The 42-year-old Forum EPFL association organizes an annual job fair for EPFL students at the SwissTech Convention Center. Every year, the EPFL Forum brings together over 200 companies and 140 start-ups.

The forum takes place over 5 days and offers a variety of services to enable exchanges between companies and students. Companies wishing to be present at the forum can reserve stand space, as well as time slots for company presentations or workshops. For recruitment purposes, companies can also rent interview booths.

In addition to the 200 companies, over 2,700 students register each year.

In 2016, MobileThinking was assigned the task of maintaining the old EPFL Forum platform. As the latter had run its course, it was no longer adapted to the committee's needs. In 2018, we began developing comprehensive specifications for a new platform. Several design workshops were held with committee members, to gain a better understanding of the needs and organizational complexity of this recruitment fair. Development began the same year and was completed after one year, in 2019. The platform was inaugurated the following year at the 2020 edition, which brought together 146 companies, 60 startups and 2,300 students.

Since then, we've continued to develop, adding new features every year. For example, since 2023, the EPFL Forum has been organizing a day reserved for NGOs. They can then register on the platform and reserve a stand. New services have also been added for start-ups, enabling them to request access to the CVs of registered students. On the organizational side, the EPFL Forum Committee can now manage the number and size of stands available for booking on each day. Various improvements have also been made to the management of meals and invoices. The committee can also organize different events throughout the year for students, with various workshops such as CV building. Student registration for these workshops is managed directly on the platform.

The organization of the EPFL Forum is complex, taking the committee almost a year to prepare. This complexity is mainly due to the numerous services offered to companies and students alike. The platform has become central to this organization, managing everything from reservations to invoicing. The organizing committee changes every year for each new edition, bringing new ideas for services or improvements to their organization.

Companies can book and manage :

- a stand and supplies
- meals for their staff, with the option of specifying dietary restrictions
- company presentations and supplies
- workshops, supplies and catering
- dressing rooms and manage appointments organized through the platform with registered students
- badges

Companies can also manage their profile, which is then presented to students.

On the other hand, students can :

- manage their profiles and CVs for registered companies
- make appointments with recruiters for interview booths
- reserve a place at a workshop
- register for events organized by Forum EPFL during the year

Companies can consult a filtered list of registered students and their CVs. For their part, students can consult the companies listed and book appointments for interviews and workshops ordered by the companies.

Appointment management is one of the most complex functionalities implemented on the platform. This service enables companies to invite students to a workshop or interview lodge, but also allows students to request an appointment. Appointments are managed by the company, and students can request schedule changes. All this is done through the platform.

In response to the organizational complexity of the EPFL Forum, we have developed this platform in the form of modules, configurable for each edition. These modules represent the different services (booth reservation, maintenance box reservation, etc.). Each year, the committee configures a new edition and activates and configures the modules. This complex architecture allows each module to be autonomous for a given edition. Previous editions are archived and remain fully searchable by an administrator, without module configuration having any impact on older editions.

The platform was developed using the Laravel framework for the backend and front-end, a mix of the Blade templating system and Vue.js components. The first version was built with Laravel version 6. Since then, the platform has been regularly updated up to version 10.

From a technical point of view, each module has been developed with a common base, enabling it to be generic and opening up the possibility of adding new modules in the future. Each module is covered by a system of permissions and rights; indeed, a company can only see what is relevant to it, and the same applies to students. Services, such as workshops or interview boxes, can be visible to all students, or only to those corresponding to criteria defined by the company, such as level of study or field of study. These rights are managed in the same permission module and implemented in the form of middleware, blocking any access to data or pages not authorized by the logged-in user.

All modules are covered by unit and functional tests. In all, over 1,200 automated tests are launched each time the platform is updated.

We always enjoy working on this platform, as well as with the EPFL Forum organizing committee. Every year, the new committee comes up with new ideas for improvements and gathers valuable feedback from users. In this way, the platform evolves on a regular basis, making it easier to maintain. Although the services offered to companies generally remain the same, the resources made available are evolving and modernizing. In fact, major changes are planned for the 2024 edition, to make it even easier for companies to manage their appointments, and hence their recruitment.

Since 2020, the platform has hosted 4 editions of the EPFL Forum, with the 5th on the way. Over 10,800 users have created an account since the 1st version, including 9,000 students. Over 1,000 companies have registered over the years, reserving 650 stands, 120 meeting rooms and more than 1,000 meals. Over 15,000 meetings have been organized between companies and students.