Survey reveals student perspectives on college recruiting practices.

By Troy Behrens

Remember when employers dictated the requirements for employment? Today, college job seekers have the upper hand and they know it. It's not unusual for students to have multiple job offers six months before graduation, yet continue to shop around for the company that offers them the best deal. This loosely translates into a practice that isn't sitting well with staffing professionals: Students are changing employers' hiring standards. If you don't think this is true, ask any compensation manager who is scrambling to adjust staff salaries to meet the lofty expectations of incoming college hires. Ask the hiring manager at a Fortune 500 company who is so desperate to hire a top candidate that he is willing to overlook the drug test that turned out positive. Or ask the recruiter who meets students at a campus job fair and has to choose from candidates who are more interested in the snacks he provides than in the questions he asks.

Is the answer to recruiting graduating students really about changing the corporate culture, having a high- tech image, or adopting less of a "suit" environment? Do employers have to sacrifice attention to skills and abilities in favor of the students' needs, wants, and expectations simply because they are at the mercy of a buyer's market?

To identify what it takes to attract college job seekers and sustain their interest beyond a signing bonus, the author surveyed 300 seniors at five U.S. universities over a three-year period. The survey encouraged respondents to give detailed answers to eight open-ended questions. In all, 204 students responded to the survey, for a 68 percent response rate.

Student Perspectives on Staffing Practices

This section lists the survey questions and the range of student responses to them. Because the questions were open-ended, there is some overlap in the responses. The top responses are indicated for each question.

What makes a college recruiting program effective?

• Employer does not pressure students into decisions.
• Recruiters act and talk naturally rather than read interview questions.
• Employer advertises a strong training program for new hires.
• Employer emphasizes that it believes in diversity.
• Company has had strong growth in recent years.
• Company targets location as a selling point.
• Employer hosts elegant dinners for candidates.
• Employer conducts short and expedient interviews.
• Employer provides prompt feedback to students about job offer/rejection.
• Employer arranges multiple interviews.
• Recruiters are excited about hiring students.
• Company gets involved with student organizations.
• Employer keeps in touch with students after making an offer.
• Interviewers are friendly, honest, and straightforward, and their presentations do not seem canned.
• Company hosts or sponsors special events or special-interest workshops.
• Employer attends every job fair, and interviews on campus all year.
• Employer is a name company or a big company with lots of money.
• Company makes it easy to do background research.
• Company recruits with a professional image.
• Company hosts organized information sessions (the night before interviews) that leave the student with nothing to question.
• Recruiters are personable and genuinely interested in students.

Fifty-six percent of the respondents said that employers could ensure the effectiveness of their college recruiting program by hosting information sessions the night before interviews and providing enough detail to leave nothing to question. Second in importance to respondents (23 percent) was prompt feedback from the employer about a job offer/rejection. Cited by 14 percent of respondents and ranked third in importance were friendly, honest, and straightforward interviewers.

Respondents also favored short interviews, personable recruiters, and name/big companies. One respondent spoke for many on the subject: "I feel that the best recruiting programs start and end with the information session. I lose interest without exciting pre-interview sessions. The best ones involve several employees with different positions in the company, and everyone describes what they do in detail so we can try to picture ourselves having those experiences, too."

Which form of advertising interests you in interviewing with an employer?

• Special-interest groups on campus
• Web page
• Family contacts
• Cooperative education/internship experience
• Brochures
• Job fairs
• Job posting in career center
• Friends who were recently hired by the employer
• Information sessions

Nearly 67 percent of the respondents said that the career center is the best place for employers to promote their campus visits and jobs with their organizations. Of those students, more than half reported that they found out about employment opportunities when their career centers contacted them about specific jobs. Proving the adage that "good news travels fast," 17 percent of the respondents ranked word of mouth, specifically from a friend recently hired by the employer, as the second most effective form of advertising. Coming in a distant third was a company's web page, cited by only 6 percent of respondents. Although many employers rely on their web sites to convey information about their companies, students seem to prefer obtaining interview and employment information from their career centers.

Which factors/features interest you in interviewing with an employer?

• Starting salary
• Friendly staff/recruiters
• Employment stability
• High-tech web page
• Company's products or services
• Great benefits
• Good feedback from others who interviewed with the employer
• Interesting career paths that offer a variety of work experiences
• Company has name recognition
• Timing of the campus visit
• Major company
• Training programs
• Strong reputation of the company
• Job location

Many employers operate on the premise that salaries and benefits are the key considerations of college job seekers. They may be right, but today's candidates aren't saying so, perhaps because most companies already offer competitive salaries and benefits and students consider them a "given." One student likened an offer with high pay and solid benefits to the sun rising every morning.

So what do students really look for in a job? Twenty-eight percent of the respondents said they are interested in companies that offer interesting career paths with a variety of work experiences. An equal number of respondents (17 percent) indicated their interest in companies with strong reputations and well-known products/services. Meanwhile, job location ranked third among respondents (14 percent). Other factors that were somewhat important to respondents included large company size, training programs, and friendly staff/recruiters.

What would you like to learn about in your interview?

