Meet Retail’s Future Talent

Attention Retail Talent Recruiters: we have an opportunity for you!

NRF Foundation has added a new feature – a retail talent networking luncheon – to this year’s NRF BIG Show to honor the 100th anniversary. We have invited more than 100 students, from the best U.S. universities for programs in retailing and related areas of concentration, to join us at the 100th Annual Convention to represent NRF’s and retailing’s next 100 years.

We are also inviting retailers to send two recruiters to represent their company and “speed-network” with the students at the luncheon.

NRFF will hold the networking luncheon for students and retail recruiters on Sunday, January 9, from 12:00 noon – 1:30 pm, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. After lunch the recruiters, working as a team, will have the opportunity to meet with eight students at a time. There will be seven rounds of networking, giving recruiters a chance to meet and talk with 56 students. In addition, we will provide resumes of *all* students who attend the event after the Show concludes. This event is not officially part of the convention program, so recruiters do not have to register for the Show to attend. (If you are interested in attending, learn more about registering for the Show.)

Following the luncheon, NRF Foundation is excited to hold the inaugural meeting of the new NRF Student Association (NRFSA) where the students will work in groups to share ideas and make recommendations for the governance and activities of the new NRFSA. This group of “charter members” will work with NRFF staff in the coming semester to get the program ready to roll out to other U.S. colleges and universities that offer relevant programs to retailers in time for the Fall semester. The association will be the only one of its kind and will provide opportunities for retailers, students and academics to engage to help NRFF deliver a passionate, knowledgeable and committed next generation of retail talent to the industry. The NRFSA meeting will take place from 1:45 – 3:00 pm. If you plan to attend the luncheon event, you are welcome to stay for this event and see the students in action!

There is no cost for our Employer Partners to attend the networking luncheon, but for those retailers who have not had an opportunity to become a partner the cost to attend this event is $500.00 for two company representatives. Should your company decide to become an NRFF Employer Partner within the next six months, we will apply this fee toward the one-time, $5,000.00 partnership fee. (For more information about our Employer Partners.)

Student attendance at the luncheon is reserved for our College and University Partners. (For more information about our College Partners.)

Retail recruiters, we hope you, or someone from your company, will attend this exciting event to meet retail’s future talent! For those interested in participating, please RSVP to Sarah Conrad at conrads@nrf.com.