EXTERNAL RECRUITING- SCHOOL RECRUITING AND COLLEGE RECRUITING

If internal sources do not produce sufficient acceptable candidates for jobs, many external sources are available. These sources include schools, colleges and universities, employment agencies, labor unions, media sources, and trade and competitive sources.

School Recruiting

High schools or vocational/technical schools may be a good source of new employees for many organizations. A successful recruiting program with these institutions is the result of careful analysis and continuous contact with the individual schools. Major considerations for such a recruiting program include the following:

-School counselors and other faculty members concerned with job opportunities and business careers for their students should be contacted regularly.

-Good relations should be maintained with faculty and officials at all times, even when there is little or no need for new employees.

-Recruiting programs can serve these schools in ways other than the placement of students. For instance, the organization might supply educational films, provide speakers, or arrange for demonstrations and exhibits.

Many schools have a centralized guidance or placement office. Contact can be

established and maintained with the supervisors of these offices. Promotional

brochures that acquaint students with starting jobs and career opportunities can be distributed to counselors, librarians, or others. Participating in career days and giving tours of the company to school groups are other ways of maintaining good contact with school sources. Cooperative programs in which students work parttime and receive some school credits also may be useful in generating qualified applicants for full-time positions.

Until recently students who were not going on to college received little guidance or training on finding jobs after high school. Yet some 75% of the workforce does not receive a bachelor’s degree. “Partnerships” with schools, overseen by the federal work-to-school office, have grown to over 1,000 in 45 different states.

Companies are entering the classroom not only to recruit, but to tutor students

in skills such as reading and math needed for work. Internships during the summer and work/school programs also are being widely used.

Some schools will work with employers in designing programs to fit their needs. This cooperation is occurring at high schools, community colleges and universities. For example, at Vincennes Junior College in Indiana, one firm, Advanced Micro-Electronics (AME), worked with the faculty to create a computer repair program; today, more than a third of AME’s employees have been hired from Vincennes Junior College.

College Recruiting

At the college or university level, the recruitment of graduating students is a

large-scale operation for many organizations. Most colleges and universities

maintain placement offices in which employers and applicants can meet. However, college recruiting presents some interesting and unique problems. The major determinants affecting an employer’s selection of colleges at which

to conduct interviews are:

-Current position requirements

-Experiences with placement offices and previous graduates

-Organizational budget constraints

-Cost of available talent (typical salaries)

-Market competition

-College reputation

College recruiting can be expensive; therefore, an organization should determine if the positions it is trying to fill really require persons with college degrees.

A great many positions do not; yet many employers insist on filling them with

college graduates. The result may be employees who must be paid more and who are likely to leave if the jobs are not sufficiently challenging. To reduce some of the costs associated with college recruiting, some employers and college or university placement services are developing programs using video interviews. With these systems, students can be interviewed by interviewers hundreds of miles away. There are advantages for both the companies and students.

The firms save travel costs and still get the value of seeing and hearing students. For students, the system provides a means of discussing their credentials and job openings without having to miss classes.

There is a great deal of competition for the top students in many college and

university programs. However, there is much less competition for those students with less impressive records. Attributes that recruiters seem to value most highly in college graduates—poise, oral and written communication skills, personality, and appearance—all typically are mentioned ahead of grade point average (GPA).

However, for many employers, a high GPA is a major criterion when considering candidates for jobs during on-campus interviews. Top graduates in difficult-to-fill specialties are even receiving signing bonuses from employers in some tight labor markets.

Characteristics of recruiters sent to campuses also affect students’ attraction to jobs. Further, successful site visits affect the rate of job acceptance. The HR Perspective shows the results of a recent study on recruiting related to campus interviews.

Generally, successful recruiters are those who are enthusiastic and informed,

show an interest in the applicant, use interview time well, and avoid overly personal or deliberately stressful questions. Even the gender of recruiters may influence the results.