Top tips for campus recruiting: keep candidates engaged from “hi” to “hired”

Campus hiring is facing a different landscape than this time last year. According to NACE’s Job Outlook 2022 Spring Update, teams are planning on hiring 31.6% more new graduates from the Class of 2022 than the class of 2021. 

So what does that mean for campus recruitment teams? It not only means the race is on for top talent but that providing a positive candidate experience in a candidate-driven market matters now more than ever.

There are three solutions campus recruiting teams should implement to not only expand their reach and make hiring fair but close the notorious communication gaps that exist in campus hiring. Learn more about how on-demand interviewing, structured interviewing, and automation are the solutions to add to your campus recruiting strategy.

 Expand your reach with video interviewing.

Your future employees shouldn’t all be sourced from the same career fairs—and candidates shouldn’t be limited to opportunities that are only on their campuses. On-demand video interviewing provides flexibility to candidates and campus recruiters. Let students take interviews when it’s convenient for them—which may be outside of normal business hours. In 2021, 42% of HireVue interviews were completed outside of normal business hours. Students are busy balancing class, schoolwork, work, and extracurriculars—show them you value their time by offering flexible solutions. Plus, video interviewing is beneficial for hiring teams as well. Learn more about how airline Cathay-Pacific saw a 90% decrease in time-to-hire by incorporating on-demand video interviewing.  

“Because newly graduated students’ profiles may look very similar on paper, video identifies the skills that matter for success of our jobs and we can consider more candidates than ever before.” Queenie Tsang, Assistant Employer Branding and Talent Community Manager

Expand your reach with video interviewing, so you can ensure your top talent is the industry’s top talent.

Structure your interviews.

Did you know that Gen Z candidates are 204% more likely to engage with an employer when they perceive the hiring process as fair? Support your DEI goals with HireVue Builder which structures interviews to make sure all candidates are evaluated the same. Gain better insight with validated behavior-based questions and evaluation guides built into the process, so you can assess all candidates equally. Gut-instinct and who you know don’t cut it anymore. Truth is, evaluating candidates on these old methods isn’t fair—and keeps you from hiring the actual top talent your candidate pool offers.

Close the campus communication gap with automation.

On top of this upswing in recruitment, campus hiring frequently faces a unique timeframe. From intern interviewing and hiring in the fall to summer internships to end-of-summer offers, there can frequently be an entire school year of downtime before the employee start date. Hiring terms can struggle to maintain healthy engagement over this long period of time. Unfortunately, without the right technology, this can lead to communication gaps that linger and lead to negative candidate experiences—impacting your overall brand.

Automating your engagement is the key to transforming your hiring process. HireVue’s text-powered recruiting assistant enables teams to effortlessly engage candidates throughout the entire process. Chatbots engage your candidates, prescreen them, and allow candidates to self-schedule interviews. Plus, text recruiting engages 4x more candidates 5x faster. By sending campaign or 1:1 SMS messages from a secure, compliant platform (not your personal phone), teams can direct message candidates and new hires with reminders, onboarding information, and helpful resources before their start dates. 

Want to learn more about closing the campus communication gap? Download our infographic here. Ready to permanently close the gap with the right campus recruiting tools? Request a demo.