Fall 2022 Campus Recruitment

The Upcoming Campus Recruitment Season

As US campus recruiters get ready for Fall recruitment it’s worth looking at the experiences of their Australian counterparts to learn what might be coming. In Australia, campus recruitment has just concluded for the traditional main recruitment period, i.e. equivalent to the US Fall season.??

To provide opening context, a senior recruitment veteran exclaimed “I’ve never seen a graduate season like this”.

One of the biggest dynamics we’ve seen this year is self-centered student behavior. In this candidate-short market students are the ones who are in control. Instead of complying with campus recruiting norms and demands from employers they can afford to put their own needs first. It’s not selfish behavior. It’s simply the shift in power where the student now comes first.??

There’s no doubt virtual or hybrid study and work environments have been a contributing factor. We’ve all seen an increase in students not turning up at physical events, especially if they could attend virtually or watch a recorded version. For some students there’s a real desire to attend in-person events. But the overall numbers compared to pre-Covid are around 50% lower. It’s because they can decide how to use their time.

The way students treat the employer recruitment process has changed. An observation by university careers advisors is that job application protocols between the applicant and employer have suffered. With a power shift to applicants, they’re focusing on themselves.?

Aside from employers reporting much lower application numbers they have experienced candidates dropping out at every stage of the recruitment process. If a student is genuinely interested in an organization they are following through on their applications. For other programs where they’re kind of interested, they drop out if their chances are looking stronger elsewhere. They don’t need as many back-up options.

Employers have been forced to send out multiple reminders to students to complete their applications or assessment stages. This dynamic is a complete reversal from when students would chase up an employer to find out how their application was progressing. One employer reported they asked all of their applicants to complete a psychometric assessment stage. 40% didn’t bother!?

The good news is that employers are reporting high levels of job acceptances (80% plus) after their main recruitment drive. The bad news is it’s quickly followed by 20% renege rates. There are more students reneging a job offer and they’re happening much earlier. Some are being upfront to let employers know as soon as they’ve changed their mind. That at least gives employers time to go back to market. But last-minute reneges will still happen along with no-shows on the supposed first day on the job. That will only push up the final rescind rate even higher.?

So what should employers be considering?

• The more steps in the recruitment process the more opportunities for students to drop out.?
• Students want genuine and timely engagement throughout the process.
• Employers should expanded their reach to consider students from diverse backgrounds.??

Finding Campus Recruiters

Unemployment levels are still extraordinarily low and campus recruitment is not immune.

It’s typical for graduate employers to onboard new or temporary staff to help out especially in student resume screening. We know that consumes a huge amount of time.?

But hiring experienced campus recruiters or bringing inexperienced recruiters up to speed both have their own set of challenges. The former is finding experienced recruiters who know what to look for. While for those new to campus recruitment what suffers is candidate diversity. That comes from sticking to a stereotype of shortlisted candidates, overlooking otherwise strong candidates and potentially allowing unintentional bias to creep in.

The solution many employers have embraced is the GradSift shortlisting platform. It automatically identifies your top applicants saving a huge amount of time in resume reviews.

People have likened it to airbnb for campus recruitment. Enter your search criteria and thousands of applicants are automatically screened and ranked. But instead of airbnb user ratings, it’s GradSift’s trusted algorithm that assesses the quality of applicants. It’s simple and fast, freeing up recruiters to spend quality time with their strongest candidates.

Interested employers can take up a one month free trial. [email protected]