by Will career services offer students and employers virtual, in-person, or hybrid options in fall 2021? This question has been on the mind of many recruiting professionals as they begin to have conversations about their plans for the fall semester. Several campus recruiters discussed this topic, specifically virtual spaces and on-campus visits, at the last SoACE Employer Knowledge group meeting. Below is their advice, feedback, and questions for career services professionals.
Kayla McGilvray, Campus Recruiting Manager
Many companies have figured out that virtual recruiting works for them and have had success in this space. Going forward, organizations may find themselves wanting to leverage virtual tools, in addition to or in place of, on-campus events. How can organizations most effectively promote their opportunities and brand without visiting colleges or universities? I would like to learn more from career services about how organizations can build a brand on-campus without or with fewer in-person visits. We want to ensure that our company name, Cherry Bekaert LLP, is generating awareness and buzz on campus.
Anna Taylor, Group Talent Acquisition Manager
I’m interested to hear career services professional’s perspectives on “Virtual Fatigue with Students”. I ask this as many companies, including ours, have seen a lower attendance rate/ROI for virtual events in both the Fall and Spring semesters. We have diversified our attendance to include both career fairs and targeted information session but as we the labor market strengthens and we continue to fight for top talent in the university arena to fill our Internships and Entry level positions we are seeing fewer students signing up and attending these events. Are there any trends you are seeing or hearing from students that could help with attendance?
Leslie Fox, Section Manager, Outreach and Engagement
Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE)
I have found that virtual one-on-one chats between employers and prospective candidates are often limited – 5 to 10 minutes. Students do not have much time to ask questions, therefore, their inquiries should focus on a specific opportunity or on topics they want to know more about such as the selection process, what they can expect once they start, or examples of typical projects and not on general information they can find on the company’s website or in general informational sessions. Career Services can continue to help students complete their ‘homework’ or research prior to the virtual event and guide them to think of one to two personalized and/or specific questions of most importance to ask based on the research they have done. This will make the events more valuable for both parties and shows that the student is invested in that organization.
And if an employer has an opportunity to reach more students through a multiple college/university virtual event and/or one that has a targeted focus such as STEM or Phds/Postdocs that is a good use of our time and budget. Those multiple events allow us to reach and connect with a more diverse set of universities compared to visiting a smaller group of schools one at a time. And the focused career fairs provide a chance to connect with students most likely to be interested in our organization. We appreciate these opportunities for maximum impact!
Mallory Powell, Campus Recruiting Manager
Vector Marketing is not a name known by many students; therefore, it is hard to compete for student talent with many well-known organizations. This past year we missed the organic opportunity to meet students in-person at on-campus career fairs. We understand that virtual career fairs may continue to be offered and would love to see the employer and student experience improved for the fall. If institutions will continue to use virtual spaces, we would like to see a way for the platforms to be improved for organizations that are not well known by students. This will ensure that students are learning about opportunities at many organizations and both smaller and lesser-known employers will have a successful experience.
Wayne Hampton, Senior Manager, Campus Recruitment
Many companies have a focus on finding diverse talent for full-time roles and internships. Career Services assists employers with reaching a diverse population of students through many events. Additionally, career services staff may assist recruiters with finding candidates in certain majors that may not have a large population of students, but that may be sought after by my organization. Lastly, we rely on career services to connect us to the various identity groups on-campus to build a representative talent pool for Disney.