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Advice for Employers and Recruiters

15 tips for advertising high-volume job openings to recent graduates

Image courtesy of Shutterstock
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
Steven Rothberg AvatarSteven Rothberg
March 24, 2023


From highlighting your benefits to keeping your brand unique, here are 15 answers to the question, “What are your most effective tips for high-volume hiring employers who are advertising their job openings to college and university students and recent graduates?”

  • Focus on Your Value
  • Pay Attention to Diverse Benefits
  • Create Targeted Social Media Campaigns
  • Advertise the Job Using Video
  • Offer Trial Days
  • Treat Recruiting Like It’s Not High-volume
  • Show Feedback from Recent College Grad Hires
  • Leverage Your Network
  • Include Welcoming Language
  • Utilize Career Development Centers at Colleges and Universities
  • Provide Training Programs
  • Make Sure the Job Description is Clear, Concise, and Up-to-Date
  • Engage With Student Representatives
  • Use Targeted and Personalized Messaging
  • Grow a Unique Employer Brand

Focus on Your Value

When you’re hiring, you want to address the audience you’re trying to reach. This is especially important when you’re looking to attract young talent. For college students, the key is focusing on the perks and benefits of your job offer.

To do this, you can start by talking to college students and recent graduates already working at your company. Find out what they enjoy about working at your company, and highlight those aspects in your job postings.

You could also organize campus visits to meet with students and faculty and explain your company’s culture and benefits.

For example, let’s say you’re a video game development company. You can highlight the opportunity to work on the latest game releases and interact with the latest technology. You can also highlight the flexible working hours and the ability to work from home on certain days.

Matthew Ramirez, CEO, Paraphrase Tool

Pay Attention to Diverse Benefits

More companies are paying attention to diverse benefits instead of a select few that only a few team members might be interested in. Knowing the age demographic of your employees and how you can best benefit them is crucial.

For instance, Gen Z is prioritizing student loan repayment over unlimited PTO. How benefit leaders can succeed in employee retention and recruitment starts with understanding their needs outside of the workplace and what companies can do to assist them.

Ann McFerran, CEO, Glamnetic

Create Targeted Social Media Campaigns

Many students and recent graduates are active on social media platforms in today’s digital age, such as LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. They are more likely to engage with employers through these channels. 

Employers can use targeted social media campaigns to highlight their company culture, employee success stories, and job postings with relevant hashtags and keywords. They can also collaborate with campus career centers or student organizations to promote their job openings to specific groups of students who would be a good fit for their organization.

Furthermore, when compared to traditional recruitment methods, such as job fairs or campus visits, social media campaigns can be a more cost-effective way to advertise job openings. This is especially helpful for high-volume hiring companies that need to reach many candidates without incurring significant costs.

Johannes Larsson, Founder and CEO, JohannesLarsson.com

Advertise the Job Using Video

If you’re advertising your job openings on social media, consider filming a short video that showcases your work environment and the people who work there. Showing your employee culture and work environment will attract candidates to your site, helping you retain and recruit the best talent possible. 

Many college students and recent graduates are visual learners, so a video will give them a better idea of what your company is like and what the working conditions are like. Video content is also easier to digest than long, text-based job postings, so you can get your point across quickly and effectively.

Luciano Colos, Founder and CEO, PitchGrade

Offer Trial Days

Offer trial days to college and university students and recent graduates. It allows employers to evaluate the individual’s skills, attitude, and ability to fit into their organization. It also helps applicants better understand the job role and the company culture before committing to a long-term role. 

Furthermore, offering trial days allows employers to build a connection with potential candidates, which is invaluable during high-volume hiring. Additionally, providing these test days can help employers make more informed decisions and offer job positions to the best-fit candidate.

Mariusz Michalowski, Community and Career Expert, Spacelift

Treat Recruiting Like It’s Not High-volume

Even if you’re responsible for recruiting at high volumes, the biggest mistake you can make is letting candidates know that. Gen Z doesn’t want to feel like a number. It’s a huge turnoff to them, which means you must stand out and treat them like a real person who will be valued in the company. 

People crave connection—especially in the hiring process. If you can master this, you’ll stand out among the crowded pool of recruiters.

Kelli Anderson, Career Coach, Resume Seed

Show Feedback from Recent College Grad Hires

If you are running a recruiting campaign in the college from which you already have some employees or an employee, use their feedback about the company. It will leave a huge impact on college students and they will apply to join your company. If the feedback from recent college grad hires is positive, it will be an amazing tactic for high-volume hiring employers.

Ask the employees about your company and note down their feedback. Use positive feedback with quotations while advertising job openings to college and university students from the same employees. 

