Campus Hiring Challenges Faced By Companies

Harvard Business Review suggests that 72% of the millennials hear about companies from their friends, 68% through a job portal, and 45% on campus. And despite that, campus hiring remains one of the most manual, recruiter intensive tasks, and it poses numerous campus hiring challenges from registration to onboarding. 

Companies spend a huge amount of money, resources, travel, and set-up costs to grab the top talent of the new generation. In this process of campus recruitment, companies try to outdo each other and try to attract the best candidates to join their workforce.

The recruiters are so busy that at times they miss out on some of the best talents due to sheer volume of registrations and the repetitive, manual work it involves.

Campus Hiring Challenges

... and how you can address them!

Campus hiring, or recruiting students directly from educational institutions, can present several challenges. Here are some of the most prominent challenges and potential strategies to address them:

1. Competition for talent

With numerous organizations participating in campus hiring, there is intense competition to attract the best candidates. To address this challenge:

• Enhance your employer brand: Build a strong reputation and positive image among students through effective employer branding efforts, showcasing your organization's culture, values, and opportunities.
• Offer attractive compensation and benefits: Provide competitive salary packages, perks, and growth opportunities to attract top talent.
• Engage with students early: Establish relationships with educational institutions and engage students through internships, workshops, guest lectures, and other activities to build familiarity and interest in your organization.

2. Limited resources and time

Campus hiring requires significant resources and time commitments. To overcome this challenge:

• Prioritize target institutions: Focus on institutions that align with your talent requirements and have a history of producing quality candidates. This helps optimize resource allocation.
• Collaborate with career services: Leverage the expertise and networks of career service centers in educational institutions to streamline the hiring process and identify potential candidates efficiently.
• Utilize technology: Leverage applicant tracking systems, online assessments, and video interviews to streamline the screening and selection process, saving time and resources.

3. Skills and competency gaps

Sometimes, there may be gaps between the skills possessed by fresh graduates and the skills required for specific roles. To address this challenge:

• Go skills first while hiring: In order to ensure lesser burden on training teams and hiring managers, it is essential to hire candidates who show potential and are skill fit for the roles they've applied for. You can do so by creating assessment on the basis of job roles and conducting them in a cheating-free environment. For this, organizations prefer a skills assessment platform, like iMocha, that ensures no candidates are indulging in unfair practices during assessments and helps you identify and shortlist skill-fit candidates.
• Provide comprehensive training and development programs: Offer training initiatives, mentorship programs, and on-the-job learning opportunities to bridge skill gaps and help new hires acquire the necessary competencies.
• Collaborate with educational institutions: Engage with universities and colleges to provide input on curriculum design and offer guest lectures, industry projects, or internships that align with your organization's needs.

4. Retention and engagement

Once hired, there can be challenges in retaining and engaging campus hires. To mitigate this issue:

• Offer growth opportunities: Provide clear career progression paths, skill development programs, and challenging assignments to keep campus hires motivated and engaged.
• Foster a supportive work environment: Create a positive work culture that encourages open communication, collaboration, and recognition. Establish mentorship programs to support the professional growth of new hires.
• Regular feedback and performance evaluation: Conduct regular feedback sessions to provide guidance, recognize achievements, and address any performance concerns.

5. Diversity and inclusion

One of the biggest challenges in campus recruitment is ensuring diversity and inclusion. To promote a diverse and inclusive workforce:

• Promote diversity awareness: Educate recruiters and hiring managers about the importance of diversity and train them on unbiased selection processes.
• Partner with student organizations: Collaborate with student clubs and organizations that focus on diversity and inclusion to widen your reach and attract diverse candidates.
• Establish diversity initiatives: Implement diversity-focused programs, such as scholarships, internships, or mentorship opportunities, to attract candidates from underrepresented backgrounds.

By proactively addressing these challenges, organizations can enhance address campus hiring challenges and hire talented individuals who are skill fit and align to long term goals of your companies. 

Want to know the top tools that can help you address all your challenges in campus recruitment? Visit here. 

However, there are still times when these measures don't work, so what should you do in that situation? Keep on trying the same measures? Of course not! Which is why, we wanted to leave you with a few more methods Fortune 500 companies use to amp up their campus hiring - and limit challenges!

How Fortune 500 Companies Approach Campus Hiring 

1. Targeted campus recruitment events: Fortune 500 companies often participate in career fairs, on-campus events, and information sessions to connect with students directly. They establish a presence at universities and colleges that align with their talent needs and actively engage with students to showcase their company culture, job opportunities, and internships.

2. Internship programs: Many Fortune 500 companies offer robust internship programs to identify and nurture top talent early on. They collaborate with educational institutions to provide structured internships that offer hands-on experience, mentorship, and exposure to the company's operations. Internships serve as a talent pipeline for full-time positions upon graduation.

3. Employer branding and campus ambassadors: Fortune 500 companies invest in building a strong employer brand among students. They leverage social media, online platforms, and campus ambassadors to promote their company culture, values, and opportunities. Campus ambassadors, who are current employees or recent graduates, act as brand advocates and engage with students, sharing their experiences and insights.

4. Campus recruitment teams and partnerships: These companies often have dedicated campus recruitment teams or partnerships with career service centers at educational institutions. These teams actively collaborate with faculty, career counselors, and student organizations to identify potential candidates, facilitate campus events, and streamline the hiring process.

5. Skill-based assessments and interviews: Fortune 500 companies frequently utilize skill-based assessments and structured interviews during campus hiring. They design assessments and interview processes tailored to the specific roles they are recruiting for, ensuring candidates possess the required competencies. This helps in identifying the best-fit candidates efficiently.

6. Diversity and inclusion initiatives: Many Fortune 500 companies prioritize diversity and inclusion in their campus hiring efforts. They actively engage with student organizations focused on underrepresented groups, provide scholarships or grants, and participate in diversity-themed events. These initiatives aim to attract a diverse pool of candidates and promote an inclusive work environment.

7. Leadership development programs: Some Fortune 500 companies offer leadership development programs specifically for recent graduates. These programs provide rotational assignments, mentorship, and training opportunities to groom high-potential individuals for future leadership positions within the organization.

Want to know more about how you can create specific programs for tech and non-tech hires? Visit here.

How iMocha can help you address your Campus Hiring Challenges 

iMocha offers robust campus assessment offerings to ensure your talent acquisition teams only focus on one thing: hiring skill-fit candidates. We collaborate with your recruitment team to understand your campus hiring requirements and plan the drive accordingly. We liaise with the placement department, create a recruitment microsite, and share job role information with candidates. We ensure the campus has the necessary infrastructure and conduct testing with on-ground invigilation and proctoring features. Test reports and candidate information are shared, and our platform helps screen and schedule interviews. We offer live coding and assessment tools during interviews. Once the hiring decision is made, we assist with pre-joining programs. Data is shared with you for analysis, and our platform ensures data security and compliance.

If you wish to know more, here's a complete breakdown of iMocha's campus hiring offerings.