Everyone hoped that 2021 was going to be a return to normal, but the first quarter has already shown us that “normal” is still pretty far away.  This is especially true around early-career recruiting, especially where it intersects with diversity initiatives.

Those trying to enhance the diversity of their early-career candidates and new hires are finding that many of their efforts are landing flat.  Long gone are the days of simply telling students what it's like to work at your company - students want to actually experience it and build authentic relationships. 

In addition, companies will find a much higher rate of reneges by their summer interns and new hires.  Whether it’s because a student took a different offer or the pandemic impacted their ability to start, many companies will find more open seats than expected.

With over 80% of organizations expecting to miss their hiring, diversity, or other goals, Experiential Recruiting is vital to ensure that companies hit their goals and are prepared for any surprises.  Furthermore, this is vital to achieving diversity goals as studies show the more likely a college student is from an underrepresented community, the more likely they are to find real, paid experiences valuable in their career search.

Whether Experiential Recruiting is already part of your campus recruiting efforts or you’re looking for easy ways to introduce it, I invite you to join me on Wednesday, March 17 at 3 ET / 12 PT where we’ll share some of the best practices and tips.  All of these are easy to introduce right now as they provide immediate value to existing employees and may not require HR funding.

Beyond ensuring that this year’s campus recruiting and diversity outcomes are much better than “normal,” it’s also a great time to think about how it aligns with your other campus recruiting strategies to improve conversion, enhance diversity, and have happier hiring managers – it even lowers the cost-per-hire by 40-80%.

Jeffrey Moss, Founder and CEO

Articles of the Week

Diversity & Inclusion Recruitment Strategies to Help You Find and Attract Underrepresented Talent - Linkedin Talent Blog

4 ways businesses can better attract and recruit new talent - Business Insider

Three Ways Hosting An Intern Can Bring Value To Your Company - Forbes

Best Practices for Summer 2021 Internships - Webinar Recap - Parker Dewey Hire Learnings

Diversity & Inclusion Recruitment Strategies to Help You Find and Attract Underrepresented Talent - Linkedin Talent Blog

“To identify overlooked and untapped talent pools, you need to adjust your sourcing strategies — because if your go-to tactics haven’t produced diverse candidate slates in the past, they’re unlikely to do so in the future.”

Relying on job-posting sites like Diversity.com, Black Career Network, Hispanic/Latino Professional Association, or Pink Jobs might not be the best option in terms of finding a diverse pool of applicants. With these sites, you are only allowing yourself access to the underrepresented talent regularly visiting those sites. In order to find the best person for the job, you need to widen your search and update the language you use in your job descriptions.

Related reading: The Intersection of Diversity and Campus Recruiting

4 ways businesses can better attract and recruit new talent - Business Insider

“To attract the best and brightest, you need to make sure your recruiting strategy and team are up to the challenge and are up-to-date for what the future of recruitment will look like.”

Recruiting well is not easy, and many organizations are using outdated practices and not getting the results that they desire. This article lists ways that organizations can bring their recruiting practices into 2021, improving their technique and finding the perfect candidate. The improvements include widening their search to include places like HBCUs and online communities outside of LinkedIn.

Related reading: What’s in your mix of virtual recruiting tactics?

Three Ways Hosting An Intern Can Bring Value To Your Company - Forbes

“One of the most powerful effects internships can have on your business is a totally fresh perspective, not to mention the overall satisfaction you will feel having been a positive influence on someone else.”

Recruiting an intern can be a difficult process, but it is worth it for the benefit of the intern and for the company itself. Not only does the intern gain valuable experience in their chosen field, but they also learn the soft skills necessary to achieve in any business environment. A company can benefit from having an intern because it allows them the chance for a fresh perspective, and the opportunity to review what they are looking for in new talent.

Related reading: Student Voice: How Companies Can Benefit Through Micro-Internships

Best Practices for Summer 2021 Internships - Webinar Recap - Parker Dewey Hire Learnings

“[W]hile you may have ‘gotten a pass’ last year as every organization scrambled to adapt internships to the remote-work environment, this year students expect companies will be ready to welcome them in-person, remote, or as part of a hybrid program.”

Last week, Parker Dewey CEO, Jeffrey Moss, sat down with Intern Bridge CEO, Robert Shindell, Ph.D., to share best practices for ensuring this year’s internship programs -- in whatever format they take -- are a great experience for students and organizations alike. They discussed meaningful work, professional development, as well as mentoring and relationship development.  

Related reading: How to help college students this summer: 5 tips from university professionals

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