A Look Back: Career Connect 2025
The CEMS Career Connect 2025, held online from 3rd to 7th March, demonstrated how technology can connect talent and opportunity across borders. This year’s edition attracted over 505 students, 255 corporate representatives, and 35 Corporate Partners, resulting in 820 booked appointments—a testament to the power of online recruitment in shaping careers globally.
For students, Career Connect is both accessible and dynamic. Austrian CEMS student Max Kilian (WU / University of Sydney) appreciated how simple the platform made it to apply and connect, while also noting the unique twist: companies could reach out to students directly, making the process more engaging. His key advice: “You only miss the chances that you don’t take.”
Corporate Partners also recognised its impact. Gartner described the event as “a crucial component of our engagement strategy with CEMS students,” highlighting both the quality of candidates and the global reach the online format provides.
Looking Ahead: The CEMS Career Forum 2025 in Barcelona
While Career Connect proves the value of online engagement, the CEMS Career Forum remains the flagship event of the year, offering the irreplaceable experience of in-person networking and recruitment. Taking place on November 7–8, 2025, at Esade Business School in Barcelona, the Career Forum is expected to gather over 1000 CEMS students and young graduates from over + 70 nationalities, along with a wide array of CEMS Corporate Partners.
The Career Forum is much more than a job fair. It is a two-day immersive recruitment and networking experience, packed with opportunities tailored to the CEMS community. Highlights include: Job Fair, pre-scheduled 1-1 interviews, Skill Seminars, Corporate Coffee Talks.
CEMS Career Forum is a truly international career fair and offers a wide variety of formats beyond a traditional recruitment fair, which creates more space for us to transmit our innovative spirit, values and culture at Henkel. It is therefore the perfect place for us. We are eager to connect with international students and young professionals of diverse nationalities, who possess the skills we are looking to attract: entrepreneurial mindset, a team player spirit, and the courage to dare to make an impact. As a global company, Henkel is looking forward to joining CEMS Career Forum every year.
Additionally, the Career Forum allow us to assess the talent, and it also facilitates meaningful engagements between talents, universities and companies for more impactful connections. What motivates us to continue our partnership with CEMS is the high quality of its students and how well they align with our culture at Henkel. CEMS students are global-minded, with entrepreneurial mindset and eager to dare to make an impact, whether through innovation building, growing our brands, or driving our sustainability and digital strategy at Henkel
This event is designed exclusively for CEMS Corporate Partners, CEMS MIM students, and recent alumni with up to four years of professional experience. Since 2009, its dedicated two-day structure has created a rhythm that balances professional interactions with community networking. The event also serves as a key gathering for Corporate Relations Managers and Program Managers from across the CEMS network, who convene in parallel meetings to discuss strategy, share best practices, and strengthen partnerships. This creates an environment where every corner of the CEMS ecosystem is engaged.