Campus Recruiting

[bigruss]

Anybody can leave input here, but really calling out the current college students or recent grads.

 

What would you like to see in terms of campus recruiting for internships/full time jobs from a company? What type of events have you been a part of that really got you interested in that company, and weren't just fun?

 

Im looking for ideas for a side project at the company I am working for, some background:

 

Fortune 500

Fortune's Top 100 place to work for (2010)

Named one of the top places to work for in Chicago by the Tribune (2010)

One of the top places to work for in IT by ComputerWorld (2009)

 

Im sure some of you can find out the company, but it's more about getting ideas to recruit college talent for IT, SC, and Finance.

 

Thanks everyone!

 

[Texsox]

When I was looking, what I liked was getting down quickly to WIFM as in What's In It For Me? What will I *really* be doing, what is your program. I hated wading through all the hype about what a great company you are.

[SouthsideDon48]

I like to see recruiters wear more casual clothes. I just really hate seeing recruiters looking all professional in fancy suits, it just makes it look unneccessarily intimidating and makes me not want to inquire into the company. There are people like me that prefers less stringent dress codes at their place of employment.

[The Gooch]

Do on-site interviews. Career fairs have often become a place for companies to just tell job-seekers to "apply on their website." Showing an immediate interest in potential talent will make candidates more interested in and excited about your company.

[bigruss]

Thanks for the responses so far!

 

Just some more info, the company currently attends career fairs and does oncampus interviewing which can lead to offcampus interviews in the 2nd round. They hold prenights (dinners before the 1st round of interviews) also, but they tend to struggle getting their name out there as a place to work for interns/recent grads. Most times when you ask a student on campus what they think the company does, they either say they've never heard of it or think it's the library (which is named after the company's founder). The area I want to focus on is the reputation on campus needs to be built first of all, and it needs to be about being a great place to work, even for those right out of school. Im trying to get that image to students, through the traditional methods (career fairs, etc) but also through new creative events on campus, but trying to come up with viable, low cost solutions that are effective can be tough .

[dasox24]

Thanks for the responses so far!

 

Just some more info, the company currently attends career fairs and does oncampus interviewing which can lead to offcampus interviews in the 2nd round. They hold prenights (dinners before the 1st round of interviews) also, but they tend to struggle getting their name out there as a place to work for interns/recent grads. Most times when you ask a student on campus what they think the company does, they either say they've never heard of it or think it's the library (which is named after the company's founder). The area I want to focus on is the reputation on campus needs to be built first of all, and it needs to be about being a great place to work, even for those right out of school. Im trying to get that image to students, through the traditional methods (career fairs, etc) but also through new creative events on campus, but trying to come up with viable, low cost solutions that are effective can be tough .

Recruit outside of the Big 10 schools (specifically talking about your company, Russ). Not saying they have to go everywhere, but they can be selective with schools outside of the Midwest. For instance, supply chain is supposed to be important for your company, but they don't recruit at Tennessee - one of the perennial Top 5 Supply Chain programs in the country. Poor choice, IMO.

[bigruss]

Recruit outside of the Big 10 schools (specifically talking about your company, Russ). Not saying they have to go everywhere, but they can be selective with schools outside of the Midwest. For instance, supply chain is supposed to be important for your company, but they don't recruit at Tennessee - one of the perennial Top 5 Supply Chain programs in the country. Poor choice, IMO.

Yea, that's something theyve struggled with, they currently focus on 6 schools for most of their recruiting, 4 of them in the B10. Apparently they went to this system because they were spending too much on campus recruiting without getting significant enough results, but targeting other schools only makes sense especially in such areas as IT and SC, which tend to have much smaller amounts of students in each program. I believe they are willing to expand in the future, but they have tend to want an alumni leading the recruiting process for each campus, which makes it harder to expand.

[dasox24]

Yea, that's something theyve struggled with, they currently focus on 6 schools for most of their recruiting, 4 of them in the B10. Apparently they went to this system because they were spending too much on campus recruiting without getting significant enough results, but targeting other schools only makes sense especially in such areas as IT and SC, which tend to have much smaller amounts of students in each program. I believe they are willing to expand in the future, but they have tend to want an alumni leading the recruiting process for each campus, which makes it harder to expand.

I understand that, but yes, with areas that tend to be smaller, it would be wise to target certain "other" schools that excel in those areas. Furthermore, it will bring in different perspectives and ideas if you go to other schools - not everyone will have had the same teachers and been taught the same principles, which will help creativity and bring new ideas to improve the company.

[bigruss]

I understand that, but yes, with areas that tend to be smaller, it would be wise to target certain "other" schools that excel in those areas. Furthermore, it will bring in different perspectives and ideas if you go to other schools - not everyone will have had the same teachers and been taught the same principles, which will help creativity and bring new ideas to improve the company.

Fully agreed!

[farmteam]

I believe you've said before where you work, and I interviewed with them once for an internship last year. Didn't get past the first round, but I had a pretty positive experience. The interviewer was great, real down to earth. They do a lot of recruiting at IU, it seems.