How to Hire and Retain Diverse, STEM, Recent College Graduates and Students — Part 3 of 3

The College Recruiting Bootcamp, hosted by Verizon and organized by College Recruiter took place on May 18th at the Verizon headquarters in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Moderator Andrea McEwen-Henderson, National Account Manager from College Recruiter, introduced the conference and led the discussion. Our discussion was broken up into three parts. This is the second of the three parts.

Topics Discussed:

1. To keep your STEM candidates interested be more friendly and personal. If you’re in a large company even just an email a month can make a huge difference. It helps to show that you care about and appreciate them.
2. How does your organization utilize the tools of social media to create an easy way for the diverse STEM students to apply?

• Using social media to engage with students is an easy way to keep contact and to be kept in mind when they are applying to jobs. Any effort you put in helps. When trying new ways of using social media look at the best method to get the biggest return. Build a presence so that candidates can feel confident going to your company, knowing it does care about reaching out to people like them. Just hearing or reading about your organization makes it more likely that they will go to your company when they need a job.
• One of the best ways to reach students while using social media is through facebook ads. The more tools your organization uses, the more means people have to apply. This new generation uses so much technology that it makes sense to use technology to spread the word about your company. It can get them interested in applying or simply just inform them about other options. Sometimes the only reason people apply is because of how you deliver your brand. But a good way to communicate the hidden features of your company is by having them see things they aren’t aware of what it’s like to work there through articles, photos, or even videos.

3. How to participate in virtual career fairs and what do you get out of them?

• Virtual career fairs are not much different than regular career fairs. The main thing is that they are non-stop, it is a chat line where students just keep coming and have to wait their turn to ask their questions. Your company is invited by schools to do a virtual career fair, some are free but most you have to pay for. But it is definitely worth it, a lot of students will apply after hearing about specific things they could be doing in the company. Especially because some students don’t understand the background of companies they just initially think of the branding. The chat line is the opportunity to inform them on the other parts of your company. To be able to check in quickly, give them access to information. Also after the career fair you have access to everything discussed between candidates.

To view part 1 click here

To view part 2 click here