Attracting talent in today’s tight labour market is challenging. An effective campus recruitment strategy is crucial to recruit graduates. Why should you hire graduates, what does campus recruitment entail, and how do you leverage it effectively for your company? Our blog provides you the answers to these questions.
What is campus recruitment?
Campus recruitment is a strategy in which companies recruit recent graduates for internships, traineeships or entry-level positions. A campus recruitment strategy is typically implemented during or immediately after the studies of this target audience, which is why we refer to it as ‘campus recruitment.
Formerly, campus recruitment primarily took place in person on campus, through expensive career fairs that were mainly feasible for larger companies. Currently, companies are shifting from offline to online campus recruitment. Online campus recruitment is more accessible and affordable for medium and small-sized organisations. This shift has also made it even more important to optimise your campus recruitment strategy and differentiate yourself from competitors.
The benefits of campus recruitment
Campus recruitment has numerous advantages for companies, which will be discussed in the following section.
Cost-effective talent.
Hiring a student or recent graduate with growth potential is more cost-effective than hiring an experienced senior with a much higher salary. It is important to realise that experience is not always an accurate predictor of job performance, unlike other measures such as cognitive skills and behaviour. Early-career candidates can be an undiscovered source of value for your company.
Focused target audience.
Implementing campus recruitment as a strategy enables you to have a clearly defined and focused target audience that can be reached in large numbers simultaneously. You can often target many candidates at once with minimal resources.
Innovative perspectives.
Recent graduates bring fresh perspectives to existing business processes. With the most up-to-date knowledge in their field, they bring added value to your business.
Larger future talent pool.
By engaging with this target audience early in their college years or post-graduation, you make a lasting positive impression that extends throughout their careers. Being visible within this group expands your future candidate pool, as potential job candidates are already familiar with your employer brand.
The challenges with campus recruitment
There are several challenges that companies encounter when starting with campus recruitment. We will discuss some of them.
Talent development and guidance.
Recent graduates are at the beginning of a steep learning curve. Your company needs to be ready to guide them before implementing a campus recruitment strategy. This requires significant time and resource investment from your existing team. Establishing a talent development plan could be beneficial, clearly identifying candidates’ development areas and how best to guide them post-employment.
Limited work experience.
Recent graduates often have little work experience, so their CV’s may not contribute much to the decision of whether a candidate is suitable or not. Then, what can recruiters focus on? For young job candidates, it’s important to focus on cognitive skills and behavioural traits, as these are better predictors of whether a candidate will be successful in the role or not.
Employee turnover.
About 12% leave their first job within 6 months, and a jaw dropping 61% of young professionals leave within two years, usually voluntarily due to limited growth opportunities or a company culture mismatch. Therefore, it is important to set realistic goals and map out candidates’ competencies and cultural preferences in your campus recruitment strategy.
High volume.
In campus recruitment for large companies, many candidates often apply for one position, resulting in a higher number of candidates per recruiter. To select the right candidates, screening tools at the beginning of the recruitment process can be efficient. Screening tools provide a list of candidates with the most potential, saving recruiters time and energy as they only have to conduct interviews with suitable candidates.
Campus Recruitment Trends
Virtual Campus Recruitment
Virtual Campus Recruitment has become an accessible way of campus recruitment in today’s digital world that reaches many candidates. Virtual Campus Recruitment is used by companies through virtual career fairs, video interviews, online skill seminars for students or Q&A sessions.
Gamification
Companies increasingly prioritise candidate experience in this tight labour market. Companies like FrieslandCampina and SignatureFoods have already switched to using games in their recruitment process for traineeships.
Gamification can test candidates on certain cognitive skills, behavioural tendencies, and cultural preferences. Such an assessment provides an enjoyable experience for candidates while simultaneously reducing the likelihood of socially desirable responses.
Competency-based hiring
We see a shift from experience-based hiring to competency-based hiring in today’s recruitment market. Companies recognise that cognitive skills and behaviours are better predictors of job performance than experience or education.
AI in Recruitment
When applied correctly, artificial intelligence (AI) can increase the efficiency of campus recruitment by automating certain processes, such as video interviews, and saving time. However, it is crucial to regularly evaluate AI algorithms to ensure that ethical standards are maintained and that it does not reinforce bias.
What does the current generation expect from Campus Recruitment?
Today’s generation of students and recent graduates belong to Generation Z (Gen Z), born between 1997 and 2012. How can you best attract them with your campus recruitment strategy, and what are their expectations?
Disclaimer: Obviously the expectations we outline here are not identical for every person and are a generalisation, but do focus on general expectations formed by the time frame in which this generation grew up.
An innovative recruitment process by using technology.
Today’s generation are ‘digital natives‘ growing up with the internet, social media and digitalisation. More than half of Gen Z candidates (54%) will not apply if your company’s recruiting methods are outdated. So, outdated recruiting methods can halve your talent pool before you even begin. For example, Indeed cites gamification as a game-changer in campus recruitment to attract this target audience.
A quick and transparent application process.
This generation grew up with the internet, where almost everything is available and accessible. Nearly 1 in 5 candidates from Gen Z believe that the ideal duration of the job application process – the time between the first interview and the final hiring decision – is five days, and almost everyone (4 out of 5) agrees that less than two weeks is ideal. If you want to make an impression, you will need to make hiring decisions faster than ever.
