Campus recruiting - reaching out to students on their terms

Back when we first began our journey to reinvent recruiting at Johnson & Johnson, I promised I’d update you regularly on our progress. Now, I admit I haven’t been able to do this as much as I would have liked - partly because things are moving forward at such speed. So, in the interests of getting back on track (and also explaining why my time has been so limited of late!), I’m excited to share one of our most recent projects with you – a mobile recruiting app aimed exclusively at students.

To stay true to our mission to completely reinvent the way we hire talent at J&J, we knew we had to look at our campus/student recruiting process. Many of the students we’re targeting on campus belong to Generation Z, a generation that has grown up as a mobile-first generation completely immersed in a digital ecosystem comprised of social media and apps. We understand that attracting them to our graduate & leadership development programs will take a different, more digital and targeted recruiting approach.

Over the summer, we put together a team to work on improving how we interact with students. This team included a group of current J&J interns (who better to provide the student perspective!) and they have created a unique mobile experience matching students with J&J employees who went to the same school and degree program. Students are able to connect with J&J employees and learn more about what life is like at J&J. 

Mentoring the J&J stars of the future!

Through a variety of routes - such as direct relationships with schools and colleges and via our campus outreach events - selected students are given access to the app. The app then pairs each student with a mentor (an existing J&J employee) who went to the same school.

The student can reach out to their mentor via direct messaging and get insights and advice on everything from resume development to career paths. And, crucially, the mentor provides an inside peek at what life in a busy workplace is really like: something very few of the students will have experienced at this stage.

As well as reaching out to their mentor, students can also use the app to read about our latest innovations, browse success stories from current employees as well as find practical content on careers and job hunting. (The practical content is provided by our partnership with Wayup, a platform designed specifically for early-career professionals – thanks Liz Wessel).

Right now, the app is live on a pilot basis with just two schools and we’ve limited it to students interested in careers in IT. Once we’ve taken some learnings from the pilot, we aim to expand into more universities and open the app up to other job functions, optimizing as we go.

One more thing that I can’t resist sharing because it’s testimony to the incredible talent we have here at J&J! I’m proud to say that this entire project was devised, developed and created internally by various internal teams. Thank you Marc Mascolo, Kelly McGrath, Leslie Ferreira, Ashley Hengerer, Rosemary Costa-Lopes, Jacie Juntilla, Jonathan Marose and Aaron Ridgeway for all your hard work in creating a unique new experience for students.

As always, I’m interested in your thoughts on what we’re trying to do and in your own innovations to improve campus recruiting.

Thanks for sharing in our journey!