Insights

A blog for leaders who care about recruiting and retaining the next generation of talent.

The Average Entry-Level Salary and Intern Compensation of 2024
Nov 13, 2024

In 2024, early-career salary expectations are influenced by the competitive landscape and Gen Z’s priorities. According to the RippleMatch 2024 Salary Benchmarking Report (available to download for free here), competitive compensation is a top priority for Gen Z talent, many of whom value financial growth potential over other job attributes. This report provides a comprehensive breakdown of salary data across fields, industries, and job functions, with particular insights into the expectations and realities of entry-level roles and internships.

How to Write a Job Description That Appeals to Gen Z Candidates
Nov 07, 2024

Generation Z is now the dominant entry-level cohort, reshaping early career recruitment with new expectations and behaviors. Unlike previous generations, Gen Z candidates often rely solely on the job description to decide whether to apply, with limited additional research into the company beforehand. Recent data collected by RippleMatch shows that 69% of Gen Z candidates read the full job description before applying, but don't seek out further details on the organization until later stages. This makes job descriptions critical real estate for communicating essential information, as they’re often the only impression a candidate will get before deciding to apply.

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Program Innovator Spotlight: Miriam Menon, University Relations Lead, Getinge
Kate Beckman
Our team at RippleMatch is thrilled to highlight Miriam Menon, The University Relations Lead at Getinge, as an exceptional Program Innovator in our Campus Recruiting Community! Miriam has attended numerous RippleMatch events and webinars, where she continuously makes an impression. She is always the first to speak up, pose a thoughtful question, or raise a point that makes all of us think. When we ask for feedback or suggestions from members of our community, Miriam is happy to engage with us and make OUR programming better and more relevant–which isn’t surprising, since she’s done that with all of the Campus Recruiting programs she’s worked on.
Outstanding Leader Spotlight: Jenny Hofler—Director, Early Career Talent Programs, Global TA, MetLife
Kate Beckman
Jenny Hofler is an outstanding leader wherever she goes, whether that’s in her role as Director of Early Career Talent Programs, Global TA at MetLife, or as a powerful thought leader on LinkedIn and at recruitment events. She is a self-described passionate advocate of early-in-career-talent, especially the intern and analyst population, who are vital to the success of her company. She is currently responsible for MetLife’s University Recruiting initiatives from a Talent Acquisition perspective, and the program management and delivery of the MetLife Technical University (MTU) 10-week Summer Internship Program. She has worked in the campus recruiting space for over a decade, and has found the career to be extremely rewarding. Jenny especially loves supporting candidates in their career journeys and building and sustaining relationships.
D&I Champion Spotlight : William Chichester III, Peloton
Kate Beckman
William, the Global Head of Early Career Talent at Peloton, is incredibly passionate about diversity within early career recruitment. His commitment to D&I extends beyond university recruiting and into his own team, life, and extracurricular pursuits. A University of Virginia alumni, he was a first generation college student who began achieving big goals and setting the foundation for a successful career early on. William lived on The Lawn at UVA, an honor reserved for just 100 students from an undergrad population of over 13,000. He was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., 100 Black Men of America, and an alumni spokesman of the Sallie Mae Fund’s Kids2College Program.
9 Colleges and Universities With The Most Gender-Balanced Computer Science Programs
Kate Beckman
At most colleges and universities, computer science programs remain male-dominated spaces and on average, around 18% of computer science degrees are awarded to women. However, there are several colleges – in addition to women’s colleges – that have managed to exceed national averages and create a more gender-balanced program through specific initiatives and retention strategies. While other programs may graduate an overall higher quantity of female CS majors due to their class size, these colleges and universities continuously work to improve representation in their programs. See the gender breakdown and learn more about their initiatives, below.
10 Hispanic-Serving Institutions With Strong STEM Programs
Kate Beckman
Despite comprising almost 18.5% of the U.S. workforce, Hispanic and Latinx workers account for only 8% of all STEM workers. With this underrepresentation, it’s essential for companies hiring for science, technology, and engineering roles to craft strategies to diversify their pipeline and increase representation within their teams. While there are several ways to improve the diversity of your pipeline at the entry-level – from partnering with niche organizations to sourcing – one surefire way is to visit campuses with higher populations of underrepresented groups.
The Top 10 Public Universities With The Best STEM Programs
Kate Beckman
Jobs in STEM have some of the highest projected growth rates. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicting a 10.8% growth in STEM employment from 2016 to 2026, compared to the overall average of 7.4%. With this expansion in available jobs there are many colleges putting an emphasis on their STEM programs to increase the amount of highly skilled talent entering the workforce. While private schools like MIT and Johns Hopkins might first come to mind for STEM talent, there are dozens of public universities that provide an excellent top-ranked STEM education. Public colleges offer a college experience to students usually at a lower cost, enabling a more diverse set of students to attend. Expand your university recruiting pipeline and check out these top public schools for STEM.
30 Colleges and Universities That Graduate the Highest Number of Female Computer Science Majors in the U.S.
Kate Beckman
When recruiting for your software engineering roles and internships, you might generate your list of target schools from our list of the most gender-balanced computer science programs. But your talent acquisition strategy will also benefit from targeting these schools that graduate the highest quantity of female computer science majors each year.
Intern Hell Week: When Summer Programming and Fall Recruitment Planning Overlap
Kate Beckman
When you work as a campus recruiter, you are expected to juggle many responsibilities at once. When I managed the internship program for a Fortune 500 company, I was responsible for both the recruitment cycle and summer programming. Currently I work at RippleMatch, a tech platform that supports companies in virtual and diversity recruitment for early career roles. I’ve spoken to a number of talent professionals who manage the internship programs at their companies, and many of them are in the same position that I was in–small team, mounting responsibilities, and the need to stay one step ahead of the campus recruitment cycle to prepare for the following year.
31 Companies With Impactful Initiatives to Support Their LGBTQ Employees
Kate Beckman
To create the best workplace culture and community, every employee should feel supported and valued by their employer. However, a study done by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) found that 46% of LGBTQ workers say they are closeted at work, and the top reason they don’t report negative comments they hear is that they don’t think anything will be done about it.
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