Can "University Hiring" fulfill all your hiring needs?

Another year full of hopes and excitement is in its final few days and we're awaiting new challenges and opportunities with a new year and a new decade. One thing that has been constant is the perception of HR teams, calling a "University Hiring" drive an inefficient and cumbersome process.

My thoughts are just the opposite!

These drives have always delivered the best talents to the organizations all the time and being in a business where we've helped Hiring Managers and Talent Acquisition teams of more than 300 organizations hire more efficiently through our assessment software, it becomes my rightful duty to share the opinions that could help banish this dogma associated with these hiring drives.

So here are my 5 focus areas that could make your "University Hiring" fulfill all the needs and make the campaign a scintillating success!

1. Know your Needs

Start with the end goal in mind!

Analyze whether you really need to hire freshers. It’s imperative to understand if hiring fresh talent from the campus can really add real value to their organization. 

For this, the hiring managers needs to brainstorm with their employees of different verticals to understand the requirement of the role and the skills needed in the candidate to justify it.

The focus should also be given on the amount of training that needs to be given to the hired freshers and a rough estimate of the total hires across various roles and the overall cost associated with it should be kept under check at all times.

The more granular the approach, the better would be the quality of hire!

2. Choose the Right College/University

A college isn’t just a building. Each campus has its own culture and preference for certain skill sets. The college that is chosen should align with the hiring needs of the company in terms of student skills and preferences.

The best practice would be to tap into your Data, the historical data on the credentials and background of your top performers would give the Hiring managers a college to start with, as there would be a high possibility that the hired candidates from that institute would be a good fit for them.

Conducting Online Hackathons is the next step that could be followed to bring out the talent pool, and this could work really well in a relatively unknown Tier-2 or 3 colleges. The results from these Hackathons could be analyzed and then used to shortlist colleges for "University Hiring".

3. Innovative Job Description

A creative and thought-provoking job description is a secret to win the heart of students. Moreover, you can make an everlasting impression. A well-written job description can set the right expectations and help you connect better with the candidates.

The next time you draft a JD, ask these questions –

• Is it written to attract an individual?
• Does it describe the culture of your organization?
• Does this excite the applicants?

Try being a little creative. Let the job description be crisp, eye-catching.

4. Screening Tests for Candidates

Let’s be fair to students. Grades are not the only metric to judge them by. It’s often seen that students with comparatively lower grades can outperform others. Companies like Google and Apple don't even ask for college degrees from their candidates!

Hence, to ensure a fair and square selection of students during campus hiring, it is important to assess the candidates on various skill-sets in an objective manner.

• Problem-solving is of utmost importance in today’s business world. Campus Recruitment has often emphasized on Aptitude Test. As a primer, the company’s use the basic aptitude assessment to understand the general thinking ability of candidates.
• Specific skill-based test depending on the job description brings out the most suitable candidates for a particular role and helps the HR teams to hire even better.
• Companies have a culture. The best performers are those who align with the Company culture and have the right personality for the job role. The psychometric test help find the right person for the right job.

5. Managing the Offer-to-joining ratio

Talented Students are often at the receiving end of multiple job offers. The best companies are aware of this. They continuously track 2 Metrics. The Drop Offs and Offer to Join Ratio.

• Drop Offs - It is the percentage of candidates who start but do not complete the application process.
• Offer to Join Ratio - It gives the ratio of the number of candidates who were given offers and the number of them who actually joined.

There are multiple ways to improve these metrics

• Flexible Job Location
• Joining Bonus
• Clear Career Growth Path
• Internships and On-job training
• Continuous Engagement with Campus Hires

One last thing...

Campus hiring doesn't need to be a double-edged sword for both the company and the candidates, instead, it could be a win-win situation for both of them. These 5 strategies aren't the only ones which could help in hiring efficiently, rather, it's a broader approach around which the organizations and people responsible for hiring could create their own set of framework. Happy Hiring!

PS - This is my first article. If you find something useful in it, Please give a shoutout and share your thoughts in the comments.