Achieving Excellence in University Recruiting

Recently, technology has changed the playing field. Some firms are moving away from traditional recruiting methods in favor of electronic recruiting, while others are adding integrated applicant tracking systems and candidate databases.

In this environment, staffing executives who are responsible for university hiring need to understand their program position relative to other companies through comparing performance metrics, processes and best practices. This benchmark package is designed to meet that need.

The package includes three deliverables from Best Practices, LLC research services:

• A rapid custom analysis of your university recruiting program data plotted against responses form a robust benchmark class of 79 companies from 12 different industries.
• Hiring Top Talent: Best Practices in University Recruiting (HRS-59A), 90+ pages of 2005 data, insights and analysis from above research PLUS in-depth interviews with program leaders in top university recruiting organizations.
• Features of Winning University Recruiting Websites (HRS-59B), an eight-page comparison of key features of best-in-class and leading company university recruiting websites. Companies in the study come from such industries as Aerospace and Defense, Pharmaceuticals, Technology, Financial Services, Insurance and Utilities.

Key Findings

1. Intern and cooperative education (co-op) programs account for the majority of university hires among the benchmark class—outpacing new graduate hires for most companies in the study. This is partially explained by the fact that benchmark partners rank intern and co-op programs as the most effective ways to attract top talent into their companies.

2. Companies increasingly are moving away from college-sponsored career fairs. They focus instead on higher value activities such as a educational programs and “company days” on campus to provide better branding opportunities and attract a more focused target audience.

3. Companies are implementing a process to ensure that good university candidates don’t fall through the cracks during the hiring process. They recycle back into the talent pool any promising candidates who are deemed a good company fit but are unsuccessful in an interview for a specific job. This process leverages technology to “pull” applicants into the process and bring hiring managers to the talent pool so that talented candidates are not lost.

4. Savvy university recruiters include employee alumni in the university recruiting process, with many building entire recruiting teams around alums.

5. Outsourcing is both an up-and-coming trend and a trusted tool for the recruiting function. Companies increasingly are using vendors for selected activities and tasks within university recruiting.