An organisation committed to social responsibility and DE&I (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion).
Gen Z is the most diverse generation, growing up amidst economic recession, rising living and education costs, and activist groups for societal issues including a climate crisis. As a result, they feel a strong social responsibility and value diversity in the workplace. For 86% of Gen Z, a potential employer’s commitment to diversity is crucial when accepting a job. Moreover, 68% would hesitate to accept a job at a company where minority groups are not involved in the hiring process.
Personal contact with the recruiter.
The relationship with the recruiter as a “trusted advisor” is very important to this generation. According to a survey, 44% of Gen Z individuals consider recruiters as the most influential factor in their decision to accept or reject a job offer.
Work arrangement flexibility.
Work-life balance is one of the top 3 priorities for all generations, which is why flexible working hours and remote work options are among the most desired benefits for employees. In fact, 36% of Gen Z have previously quit a job because the work was not flexible enough. However, this does not mean that Gen Z only wants to work from home; they also enjoy working in the office. Only 24% prefer full-time remote work.
Mogelijkheden voor verdere ontwikkeling en groei.
Organisations are facing skills gaps, which will only grow in the coming years with the increasing number of new jobs, particularly in technology. Especially the youngest generation (56%) wants to improve their soft skills with a focus on the future. Additionally, 79% of Gen Z individuals indicate a need for coaching from day one in the job. Moreover, ‘limited development and growth opportunities’ rank high on the list of dissatisfactions for 60% of young professionals, ultimately leading to drop-off.
Recruiters often feel that Gen Z has excessive demands for a first job. However, it’s important for recruiters to dig deeper into what the possible underlying need might be, which in many cases is simply ‘security and stability.’
Listen to our podcast episode with Emma Agricola to learn more about the underlying needs behind Gen Z’s expectations.
How to set up a Campus Recruitment Strategy in 4 steps
After reviewing the pros and cons, trends, and candidate expectations, you have decided to implement campus recruitment for your organisation. But how do you set up your campus recruitment strategy, and what points should not be forgotten? We have outlined this:
1. Define your target audience and the job you are recruiting for.
The key is to thoroughly understand your target audience and their expectations so that they align with the position you are recruiting for. We have already provided some information about the current generation looking for a job, but there is much more to learn.
It’s also essential to have a clear list of the required competencies for the position before you start recruiting. Does the role require a lot of teamwork, or should the candidate be able to make decisions independently? Should a candidate be able to conduct accurate analyses, or is the role characterised by time-sensitive projects demanding quick action? Ensure that these competencies are clearly outlined in the job posting.
2. Focus on authentic employer branding and generate brand awareness among your target audience.
When you want to establish a successful campus recruitment strategy, you will require candidates who are motivated to apply. Therefore, you’ll need to generate brand awareness among your target audience by, for example, collaborating with schools on projects, being listed in school job databases, or starting advertising campaigns on social media. Above all, being authentic and honest is important. Companies could show what they stand for and how the organisation lives up to these values.
3. Design the recruitment process for your campus recruitment.
This target audience is more likely to prefer being approached through different channels, such as career fairs at schools or via social media. The use of Virtual Campus Recruitment can also be valuable in this regard.
Additionally, the process for entry-level jobs will need to be structured differently. Organisations need to move from experience-based to competency-based recruitment, which focuses on potential and skills rather than minimal work experience. An attractive and fast application process replaces a lengthy one that has, for example, five contact points spread over two months.
Implement a pre-employment assessment, such as a game-based assessment, at the beginning of the application to ensure a positive candidate experience. This allows recruiters to focus their personal attention on candidates with potential, significantly saving time in screening all applications. Besides an efficient process, it is crucial to gather the right information to make an informed decision.
4. Ensure clear communication and maintain relationships with your talent pool.
Once candidates have applied, it is important to quickly reach out and be transparent about the next steps in the process. Candidates dislike uncertainty, so it is important to make them feel genuinely valued for applying to a company.
If a candidate is ultimately rejected, it is worthwhile to retain them in your talent pool for any future positions that become available. This is also beneficial if candidates apply to your company again later in their careers; that can only happen if they had a positive initial experience.
Example: A Successful Campus Recruitment Strategy by FrieslandCampina
FrieslandCampina had an extended trainee program but encountered the following two challenges and decided to redesign the process:
1. Lack of diversity in the trainee program
2. Inefficient selection procedure for trainees
An internal benchmark was created by having a group of high-performing trainees complete a game-based assessment, upon which the required competencies and behavioural characteristics for future candidates were based.
Candidates complete a game-based assessment during their application, upon which the initial selection is made based on the benchmark. Their motivation is then evaluated, and selected candidates are invited to an assessment day or interview.
After FrieslandCampina changed the recruitment process for their traineeships, screening time decreased by 93%, the talent pool expanded by 24%, and diversity and candidate retention increased significantly, resulting in a higher quality of selected candidates.
Read more about FrieslandCampina’s campus recruitment strategy here.
Conclusion
A thorough campus recruitment strategy is key to attracting young talent. Understanding what the current generation expects enables your organisation to be not only accessible but also appealing to diverse talents.
Discover how a smart campus recruitment strategy opens the door to a promising pool of potential.
