Securing top engineering talent for regional roles at Costain

Costain, a construction engineering company, had ambitions to increase diverse representation as well as find great applicants for hard to fill regions and roles.

How we approached the campaign:

Costain’s bespoke STEM package, featuring targeted email campaigns and website adverts, was designed to hit key goals such as boosting gender diversity and raising the profile of regional roles
Focusing on Graduate Quantity Surveyor and Graduate Civil Engineer roles across the North, South and Midlands in the UK, Costain prioritised conversion rates and seeing live engagement data through Bright Network’s Talent Tracker
Delivering ROI and positioning the brand as an employer of choice were key drivers for Costain

The impact:

Costain outperformed the wider engineering sector this summer, with a 7% higher conversion rate than its sector competitors
Costain saw strong conversion rates from Bright Network members, which drove 27% of Costain’s hires in 2024/25
The diversity of the Bright Network hires, 39% female, 50% minority ethnic and 22% who received free school meals, alll over indexed against the graduate population entering the construction and engineering sectors. Diversifying their hiring pool was a key goal for Costain
Demographic and behavioural targeting helped Costain reach the right students for its regional roles, which can typically be harder to fill than roles in London

27%

of Costain’s hires were Bright Network members

37%

of Costain’s applications were from Bright Network members

43%

of Costain’s page views were from female members, and gender diversity was a key focus for the company.

"Partnering with Bright Network has been a real success for us at Costain. We were particularly pleased with the strong conversion rates from Bright Network members, which drove over a quarter of our graduate hires this year. Working together collaboratively has meant we can tailor our campaign to our needs and draw on Bright Network expertise to find solutions together. The diversity of hires, especially the increase in female and minority ethnic representation, has been fantastic to see and is helping us build our inclusive, diverse workforce. The data and insights available throughout the campaign gave us confidence throughout the process, helping us track performance in real time."