Five Candidates Show Up to MIT Job Fair
One of our blue chip financial services clients is in a pickle. They recently organized an on-campus information event at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which virtually all would agree is one of the premier schools in the country. As they have done in past years, they flew in a team of hiring managers and recruiters and invited faculty and staff from the school to attend. They catered the event so there was plenty of wine, cheese, and perhaps even a few pickles. Unfortunately, only five students showed up. That's right. Five. There were more hiring managers and recruiters at the career information event than candidates.
The only significant factor that has changed this year over previous years is that the labor market for college grads is increasingly strong. More and more college students and recent grads are receiving multiple offers. Fewer and fewer are bothering to show up for on-campus job fairs, career information events, and even on-campus interviews. Why bother when you know which firm you want to work for, you call them up, you interview with them at your convenience, and they hire you?
But what is the financial services client to do? Perhaps what other financial services clients have been doing with us in a big way...aggressively promoting their on-campus job fairs, career information events, and interviews by having us deliver targeted emails, cell phone text messages (SMS), and cell phone video messages (VMS) to their targeted candidates a week to five days in advance of the event. For those clients who are doing so, we're hearing that the turnouts are much stronger and that the pickles are all being eaten. Bummer. I love pickles.
I pitched a client the other day who is having this problem in Western PA. My hope was to introduce the two of you - I'll call if it materializes.