Every year, millions of college students are recruited by companies even before they graduate from their respective colleges. Most freshers believe that campus placements are their best chance of securing a good job.

With campus recruitment, HR teams gain access to a pool of highly-skilled freshers. To find the right talent from colleges across the country/globe, a company should have a definitive campus recruitment strategy.

Campus recruitment comes with its own challenges for companies. For example, they need to find the right time slot to engage with college students. Companies also think of their brand reputation while visiting colleges for campus recruitment. Every company wants to be the top employer in particular colleges.

Besides that, companies might struggle to provide a positive candidate experience during on-campus recruitment drives.

Let’s look at five effective strategies for campus recruitment in 2022. 

1. Target Specific Colleges for Campus Recruitment

Selection of the right schools/colleges for campus recruitment is crucial. Your recruitment team needs to research colleges specialized in academic programs that cater to the needs of your company.

For example, if you run an IT firm, look for colleges/schools that offer IT and computer science programs. For starters, you can collect information about colleges nearby.

Along with relatable courses, you also need to focus on the reputation of the colleges. You should ideally visit only those colleges that maintain a certain benchmark in academics. Conducting a little research before starting recruitment drives can help you choose the right colleges/schools. 

2. Provide Mentoring or Deliver Guest Lectures 

Pre-placement contact with students needs to be an integral part of your campus recruitment strategy. You need to familiarize yourself with students when you visit a college for recruitment, as not all college students might be aware of your company and its operations.

Hence, it’s important to visit the shortlisted colleges before the recruitment drive to connect with the students. By doing so, more and more students will be encouraged to participate in your upcoming recruitment drive.

To deliver a guest lecture, it is required to arrange a seminar with the help of a representative from the respective institution. The team can also offer mentorships to students for recruitment preparation. In addition, you can share details about the available career opportunities, recruitment processes, industry insights, and prep tips and tricks with the students. 

3. Offer Paid Internships

Did you know that many college students might ignore your recruitment drive because they have already secured a job offer? Many students tend to secure a job deal while studying via internship programs.

The way to offset this is by offering internships to students in specific colleges yourself to build a vast network.

Students are always eager to gain experience in their industry of choice. Students will gladly sign on if you offer them paid internships, as they often aim to get exposure before becoming full-time employees. You can then retain the top interns as full-time employees in your company.

It’s important to note that unpaid internships may not attract the right candidate. A decent paid internship offer makes more candidates apply for this program.

4. Run Periodic Training Programs for Interns

You need to offer regular training programs to make young interns job-ready.

Interns are associated with your company even before you start the recruitment process. You need to groom them for upcoming challenges by offering training programs.

In addition, make sure you are in regular contact with the interns even after they complete their internships. 

5. Sustain a Long-term Relationship with Colleges

Your campus recruitment goal should be to become the top employer for specific colleges for the long term.

To emerge as a top employer, it’s necessary to maintain a fruitful long-term relationship with colleges and students.

Try visiting colleges on occasions other than recruitment and interacting with the student population. This will also help you understand the college culture and talent areas better. 

Conclusion

Make sure you follow the aforementioned strategies to run a successful campus recruitment drive.

You can also contact a talent acquisition firm to adopt a campus recruitment strategy that’s right for your organization. This will help you slash campus recruitment costs.

So start building a definitive campus recruitment strategy in 2022!