What it takes, many college recruiters say, is a consistent, diligent effort to build and maintain relationships with the student communities from which they recruit. They suggest adhering to the following six guidelines to keep potential hires attracted to their companies:

Cultivate relationships with faculty and staff

Recruiters say that good relationships with faculty and staff, particularly career services, leads to good relationships with students. Career services professionals have the pulse of the campus, and successful, efficient college recruiting is possible only with their guidance.

"Career services has a clear picture of what works on their individual campus," says Sue M. Hansen, director of college relations for Deloitte & Touche. "If you take time to share information about your organization, they can steer you away from mistakes. They can tell you about the right professors to contact, when to schedule interviewing, and how to shatter preconceptions among students."

Other recruiters emphasize the importance of being on campus, in person. By volunteering for in-service programs or other special events, recruiters can establish a presence and build trust with college personnel and students before active recruiting takes place.

Understand your potential hires and their environment

Dan Peril, WorldCom's national administrator of college relations, says employers should be aware of the culture of the schools at which they recruit. Assumptions based on geography can be dangerous, according to Peril. Two schools might be geographically close, he says, but culturally worlds apart. He discourages relying on blanket recruiting policies. Instead, he supports approaching each school individually, just as an employer would approach students as individuals.

However, being aware of overall student trends can be powerful ammunition, adds Bruce Tulgan, author of Winning the Talent Wars. Tulgan characterizes today's students, the Millennial generation (or "Generation Y"), as self-confident, hard-working, earnest, rule followers. Companies and their employees who break the rules of recruitment-by rescinding a job offer, for example-should anticipate a cool reception by Millennials, because they've grown up with the impression that "people don't break promises." He warns that it could take years to rebuild quickly damaged student relationships.

Although Millennials have high expectations when it comes to salary and other aspects of employment, they don't feel that money is everything. According to Daryl Evans, vice president of marketing for the Randstad staffing agency, Millennials have a stronger sense of self-reliance, not self-entitlement, with regard to careers and success. They're "looking for someplace to belong," just like the workers who came before them.

Get involved

Peril says career fairs, information sessions, and scheduled interviewing make up just a small portion of opportunities for getting noticed by students.

Other strategies include making classroom presentations; speaking at student association meetings; and getting involved with professional and scholarly student groups, honor societies, and fraternities and sororities. Monetary contributions-even small donations toward pizza parties-can also put a company in a positive light.

According to Dan Guaglianone, vice president of global recruiting for UNISYS, the most important tool for garnering student attention is experiential education: co-ops, internships, and summer hiring. He views experiential education as a mutually agreeable arrangement, whereby students obtain work experience and companies get a feel for student competencies and can ascertain the strengths of a given school and student population.

Interview to hire

Many recruiters believe that interviewing students without any jobs in the pipeline is a "cardinal sin," and can be just as damaging as revoking an employment offer.

"The future is in college graduates in terms of human capital," says Hansen. She suggests that companies preserve their investment in the future by interviewing with legitimate jobs offers.

Jack Fitzmaurice, corporate manager of college relations for Teradyne, Inc., says companies who interview without making any offers mislead students, and "the costs in time and money could be better spent."

Be consistent

Peril says it is "extraordinarily important" for companies to maintain a consistent presence throughout campus if they hope to recruit graduates. They do this by developing a branding strategy.

An effectively branded company is one that is easily and consistently identified by the student body, says Peril.

He stresses that for effective recruiting to take place, students must be familiar and attracted to a company. Employers who neglect their campus relationships have "problems with attendance at information sessions and with [their] interview schedule, because there is no attraction for the student."

Be prompt, be direct, and be honest

Although successful recruiters regard rescinding job offers and interviewing students with no jobs to offer as major mistakes, they recognize that economic surprises may force companies to do the unthinkable. In such situations, they advise employers to be prompt in disclosing bad news. Impersonal, dishonest, or delayed interactions spread like wildfire among students on campus.

College relations manager Michael Silipo says JCPenney has a "touch program" for both positive and apologetic student communications.

"After an offer is made, we stay in touch with students," says Silipo. "We send them a 'welcome basket' full of goodies." The basket includes office supplies, information about the position the student has accepted, geographical details or a travel guide, video rental gift certificates, and other gift cards. During finals week, another basket of popcorn, candy, and note cards is sent.

Silipo suggests companies adopt a similar program to handle apologies, e.g. for rescinding offers. He suggests including information on other jobs within the company or perhaps a tip sheet on available positions with a competitor.

Copyright © National Association of Colleges and Employers
Spotlight, August 1, 2001 (Volume 24, Issue 2)

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