This upcoming recruitment season will be unlike any other. With many schools sticking with distance learning for the fall semester, employers will need to be more creative than ever in their campus recruiting, especially when it comes to events.
In May, RippleMatch conducted a survey of 335 college students across 140 schools to learn what they have found valuable when attending recruitment events in the past – and how recruiters can use these insights in their planning strategy going forward. Here are a few of the main takeaways from the research.
Both in the workplace and in recruitment, students care a lot about communicating with someone face-to-face rather than through a written medium. For recruitment events in particular, this is largely due to students’ belief that a face-to-face interaction with a recruiter will help them advance in the recruitment process. RippleMatch data found that 71% of students use recruitment events to increase chances of landing an interview, while 53% use recruitment events to build relationships with recruiters. Even if recruiters will not be able to meet prospective candidates in person this fall, maintaining a high level of personalization throughout the recruitment process and offering “face-to-face” opportunities over video can help to attract top talent.
According to the RippleMatch survey, college students use recruitment events as a tool for career discovery. More specifically, 74% of surveyed students have used in-person recruitment events to learn about available opportunities in general, while 57% have used recruitment events to learn more about specific companies. This suggests that recruiters may wish to focus more on sharing information about open positions, career paths, and training and development programs, rather than the company’s history or prestige.
The students’ qualitative feedback in the survey revealed that they are interested in several types of recruitment events because each type offers its own value. For events such as coffee chats, networking nights, and hackathons, students appreciate the opportunity to build connections within their target industry. Info sessions are best for students who want to conduct initial, low-stakes research into a company, while major-specific career fairs are ideal for students who are actively searching for companies that want to hire someone of their academic background. Maintaining a diversified events calendar could appeal to a broad swath of students at all stages of the recruitment process.
Understanding what students care about the most in in-person events will help employers refine their recruitment strategy for an uncertain fall (and beyond). For more insights and recommendations, watch our webinar ‘What Students Value in Campus Recruiting Events’ and download our white paper Fall 2020 Recruitment Playbook: Crafting an Effective University Recruitment Strategy Amid Uncertainty.