What we are seeing
In the past two years, recruiters have adapted to a virtual-first method of engaging students and early-career candidates. During this time, we have learned that virtual-first recruiting provides opportunities to expand your reach and engage with schools you otherwise couldn’t have. However, the companies that will find the most success moving forward will be those that can incorporate in-person campus recruiting back into their hybrid recruiting model effectively.
While it seems simple to return to the in-person strategies that were once the staple of early-career recruiting, after two years away, challenges will arise. Reintegrating on-campus events into your strategy will take some ramp-up time and technological support. Additionally, our data shows us that there has been ~60% turnover on recruiting teams since 2019, which means that most of the recruiters considering going on-campus this year are doing so for the first time. During this ramp-up period, we are seeing recruiting teams reverting to a data collection-only strategy. Don’t be the team using spreadsheets at career fairs to collect students’ information.
Key things to think about when going back on campus
In Person or Virtual?
When talking about in person events most people are referring to traditional career fairs we saw as the staple of in person recruitment before 2020. Now that recruiters are returning to campus after 2 years of virtual events things have changed. Companies need a blend of in person campus visits and virtual events. The trend is a blend of both but it varies with some doing 40% virtual and some doing 40% in person events. handlet. More personal on campus event ideas include: Coffee chats, in person meet and greets, classroom presentations and more. No matter what the blend, companies need to have a consistent process for managing these events or they end up with a highly fragmented recruiting process.!
Data collection and usage
With both in person or virtual events companies are gathering data about candidates. . Recruiters need to not only collect data but also harness it quickly, this includes thoughts of the person that met that candidate. The best example being resume collection. You need to be able to parse the information from a resume into a candidate’s profile in your system automatically and in a searchable way. Recruiters do not have time to enter this information manually so lots of recruiters end up with huge files of resumes that must be evaluated manually. Candidate information, evaluations and historical data between your company and chosen campuses are critical to your success.
The data you collect should also be transferable to other systems (like your ATS), easily managed, and allow your recruiters to give real-time feedback on a candidate. If your team has engaged a candidate before, their data should be easily found by any other recruiter so they can quickly pick up the conversation next time. Do away with spreadsheets and inefficient resume collection.
Interview scheduling
After you have met the right candidate you need to get them scheduled for an interview as soon as possible. Going back and forth over email and comparing hiring manager schedules is not fast enough in a competitive market. Your team needs the ability to easily share a link with candidates where they can schedule an interview with a member of your team while at or quickly after your event. Once an interview is scheduled the schedule should automatically update so interviewers do not get double booked.
Logistics
Companies with recruiting teams across the country require so many man hours to coordinate without the proper setup in place. Common questions like: How do I manage my staff on campus or multiple campuses? What is the uniform they will wear? What time do recruiters need to be where? Don’t be the team using spreadsheets or google calendar to coordinate all of this as it is not enough! Companies should have a one stop shop where recruiters can find all the details they need about future on-campus events whether or not they are attending with your team.
The one stop shop principle should also be true for candidates finding your events. The companies with the most success will be those who give students the information they need in the most consumable way. One page explaining where your team will be, when, the subject being discussed and how they can register.
