in the charity sector, including roles at Terrence Higgins Trust and Catch22 before connecting businesses and untapped talent through the social action initiative GoThinkBig. She has a passionate commitment to creating programmes and experiences that transform lives
Charlie is the labour market lead at Jisc, the UK’s higher education service provider. He is responsible for support and research on graduate employment, for Jisc members across the UK, and is widely viewed as one of the country’s foremost graduate labour market analysts and presenters.
He is an active researcher on projects on graduate employment and outside of Jisc, consults widely with organisations across the UK with an interest in the employment of graduates. He also works with stakeholders within and outside of HE and serves on groups, advising the Social Mobility Commission, the Office for National Statistics, the National Centre for University and Business, The Institute of Student Employers and the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services.
He is also a Fellow of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling and of Manchester Metropolitan University, he sits on the national Careers Development Policy Group, and lectures at a number of UK institutions. His main current research interests include local and regional labour markets, taxonomies of occupations, industries and skills and the labour market for postgraduates.
Lauren McCafferty is director of early careers at Deloitte. She joined the firm in 2022 as head of early careers and was promoted to director in August 2024. Lauren is responsible for Deloitte’s early careers strategy - leading teams that oversee the firm’s award-winning BrightStart apprenticeship, graduate and work experience programmes that welcome over 3,500 students each year.
Lauren gained 11 years of experience in PwC’s student recruitment team where she was UK head of student recruitment. Previously holding graduate recruitment roles at Deloitte, EY and Reed Graduates, Lauren has nearly two decades of experience in the field of early careers.
A marketing and communications specialist with extensive experience driving the strategic planning and global development of businesses in a diverse range of industries. Throughout my career, I have led multi-disciplined teams to deliver vital change. Using my exceptional B2B and B2C marketing skills, I’ve demonstrated my ability to deliver target beating results within highly competitive sectors.
✔️ With a creative mindset and an innovative approach to problems, I have forged strategies to overcome barriers to success. My cross-industry experience includes education, finance, financial services, and health and social care, giving me a wider perspective and greater insight into operational changes. I’ve driven digital transformation in organisations to help develop social and content strategies.
✔️ Passionate about championing inclusion in the workplace, and ensuring a successful career in the professions is free from artificial barriers and accessible for anyone with talent and enterprise, from any background, irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity, class, disability or sexuality.
✔️ Professional development and growth are important to me, and I always welcome the opportunity to continue learning and contributing. Interested in knowing more about me and my career? Let’s connect and talk! I’d love to discuss more with you.
Jackie has over 15 years’ experience in future talent and early careers marketing, possessing a deep understanding of both the future talent market, and the challenges faced by employers when it comes to apprentice and graduate recruitment.
Since joining SMRS in 2019, Jackie has worked with a diverse range of national and global employers across a wide portfolio of projects providing insight and consultancy, using her skills and expertise in future talent attraction marketing to support organisations with their strategic approach to emerging talent.
I’m Co-founder and Chief Customer Officer of Cappfinity (www.cappfinity.com), with offices supporting our purpose of Strengthening the World in London, Birmingham, New York and Sydney. I spend my time on leading the business, liaising with stakeholders, and overseeing the implementation of our global projects. I am particularly passionate about delighting customers and treating global projects as change interventions.
I am proud of our award-winning talent technology innovations that have brought new advances in strengths, virtual reality, cognitive ability and user experience. Our commitment to delivering authentic assessment and development products ensures our products blend the best of technology and human experience.
My career has allowed me to travel extensively and work with clients across multiple continents. I currently split my working month between the UK and US. I am also a frequent conference speaker and often speak on the ‘future of work / recruitment’.
I am a proud Mum to my great sons who make sure I learn something new every day.
Robert Newry, MA (Oxon), MBA, is the Co-Founder of Arctic Shores and a passionate advocate for social mobility and hiring for potential. He has spoken on the topic of psychometrics, HR technology and AI, appearing on national television BBC (twice) and has been quoted in several national newspapers in the UK including The Times, CityAM, and The Guardian. He is the host of the TA Disruptors Podcast and has written articles as well as blogs on the topic of gamification, skills-based hiring and task-based assessments for many of the leading HR media outlets such as HR Grapevine, HR Today, HR News, HR Magazine, the HRDirector and Talint International. He is campaigning for companies to adopt CV-less hiring and focus on skills-first approaches to identify potential. His research through the company and discussions with multiple employers underpins his belief that the CV is a barrier to social mobility and inclusion