Case Study

How NCR Rebuilt Their Campus Recruiting Process to Take Control of Their Data

The organization

Founded in 1884, NCR Corporation began as a leading manufacturer of cash registers and point of sale equipment. Today, the company manufactures self-service kiosks, point-of-sale terminals, automated teller machines, check processing systems, and barcode scanners, as well as software and services to support that equipment. The NCR headquarters, and their campus relations team, is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, leading the global organization to recruit much of their talent from universities in the area.

Their challenges

“We aren’t necessarily considered a trendy tech company,” says Tony Burdett, University Relations Leader at NCR. That creates challenges for the team when they’re up against the same talent that larger, name brand tech companies want as well.

The team realized that to out-compete other companies, they had to accelerate their process — on their terms — so they could engage and hire top candidates before their competitors.

Then, heading into 2020, the NCR campus relations team faced an even greater challenge: recruiting students during campus closures and the elimination of in-person recruiting events. The team realized to meet its recruiting goals, it needed to move quickly — within a matter of months — to transform a formerly in-person, on-site campus recruiting program into a 100% virtual experience for both intern and full-time roles.

Our solution

Prior to COVID, NCR sought a technology platform that would support their early talent recruiting processes end to end. The team quickly found that Yello’s Early Talent solution could enable them to support their unique campus program and deliver consistent, personalized candidate experiences.

Yello served as NCR’s default system. Rather than using different university-chosen tools at each campus, NCR funneled all candidate data into Yello. From there, the team could engage candidates, conduct interviews, and even track results — all in one place. In addition, Yello simplified NCR’s process by becoming the go-to recruiting tool, no matter the school.

Yello is the key for everything we do.

Tony Burdett, University Relations Leader at NCR

When the pandemic hit, the team’s first task was to transform the usual in-person summer internship program into a virtual work-from-home experience to match the NCR offices.

“We felt confident in the fall that we needed to continue to go down the virtual path,” says Burdett. “We strategized the effort instead of running headfirst into it.” 

They reviewed each campus and considered how they could create a simple process that sent candidate data to Yello rather than university tools. Instead of having candidates apply or register for events in a third-party tool, NCR provided candidates with links to Yello forms — so the team could see all candidates and follow up appropriately, in one place.

To support their virtual recruiting process, NCR takes part in virtual career fairs, info sessions and hackathons using a mix of internal tech, Yello technology, and partner university technology.

We’ve been able to do everything we’ve been able to do without scaling back. We feel confident that we’re agile and responding to circumstances consistently, no matter the scenario.

Tony Burdett, University Relations Leader at NCR

The results

Even given the stress of 2020, the team’s accelerated, streamlined process was a success, according to Burdett. NCR met and interacted with nearly 5,000 students, of which:

Overall, Yello has enabled them to develop a secret weapon for campus recruiting: an accelerated, streamlined process where students move forward in the hiring process quickly while feeling like NCR values their time and attention. Yello works with NCR’s other tools, including WebEx for hosting virtual events and Workday which serves as the system of record for post-offer processing and onboarding. 

The real efficiency in NCR’s process comes from candidate evaluations. The team is hyper-focused on ensuring they complete an evaluation for every single candidate they interact with. NCR recruiters will often double check event attendee lists to make sure everyone received an evaluation. As a result, the team can more efficiently move the best candidates forward and ensure they don’t miss out on any potential top candidates. The focus on evaluations also empowers the team to make more data-driven decisions.

“Did we get better turnout in virtual? Did we get better turnout in person? If you don’t have those numbers, you can’t make that distinction,” explains Burdett. With Yello, the NCR team has the metrics they need to know what’s working and what’s not. Within one week, students know whether they’re getting an offer or not.

Beyond the application, Yello plays a key part in candidate engagement. “We use Yello in every aspect of communicating with students as well, keeping them aware of the next steps and details about the interview phase,” says Burdett.

What’s next

Typically, NCR has always set aggressive campus hiring goals. In 2022, the team is looking to fill 300 internships and 300 full time positions to support the business. Half of the hiring will be for computer science and engineering majors, with the other half targeted at business majors.

To find these candidates, the team is considering a hybrid approach – currently, they’re recruiting approximately 70% virtually and 30% in person.

“Whether virtual or in person, with Yello we know the process is consistent,” says Burdett. “The candidate receives the same NCR branded approach no matter how we connect with them.”