The talent bridge

Universities play a key role not only in training the next generation of professionals, but also in supporting their transition into the world of work. Through structured placement services, career guidance, and connections with local industry, they bridge the gap between academic learning and professional opportunity. We spoke with the University of Parma to learn more about its placement strategy, the services it offers, and how it supports students, graduates, and PhD students in building meaningful career paths.

What placement strategies or programmes are you implementing to retain and valorise academic talents (graduated students, PhDs, researchers)?

The placement strategy of the University of Parma — further strengthened thanks to the support of the Legge Talenti of the Emilia-Romagna Region, which has provided financial backing for its initiatives — focuses on three interconnected goals: raising awareness among students, PhD students, and researchers about job opportunities in Italy and Emilia-Romagna; empowering them by developing their employability and soft skills; and connecting them with companies that have positions available.

To deliver this strategy, the University operates along three main lines:

• Events connecting the business world and the University, such as the University Job Day, departmental placement days, employer branding events with specific companies, and — starting in 2025 — the PhD Job Day, the first event dedicated exclusively to PhD candidates and graduates, and, from 2026, the International Talent Day, an event devoted to supporting the career placement of international talents.
• Work- and entrepreneurship-oriented seminars and workshops, delivered continuously on a wide range of topics: the structure of recruitment processes, how to optimise a CV and LinkedIn profile, how to prepare for a first job interview, and how to approach complex selection procedures. The University currently collaborates with ER.GO and IFOA to ensure broad topic coverage, offering more than 60 seminars per year, both in person and online.
• Personalised one-to-one mentoring services, including CV checks and interview simulations, to help candidates prepare more effectively for recruitment processes through the Skill-Up service.

This mix of activities is designed to address different kinds of needs within a heterogeneous population of students, graduates, and PhD students.

What types of placement and career services does your institution offer to students and graduates? Are specific services provided for international students or students coming from other regions, particularly in terms of welcome, integration, and academic–professional orientation?

With the aim of going beyond simple job matching and deepening connections between the University and the regional business community, in October 2024 the University of Parma launched Unipr4Talents: Talentuosi si diventa, a strategic initiative co-funded by the Emilia-Romagna Region. The initiative is built around two main pillars: talent and career empowerment for national and international students, graduates, and PhD students; and talent attraction for the regional innovation ecosystem.

Students and graduates can access personalised career guidance and one-to-one mentoring through the SkillUp service, available in both Italian and English. This service helps participants strengthen their soft skills and develop effective application materials, including CVs, cover letters, and interview preparation.

In collaboration with the training provider IFOA, Unipr4Talents also offers structured professional orientation pathways through five practical workshops, with a rich calendar throughout the year. The aim is to support participants in defining career goals, developing targeted job-search strategies, and practising real recruitment scenarios such as group interviews and assessment-centre exercises.

For PhD students, the brand-new PhD Job Day, inaugurated in June 2025, provides a direct bridge between advanced research and the professional world. The first edition brought together 13 innovative companies and more than 100 PhD students, creating a space for companies to engage with highly qualified talent and for PhDs to explore potential career pathways.

Dedicated services have also been introduced as pilot programmes for international students and graduates seeking local career opportunities. Chief among these is the International Talent Day, the University's first recruiting event entirely in English, scheduled for 24 March 2026. The event will connect international UNIPR talents from Europe and beyond with selected local companies, combining employer presentations, networking sessions, and one-to-one interviews to foster professional dialogue, high-quality matching, and community building.

Beyond Unipr4Talents, the University of Parma also offers:

• A major annual placement event, the Job Day, attracting more than 150 companies and offering CV check sessions with job placement staff ahead of the event;
• An ongoing job placement platform, AlmaLaurea, where companies can browse CVs, post job opportunities, and candidates can search offers and showcase their profiles;
• Job placement workshops run in cooperation with ER.GO.

How does your Institution foster the development of professional, artistic, and transversal skills through placement-related activities?

Beyond placement support, Unipr4Talents also helps UNIPR students and graduates develop transversal and professional skills through initiatives that combine intergenerational dialogue and real-world experience.

In January 2026, Unipr4Talents launched the first edition of GenConnect, an intergenerational dialogue programme in collaboration with Barilla Group. Designed to bridge the gap between university life and the world of work, the programme brings together 22 UNIPR students and 22 Barilla professionals for structured conversations about changes in the workplace, generational perspectives, and professional expectations.

From autumn 2026, the initiative will also launch Inspirational Talks, an online series for final-year students, recent graduates, and PhD students across all 10 University departments. Each session will give participants the opportunity to interact with UNIPR alumni working as professionals, learn from their real-life stories, and expand their networks. A special edition, Gender Gap – Women's Voices, will be dedicated to highlighting female professionals thriving in male-dominated industries. Alongside this, pilot Meet & Match networking sessions will provide structured spaces for dialogue between students and companies, with a focus on shared values, soft skills, and meaningful professional connections.

Which tools and communication channels does your institution mainly use to promote placement opportunities and career-related activities?

The Unipr4Talents initiative is showcased on a dedicated page of the University of Parma website, providing detailed information on available services and upcoming events. Promotion also takes place via social media, including Instagram and LinkedIn, where upcoming events, workshops, and networking opportunities are regularly highlighted.

In addition, the SkillUp Social Media Tips on Instagram — published every two weeks — offer practical advice, mini-guides, and educational insights to help students and graduates prepare for the professional world, develop key competencies, and navigate their career paths effectively.

How does your Institution collaborate with local stakeholders to facilitate internships, traineeships, and professional opportunities for students and graduates?

The University of Parma works closely with local and national stakeholders to build strong synergies in the promotion of placement activities and services. Active collaboration channels are maintained with the Municipalities of Parma and Piacenza to promote services useful to students and graduates, and to disseminate UNIPR initiatives through their events and communication platforms.

Partnerships with the Unione Parmense degli Industriali, the Emilia Chamber of Commerce, Parma Io Ci Sto (an association of socially engaged entrepreneurs and professionals), the Gruppo Imprese Artigiane, Federmanager, and the Junior Enterprise student association enable the University to participate as an active stakeholder in their initiatives, share updates on respective activities, and leverage their networks to engage companies and professionals in UNIPR programmes.