5 Ways Enterprises Are Innovating Graduate Recruitment [Webinar Recap]

Change is the only constant in today’s world. Technologies evolve every day. The skills needed to create and support those technologies have to evolve just as quickly. So too, does the arena in which skilled talent is found and recruited into companies. Nowhere is that more evident than to talent acquisition (TA) professionals tasked with graduate recruitment, also known as campus recruiting.

As a TA pro, to help you navigate the complex world of hiring today’s graduate talent, HireVue culled some key insights from the university TA pros who attended HireVue Horizon 2019. We placed those insights into the 5 Ways Enterprises are Innovating Campus Recruiting Webinar for TA pros in North American and the 5 Ways Enterprises are Innovating Graduate Recruitment Webinar for pros in Europe and Asia Pacific.

In the webinar, HireVue Vice President, Solution Architecture Dina Taylor and HireVue Principal Architect for EMEA Greg Kieran share the insights from campus recruiters from around the globe taken at Horizon and discuss how pros are innovating their campus/graduate recruiting approaches.

Graduate Recruiting Innovation 1: Look Past the CV or Resume and Grades

A CV or resume, GPA, or grades don’t necessarily show a candidate’s potential. And in 2018, BP Early Careers Specialist Rebecca Wright shared this insight with HireVue, “I think there's going to come a trend in campus recruitment more toward what we're already seeing where the GPA and resume are going away. It's more about who you are and what you can do.”

“We already have organizations at BP that look for candidates that are just a specific type of person, that work in a certain type of way. And I think with these assessments and these games that are being produced, its more about who you are and the type of thinker you are versus what your GPA is and what type of leadership position you held in school.”

Rebecca saw the future. And indeed, the companies featured in the webinar all shared that looking past a resume or grades isn’t a trend, it’s reality today. Innovative companies are assessing a candidate’s current and future potential with other means, such as a structured video interviews, assessments, and game-based assessments, and coding challenges for tech student talent.

Innovation 2: Cast a Wider Net without Visiting More Universities

The university recruiters at Horizon shared a common finding in their observations — just because you visit a university doesn’t mean you get ROI out of that visit. You may be visiting multiple universities, but actually only make significant hires from a few of those.

In a conversation with HireVue CEO Kevin Parker at Horizon, GM Director Global Talent Acquisition Ash Winnet (featured in the webinar) shared that of 19 schools GM was visiting, it was seeing good hiring results from just 10. ROI from the other 9 school visits was fair to poor.

GM’s solution: Visit fewer campuses physically and connect with students virtually, such as with video interviews. GM, along with other companies featured, have actually seen an increase in applicants by visiting fewer universities. Ash shared, “We're seeing candidates from schools we've never set foot in.”

Kraft Heinz Hayden Kornblut also shared,

“So I think what we're finding is that there are great students everywhere. But I physically can't get everywhere students are. So being able to utilize technology like HireVue to get out in front of these students and more, and finally get them in front of us as well so that we don't overlook them is, I think, where recruiting is going to be.”

Some companies are opting to not set foot on campuses at all. And whether they go to campuses or not, they’re using video interviewing and other methods to cast a wider, more diverse, net. Virtually connecting also lets companies connect with students at a more meaningful level than what’s possible with a brief interaction during a career fair.  

Empower Recruiters to Really Connect with Candidates

By meeting candidates virtually, recruiters spend less time traveling and less time screening large numbers of candidates — many of whom are a poor fit. By screening candidates virtually, recruiters gain time back and spend more time getting to know the most promising candidates.

Widening the net includes using virtual connection points to assess candidates earlier to screen the pool down to only the best prospects. In an outtake not featured in the webinar, Ash Winnett shared, “Think of this process where people, we set up a fair, we all set up booths, we all look the same, it's just a different banner, different logo, you wear t-shirts, we wear polos. And people line up to talk to you for like five minutes as though it makes a difference. I'd rather that students invest in their studies, do an online assessment, send me a HireVue. I get to know them more in that process than lining up inanely waiting to talk to me for five minutes as if it made a difference.”

Hayden caps that sentiment off in the webinar when he shares, “So the experience we've had in our first season with HireVue and seeing the efficiency that provided for us really freed up our team to be a bit more active and do what they're supposed to do, which is to build those relationships and find those right candidates for us.”

Innovation 3: Use HR Technology to Help Brand — or Rebrand —Your Company

When companies connect with candidates differently, it affects candidates' perception of the company — in a good way. And using empowering technologies to recruit candidates impacts employers’ brands. As Dina points out in the webinar, it can help companies not in the tech space brand themselves as tech companies. It can also help companies be perceived as more modern, more approachable, and more desirable as an employer.

Innovation 4: Consider the Candidate Side

Every TA pro knows that recruiting today isn’t about making candidates come to you. It’s a two-way street. Companies compete for talent and part of that competition requires keeping the candidate experience in mind.

The companies featured in the webinar through aren’t just focused on branding their companies with graduates, they’re focused on helping graduates succeed. They’re working with university career centers to give candidates access to tools and information to help them master video interviews.

The companies offer what they call “mock digitals” to let students get used to the video interview experience. In the webinar, Manager, Talent Attraction Technology and Operations for Grant Thornton Canada Krista Lamkey shares that not only does Grant Thornton Canada let students do mock video interviews in advance of career fairs, it also gives them live feedback on the interviews while on campus. Many of those students never get hired by Grant Thornton Canada, but the employer brand equity for the company is considerable.

Innovation 5: Automate the Process

To achieve innovations 1 through 4, companies have to save candidates and recruiters time and meet students virtually — that's easier when companies automate the screening process. Video interviewing and complementary tools, such as automated interview scheduling software, let companies automate while still offering a great candidate experience and getting to see candidates holistically.

Learn more and find ways you can innovate your own campus recruiting efforts when you watch the full webinar.

Watch the 5 Ways Enterprises are Innovating Campus Recruiting Webinar Available On-Demand Now.

 

 

Photo by Diego PH on Unsplash.