Prepare questions like “how did they first hear about you?”, “What impacted their decision?”, “Do they enjoy the company culture or not?”, and many other questions that will help you frame the best hiring strategy.

Saikat Ghosh, Associate Director of HR and Business, Technource

Leverage Your Network

It is important for employers to leverage their existing networks and connections in order to better target potential applicants. Make sure you are leveraging alumni networks and student organizations at universities, as well as professional development events and meetups that can reach students and recent graduates who may be a great fit for your organization. By utilizing these tactics, employers can better reach the right talent for their job openings.

Matt Teifke, CEO, Teifke Real Estate

Include Welcoming Language

As you are targeting freshers, make sure everyone feels welcome to apply. You should be crystal clear about what you’re looking for in a candidate. But what can make it even better is to make sure nobody gets confused by an exclusionary term or technical jargon. It is targeted at recent college and university graduates, so speak their language.

These days, employers imply their preference for candidates of a certain experience or background in their job descriptions. But you can’t expect recent graduates and freshers to have those things, so you would be just barring potential candidates from applying. 

This also applies to students with non-traditional or diverse educational backgrounds who might bring unique skills or perspectives to the job. Your goal should be to make everyone feel welcome and valued. This inclusive language is more likely to attract top talent who are looking for an inclusive, equitable, and supportive workplace.

Andreas Grant, Founder, Networks Hardware

Utilize Career Development Centers at Colleges and Universities

Career development centers are a great way to connect with potential job seekers who may not be actively applying online. By leveraging the resources available at these career centers, organizations can build relationships with students and recent graduates that go beyond a single job posting. 

Career centers also provide employers with access to specialized services that are targeted toward college and university students, such as mentorship programs, career fairs, job postings, networking events, and resume-writing workshops—these are all great opportunities to reach and engage with the right population of job seekers. 

Employers can also use career centers to create internships or summer job programs that are specifically tailored toward college and university students, which can help them build a strong pipeline of talent for their organization.

Darren Shafae, Founder, ResumeBlaze

Provide Training Programs

A study by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that by 2030, Gen Z will make up 30% of the labor force. Considering that recruiters consider entry-level positions as the most challenging to fill, creating a program to attract fresh talent should be a priority. 

For example, if you are looking to hire an entry-level developer, make training part of the perks. 

This way, it will give fresh graduates the chance to upgrade their skills while putting in their best efforts to carry out a task. It will give companies the chance to identify both strengths and weaknesses. 

Tapping into digital natives includes providing them with programs for career and personal growth.

Becky Moore, Founder, Global Grasshopper

Make Sure the Job Description is Clear, Concise, and Up-to-Date

College students and recent graduates may not be familiar with all the terminology used in traditional job postings. Be sure to explain your company and the job opening in simple terms that are easy to understand. 

Also, update the job description with any changes or new requirements that may have occurred since you posted it. This can help ensure that applicants thoroughly understand what they’re applying for and prevent miscommunication down the line.

Michael Dadashi, CEO, Infinite Recovery

Engage With Student Representatives

Negotiating with the college management team or professors handling the college recruitment is helpful, but interacting with students will leave you with even more tips on how to plan your recruitment strategy or even if these students meet your requirements.

It’s best if you can engage with student representatives in the college who can speak for their peers and also offer you a preliminary peek into the level of talent you can expect. On one hand, they can let you in on the kind of opportunities students are looking for, and on the other, leave you with enough information to plan a highly effective hiring strategy.

Ariav Cohen, VP of Marketing and Sales, Proprep

Use Targeted and Personalized Messaging

Use focused and individualized wording that appeals to the particular requirements and interests of this population when advertising job vacancies to college and university students and recent graduates. This can entail stressing chances for professional advancement, providing mentorship or training programs, or highlighting the organization’s dedication to diversity and inclusion. 

Businesses want to think about reaching out to this demographic through a range of platforms, including social media, campus job fairs, and collaborations with student organizations. Offering top talent in this group premium compensation and benefits, along with options for remote work or flexible scheduling, can also aid in attracting and retaining top talent.

Inga Broerman, VP of Marketing, BluLogix

Grow a Unique Employer Brand

One tip for employers looking to maximize their chances of success is to focus on creating a unique employer brand. After all, today’s young people are savvy customers, and they want to know what makes your company special. 

Rather than just advertising the job opening as another nameless corporate opportunity, emphasize the culture, values, and lifestyle associated with being employed at your organization. Show prospective candidates why working for you would be different.

Think about the kinds of stories and experiences that could resonate with potential employees, such as opportunities for career growth or how team members’ contributions make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.

Pete Evering, Business Development Manager, Utopia Management

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