With it being the “hottest job market in years for the expected 1.9 million students who graduate” this summer according to CNBC, companies are getting creative with their college campus recruiting efforts.

Last week, more than 30 top employers and educational partners from across the region gathered for a TeamKC College Recruiter Roundtable to discuss the hottest trends and strategies.

From virtual interviewing to offer polices, below are takeaways and tips from the discussion:

• Create one-hour manager and mentor briefing sessions to prep for intern season at your company. Use this time to recap last year’s program and kick off new aspects of your firm’s program and best practices.
  
  
  
  • Quick Tip: Have interns submit a headshot, bio and KC lifestyle Q&A to send to managers and mentors ahead of time to get to know them and start communicating pre-start date.  
• More universities are implementing offer policies to help students. Based on the industry, some colleges require a 30-day to 90-day deadline timeframe.
  
  
  
  • Quick Tip: Develop consistent communication strategy to engage with students and university Career Services to combat “offer hopping,” or a renege on an offer.
• With the tight talent market across the country, some employers are offering early acceptance incentives and student debt relief.
  
  
  
  • Quick Tip: Consider offering a bonus at the conclusion of an internship for top talent you’d like to extend a full-time offer.
• Consider virtual interviewing as an alternative to first round interviews on campus.
  
  
  
  • Quick Tip: Make sure second round interviews are face-to-face to showcase company culture and the community’s amenities. 
• Leading organizations like Netflix, Children’s Mercy Hospital and JP Morgan have implemented “introduce yourself” digital interviewing as a way to enhance the hiring process. 
  
  
  
  • Quick Tip: Utilize resources within your virtual interviewing platform to create assessments to qualify candidates for a video interview.
• Don’t forget about exit interviews for your interns.
  
  
  
  • Quick Tip: Share insight with hiring managers on conversion rates, as well as acceptance and decline feedback to help refine your program year-over-year.
• One of the top reasons why someone doesn’t accept a full-time offer with one of our region's employers is due to lack of knowledge on Kansas City.
  
  
  
  • Quick Tip: Incorporate aspects of the TeamKC portfolio like tours of the region, the InternKC program and cost-of-living comparisons throughout your interns’ experiences over the summer.

Thank you to Erin Dill, TeamKC Advisory Board co-chair and senior team lead of Cerner Careers at Cerner Corporation for hosting us. To learn more about TeamKC, contact me.