Insights

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.

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.

In order to recruit top talent—and protect your brand—it’s critical that you invest in creating a positive candidate experience. It may not seem like the most important consideration in your recruitment process, but a negative candidate experience can lead to significant financial consequences. With today’s student job seekers expecting even more from companies in regards to communication and personalization, how can you ensure your process fits their needs?

Campus recruitment teams face many challenges. Two of the biggest concerns are identifying talent early and keeping candidates engaged. Of course, ensuring that candidates have a positive experience is also important. But with a shifting recruitment landscape and a need to consistently meet hiring deadlines, how can talent acquisition teams manage these responsibilities?

After more than a year of hosting events almost exclusively online, we’ve all learned a thing or two about what works and what doesn’t. However, what kept students engaged at the beginning of the pandemic may not be enough now that so many are suffering from Zoom fatigue and struggling to balance overprogramming. Whether you’re looking to improve your virtual recruitment events or are hoping to wow your summer interns, it’s important to reevaluate and refresh your virtual event strategy.

Learn more about how to execute a successful recruitment events strategy via our guide, "100 Events & How to Do Them."

When the coronavirus pandemic upended daily life in 2020, the way we work changed almost overnight. Many employees began working from home, originally expecting to return to the office within a few weeks. As it became clear that remote work would continue indefinitely, companies were forced to make decisions about their summer internships. According to NACE, the National Association of Colleges and Employers, more than 1 in 5 companies cancelled their internships entirely in 2020. Of those who held summer internships, 70% conducted them virtually or in an otherwise adapted setting. We found very similar results in a recent survey of campus recruiters.

Even in a job market favoring employers, there’s no room for companies to deliver a poor candidate experience. Besides missing out on great candidates, a bad candidate experience reflects negatively on your company, and can result in poor reviews on career sites like Glassdoor. Even if a candidate isn’t the right fit for a position, they should still come away from the interviewing process with a positive view of the company and feel like their time, energy, and effort was valued. It’s also important to think of the long-term implications of a bad experience, as studies show that companies lose a significant portion of customers and revenue over negative candidate experiences.

In 2020, many companies were forced to host their internships virtually, with little time to plan. The ability of university teams to adapt in-person programs in as little as a few months or even weeks was impressive, but many lessons were learned from the hastily-formed programs.