• Examples of the work environment
• The more detail about the company and the job the better
• Specifics about day-to-day duties
• Experiences of new employees

The range of responses to this question is not very broad. In fact, 93 percent of the respondents said they would like to meet with-and learn about the experiences of-new employees instead of interviewing with veteran company representatives who are "there to sell the company." Nearly as many of the respondents said that they want as much detail about the job as possible because they fear the job will not be what they anticipate.

Which organizational strengths do you look for in an employer?

• Large corporation
• Strong reputation
• Diverse staff
• Well-organized operations
• High investment in new employees
• Strong revenue growth
• Plentiful opportunities for career growth
• Use of cutting-edge technology
• Family-like atmosphere
• Enthusiastic recruiters
• Upbeat environment
• Strong customer satisfaction
• High employee satisfaction
• Superior product line
• Involvement in community
• Open communication

Of the survey respondents, 41 percent were attracted to organizations with a high investment in new employees. This translates into training programs for new hires, mentoring programs, supervision, tuition assistance, and career development opportunities. Large companies were preferred by 24 percent of the respondents. Ranked third by respondents were companies with a strong reputation.

What advice would you give to help an employer become more visible on campus and schedule more students for interviews?

• Offer more internships
• Have an information session early in the school year (September) and let word of mouth spread about the company
• Give students up to two months to sign up for interviews
• Make sure communications with the career center are clear
• Make contacts with department chairs
• Offer a decent salary
• Attend student organization meetings
• Attend all job fairs
• Host fun events, e.g., picnics, dances
• Provide the career center with more company literature
• Bring more employees to campus
• Advertise in the school newspaper
• Display posters around campus
• Make classroom presentations
• Promote the company web page

The responses to this question (and to the ones that preceded it) did not focus on high-tech or trendy, unorthodox practices. According to 34 percent of the respondents, the best way for employers to become more visible on campus and attract more students to interviews is to attend all job fairs. The second most effective strategy, cited by 26 percent of the respondents, is to host information sessions early in the school year. An equal number of respondents (10 percent) suggested that employers offer more internships and provide the career center more company literature. Only one of the 204 respondents mentioned the promotion or use of a company web page.

Which factors make an interview seem worthwhile to you?

• My questions are answered thoroughly.
• I learn something new about the employer.
• Company officials convince me of their interest in hiring me.
• The environment is friendly and comfortable.
• The interviewers are not afraid to ask me technical questions and, if necessary, guide me in my answers.
• The company hosts a dinner for candidates the night before the interview.
• I meet lots of employees.
• The interview is well organized.
• I learn what will be expected of me as an employee.
• The interviewers are easygoing and honest.
• The interviewers are enthusiastic.

The prevailing theme in the responses to this question is the importance students attach to the atmosphere surrounding an interview. In all, 92 percent said that if the interview environment is friendly and comfortable, the experience is worthwhile. For that reason, companies need to make sure they send enthusiastic interviewers to campus, a factor that, incidentally, was cited by 6 percent of respondents.

What do you look for when you visit a company for an interview?

• A half-day company tour
• Time to sight-see over the weekend (before or after the interview)
• A tour of the area to get a feel for the surroundings
• Dinner with the staff and other candidates
• Friendly hosts or tour guides to escort candidates around the company
• Multiple interviews with multiple people

A significant number of respondents (72 percent) said that taking time out to tour the host city is very important, especially if they will be asked to relocate. Many noted that companies waste money by flying candidates back to the area, after extending an offer to them, to find apartments or see the local area. Additionally, 30 percent of the respondents said they look for friendly hosts and an opportunity to meet as many people as they can to absorb all the details of their potential jobs.

Seal the Deal

Based on the survey findings, the following recommendations are offered to college recruiters:

• Host at least one information session each semester, even if it is months before you will be interviewing on campus.
• Make frequent, personal visits to campus. In this electronic age, face-to-face meetings are valuable, even to high-tech students.
• Connect with students through their career centers. Other avenues are "hit or miss."
• Don't rely on your company's web page. Think of it as an electronic brochure, not a significant "contact" for your candidates. Students prefer to learn about your company from you personally.
• Recognize the potential of new college hires to serve as ambassadors of your organization. Their positive word of mouth can influence their college friends' decision to interview with you.
• Provide and outline a variety of interesting career paths to students, and help them visualize their careers with your company. Also, tell them how they can earn promotions and which positions and titles they can aspire to.
• Give students as much detail about their prospective positions as possible. The more detail the better. Students fear finding themselves in a job that is nothing like the description.
• Provide a thorough training program for new hires. Students don't want to be thrown to the wolves and forced to learn on their own. A training program that will prepare them to succeed and a strong supervisory or mentoring program also will prove beneficial to your company.
• Send your friendliest and most enthusiastic employees to campus, but make sure they are truly representative of your work environment.

In a tight labor market, students can afford to be choosy about job offers. However, employers can gain an edge in their recruiting efforts by acting on these recommendations. It will cost little or nothing.

For example, sending enthusiastic company representatives to campus might require more time for screening and training staff, but it isn't going to break any employer's budget. Similarly, providing thorough details about a student's prospective job has few if any associated costs, depending upon how creatively an employer disperses that information. In fact, only two of the recommendations offered here require significant financial considerations, e.g., implementing a new training program or spending more time on campus. The other suggestions entail only philosophical or attitudinal shifts. In short, the outcomes far outweigh the time or money required to achieve them.

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2001 Journal of Career Planning & Employment.

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