How to Recruit Students 101
Building a pipeline of talent from your local schools
Whether you’re urgently looking to make a great hire, or you want to build a solid pipeline of talent, tapping universities, community colleges, and trade schools can be a great way to recruit your next candidate.
Check out 5 ideas for recruiting from your local schools!
Get approved to post on Handshake. In case you haven’t heard, Handshake is basically Indeed for universities. You can create and post permanent or temporary jobs, internships, and volunteer positions; can target students in specific years of their program, select majors, GPAs, and more.
Table at schools’ job fairs. Whether it’s an enormous UCF job fair or a small one at a community college, schools regularly offer networking opportunities for their students. It’ll likely cost you to advertise your jobs at these events, but if you are looking to develop a solid pipeline and build familiarity with your company’s name, it may be worth it to schedule those job fair dates into your calendar.
Offer a job shadow program. One of our employees at Sipley the Best first met Dawn through a UCF Job Shadow day! Inviting students to shadow your team at work gives students a first-hand look in the field and builds your reputation among students. Plus, you might meet your next great hire.
Host student-tailored webinars or workshops at the school. Whether it’s a session about writing a great resume as an engineering student, tips on building an online presence as a digital marketer, or strategies on landing a great internship or residency, any event that your company hosts for students is an opportunity to pique interest in your organization and your jobs.
Connect with the school’s career services and with advisors for colleges relevant to your field. Especially in a large university, building those connections with the faculty, advisors, and staff in a specific college or school is critical. Student advisors or career services staff may name-drop your company when meeting with a job-seeking student. Or, you may be able to offer an internship that students in a specific major or track need for their degree requirements.
So, whether you’re looking to bring an intern onto your team, to make a hire, or to build a long-term relationship with a university or trade school, we hope these tips give you ideas for kick-starting that partnership.