Through the Looking Glass: The Future of College Recruiting
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Recently, NACE's Future Directions Task Force asked thought leaders to answer the following question:
"As we look ahead to the world of 2017, how do you envision college students and graduates interacting and connecting with employers? Describe the players involved and the tools and processes that will be used. Specifically describe the roles that professionals in higher education and in employing organizations will play in this process."
Read "Through the Looking Glass: The Future of College Recruiting," then share your own thoughts on the question.
What your colleagues had to say:
The fundamentals will be the same:
- LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
- EFFECTIVE METHODS FOR FUNNELING CANDIDATES
- EFFECTIVE WAYS TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS - CANOIDATES AND POSSIBLE FUTURE CANDIDATES
- CARREER PREFERENCES
- EFFECTIVE WAYS TO INTERVIEW
- EFECTIVE WAYS TO ENCULTURATE AND TRAIN NEW HIRES
- SABATICALS TO LEARN CRITICAL SKILLS
- A NOTE ON GLOBALIZATION
The process of recruitment will have to be, at least on the surface, openly advertisied in a way so that anyone can find the information if he/she makes the effort. Currently, and I believe for the future, this means a career section on the web page, with some kind of registration system as well as job listings.
EFFECTIVE FUNNELING
Many have commented on new ways to attract and funnel candidates, so I will limit my remarks to what has not been covered.
FUNNELING: CHANGES IN EMPLOYER RECRUITMENT PAGES
- Self-asessment instruments on the employer's career page. Some employers do this now. The <filtered>ments will be based not just on jobs but career paths and culture. Based on the <filtered>sment results, the candidate will be kicked to a streaming video of the department that best fits the <filtered>sment results. These streanming videos will not be like the current "day in the life" of recent hires but a well thought out presentation of how the department works and the roles each type of member plays. The department's mission and structure and relationship realities will be made clear. After that the candidate would take a second screening <filtered>ment - the hard criteria required such as GPA, or grades in a specific type of course, or major. After this tbe candidate will be able to start the formal application process. Alternatively, people who tag themselves college sophomores, high school seniors, etc, would be able to get the asesment and the mnatches rather than apply. If students use 5-10 of these asesmenst early in their college education, or in high school, they will be able to make some very informed choices and, in some cases, present evidence to counter parental micro-management of "major" and other educational decisions.
CONSORTIUM SITES BY INDUSTRY OR PROFESSION
- What was decribed above under an individual employer's web site would work even better for an employer consortiium web site based on career, profession or industry. There would then be a link to internship and job listings or registration sites for each employer.
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SITES
- To localize what is decribed above local asociations such as Chambers of Commerce would be able to set up such sites and then direct users to appropriate employer web sites.
- Increasing use of 1 to 2 year work fellowship programs that can ocure after graduation or during graduate school.
- COLLEGE CONSORTIUM WEB SITES
As above, with colleges consorting locally and by some kind of afinity for a regional, national or cross border reach.
EFFECTIVE WAYS TO BRAND EMPLOYERS< CAREEWRS AND INDUSTRIES AND THEREBY MOTIVATE CANDIATE INTEREST
- Employers will offer some free goodies on the web sites - songs or movies to to downlonad, etc.
- Employers will use use whatever youth are using - phone texting, IM, social netowrks, etc. to build brand and direct to web page. The lure will be the carer pronmise but also the fre goodie.
- Employers will finally get over wanting calss time to yak about thjeir company and carrers. Instead, they will sponsor essays contests and make case studies available to professors.
- Emplyers will donate high quality info on their industry or profesion to college libraries - paper and electric, self-generated and leased. For instance, an industry will provide a library with reports from sources such as Respond/SVP.
- Outsourcing of some work to colleges. IBs, for instance, could outsource reasearch on porly followed industries to a studnt group or class.
- Employers will sponsor at least an online magazine for college consortiua. This magazine will feature Thought Leadership - research, cases, essays, etc.
- Again, industry, profesional and local consortia will be able to get employers/industries to supply them with resources. But there will also be judgment exercised to eliminate "overkill." To much info is worse than too little. The purpose of info is to get into student heads not to fill up space.
- Increasing use of langauge immersion programs as "prizes" for students.
- Adopting a page from some profesional schools on orineting to the "big picture,"for certain academic majors, employers will help teach or help develop week long orientations taht prsent the entire major, that is, the architecture of the major and how col<filtered> add up to a coherent body of knowledge. Students will alos take asesment that will help them to explore carers that are realted to their personalities and not just their majors.
A NOTE ON GLOBALIZATION
- Globalization is too often oidealized. In reality,, globalization is regionalization, not the whole world singing in harmony.
- Energy. Globalization is all about energy availablity. That is, for at least the next 10o years, who gets the oil at what price.
- Companies clall themselves Golbal and notinternational when they want to stres that theyr prefer that nationals within a country or rrion work and run the company in that locality. Many places do not need Americans coming over. It also means that at higher levels the executives could come from any country in the worlkd, not just the US.
- Americans ned to be carefuil with thir enthgusiasm for international carers. We are not runing an empire and US citoizens do not have the right to work abnywhere. Stduents ned to become more aware of sovreignty and make feer asumptions about how companies are eager to send them abroad. Why? Are they really needed "over there?"
CARER PREFERENCES
- Mnay US college graduates will continue to shun busines as a carer of preference. So too for enginering and science.
ENCULTURATION< INSOME CASES< REPLACES "ORIENTATION"
- This will be trui ewith employers and colleges.
John McGrath, Director, Carer Services for Seniors, Providence College
Thank you for the stimulating essays - they really do make one think!
I would like to add a question or two here. In an increasingly technological, virtual, global working environment - how do we build a (university/college) curriculum that offers students an opportunity to explore their (emergent) global identities? If employing organisations need flexible, adaptable and creative employees - how do we achieve this by offering pre-packaged courses along traditional subject disciplines - are we ready to consider another organisational paradigm for HE?
jane artess, research manager, HECSU
Interesting read! Makes me wonder if perhaps internships/partnerships with prospective employers should not be determined early in the major.
Claudia A. Coulter, Director of Career Services, Indiana Business College
Wonderful, thought-provoking essays. There is a certain myopia that emerges, though. Most of the essays address the rise of technology and new media for interaction and many focus on labor issues - pipelining, globalization, and shortages of knowledge workers. All true and pertinent, but what about the increases in numbers of non-traditional students and the growth of legitimate online educational solutions? If, as suspected, new dimensions of the economy will require workers to pursue educational opportunities throughout their career lifespan (however that will be defined in the future), then pipelining and thinking about it will need to be broader and deeper than the young twenty-something currently targeted (whether they are targeted at the age of 12 or 22).
Chris Miciek, Director of Career Services, Baker College Online
This should be required reading for anyone working in college recruiting! The essays were thought provoking and very insightful. Although I think we would all agree that change is a constant, I do agree with Mary Scott's comments that the human connection will continue to be important to students.
Sheila Spisak, associate director, Ball State University, Career Center
