Campus Recruiting and Internship Hiring During COVID-19

The current pandemic seems to have turned the labor market upside down, making it a tad more challenging for managers and recruiters. Many companies are now beginning to think about how to restart their campus recruiting efforts. Successful campus recruitment programs are aligned with their talent acquisition process to gain exposure to new candidates and ideas. But even at a time like this, organizations can still leverage a campus recruiting strategy to create pipelines for internships, as well as, entry-level positions.

However, it’s no longer business as usual. In this post, we discuss some of the critical factors and steps that companies can take for successful campus recruiting and internship hiring in the age of the coronavirus.

Leveraging digital technology and virtual strategies

The younger generations have always been more receptive to technology.

According to a survey by the Pew Research Center on Internet & Technology, 96% of young Americans between ages 18 to 29 own a smartphone. These young people expect things like real-time access to information, seamless communication, and timely feedback. While most companies have always found digital technologies to be quite valuable for this demographic, the current COVID-19 pandemic has made this even more valuable than ever.

Incorporating digital technology into your campus recruiting strategy makes much sense.

Your options are quite diverse and can range from social media to online ads and a variety of virtual interviewing tools. While these simplify engagement, communication, and messaging, these strategies can also help both students and companies overcome all of the challenges of the current COVID-19 pandemic as regards campus recruiting and internship. Employers who are keen on broadening their candidate pipelines will need to leverage this opportunity for their talent acquisition success.

Digital tools for campus recruiting and virtual internship

There are a lot of options for employers who want to leverage technology for internship hiring during COVID-19. These may include;

• Digital tools for virtual interviewing and face-to-face communication like Skype, myInterview, Zoom, GoToMeeting, Google Hangouts, WebEx, Outmatch, Facetime, etc.

• Tools for collaboration and written communication such as email, Slack, Skype, Google Hangout Chats, Instant Messenger, etc.

• Digital tools for online file sharing like Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, GoFile, etc

Getting creative with campus recruiting

It doesn’t matter if you’ve had major success with campus recruiting up until now.

Most business activities are virtual at the moment and it’s important to tweak your hiring strategies especially when it comes to opening recruiting pathways to college prospects. To begin with, companies have to start creating a robust online presence to engage this talent pool. This will be important to help communicate your employer brand, company culture, and key distinguishing factors to the students.

It’s also important to have a structured and well-defined internship process and program before making the efforts to reach out to potential interns. This will go a long way to help you know your ideal candidates. Advertising is also another key factor so you can reach out to potential interns. Along with participating in campus recruiting events, social media may also provide an opportunity as well. Finally, there should be a refined candidate selection process in place to effectively process internship candidates.

Interns may bring offer new ideas and a fresh outlook for your company.

While the current COVID-19 crisis has changed everything about business and hiring, employers can still benefit more by incorporating digital technology into their internship recruitment processes. This will be key to helping you fill open roles and hire the best interns who may end up performing excellently well or become full-time employees.