It’s no surprise that college students are graduating and finding that the job market isn’t as welcoming as they had initially hoped it would be. With the percentage of unemployed and underemployed recent college graduates approaching 57%, more and more students are flocking to career fairs to have a shot at landing a job after graduation. Career fairs continue to be a great way for companies to meet educated and motivated individuals who are looking for employment.
Before your recruiters attend a college career fair, make sure they have prepared by asking themselves these vital questions.
• Are you prepared with the most efficient way to connect and source these college students?
• Does your company have the tools to properly handle the influx of resumes it will be receiving?
• Can you take advantage of things like tablets and QR codes to track applicants instead of bringing home a pile or resumes?
As a student going into my senior year, the last thing I want to do is bring twenty copies of my resume to a career fair, just to have it thrown atop a pile of other resumes. I leave wondering if my qualifications will ever make it to the eyes of the recruiter who is looking to fill that position or if the stack will just be misplaced? I know that if my information is stored digitally right at the career fair, I will be entered into their applicant tracking system. These recruiters will then be able to search on my qualifications, which ultimately alleviates a great deal of stress for me, the applicant. Having digitally stored resumes from a career fair, will enable your recruiters to make better hiring decisions and ensure you find the best applicant for the job.
Another great method for attracting college graduates is to have an impressive presence on your social media sites. Companies have started to recruit socially by distributing jobs to these sites. If you want to target the top candidates, you must have the ability to go beyond your direct contacts and followers. A great way to do this is through employee referral programs. Reaching out to your employees’ contacts that are searching for new jobs automatically enhances your applicant pool with applicants you may never have been able to reach. Having employees post jobs on social media has been proven to bring in more employee referrals, sometimes 4 times as many before posting to social media! If your company isn’t ready for social media recruiting, you may be missing out on the ideal candidate for your organization.
It’s easy to assume the recruiting programs you have in place for hiring entry level positions are sufficient, but the most qualified candidates are going to be attracted to the companies that establish a presence at college fairs and on social media. Job boards are becoming a way of the past, with social media essentially taking over recruitment initiatives. Today, companies need to make themselves known to college grads and sell themselves to the applicants in order to hire the best candidates for their jobs.
64198562-cf93-4a36-ac2c-e83e6e89ffd2|4|5.0
