Join/Renew
In response to a national and extensive industry workforce shortage, Garver’s recruitment team has crafted a dedicated university recruiting program that ultimately serves as a pipeline for eventual full-time employees.
The engineering firm’s program is focused on recruiting and hiring college students to fill internship and entry-level positions while also supporting brand recognition and awareness among college students nationwide. Once the students are “through the door,” the firm’s robust internship program—Garver Launch—fosters their development and retention to cultivate full-time employees.
“The architecture, engineering, and construction industry is facing a critical and ongoing workforce shortage, resulting in a highly competitive hiring market across the country for new engineering graduates and interns,” explains Shelby Sajdak, Garver’s university recruiting program manager.
“ As summarized in a study by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the labor strain has gone so far as to impact the amount and type of work that engineering firms can take on. This high demand for skilled engineers in a limited talent pool has required that our internship program and recruiting pipeline become an essential part of our company growth plans.”
When approaching the framework for its university recruitment program, Garver’s main objective was to create a reliable pipeline of talent to reduce the burden of hiring on internal business lines.
“Because we have a strategic focus on consistently converting our interns to full-time employees, we knew we’d have to be especially intentional with who and where we are recruiting to ensure we’re garnering the talent that will best meet our business goals and needs,” Sajdak notes.
“We have built a first-class internship program that provides professional development and resources that guide and shape our interns, who will later become our engineering experts. At Garver, we are committed to providing the best employee experience, and we made it our goal to extend that to our interns, as well,” notes Garver Launch Committee leader Sydney Clifford.
Garver’s dedicated University Recruiting Committee convenes once a year to make data-driven decisions to select priority schools for the coming year. The committee then prepares for the upcoming fall, a prime time for recruiting engineers.
“Our campus teams take a boots-on-the-ground approach, attending career fairs and other on-campus events to get in front of engineering students,” Sajdak says, adding that at high-priority schools, these teams also attend events outside of that realm, including club meetings, open houses, and more.
Once an internship offer has been signed, the team begins its “keep warm” phase with the goal of staying engaged with Garver’s future interns and reducing reneged offers. In May, Garver’s interns officially join the firm, beginning with its kickoff event, Ignite, during which interns from across all offices gather for a two-day orientation event that not only introduces them to Garver but features fun activities.
Post-internship, the Garver Launch Committee invites interns to share feedback on everything from their favorite and least favorite projects to the opportunities they received, their mentor’s level of engagement, and an overall rating of their experience.
“Through intern feedback, we have noticed a consistent request from interns for more job-shadow opportunities with business lines aside from the ones to which they are assigned,” Clifford points out.
“We have implemented an official Shadow Day as a direct response and to expose them to the wide variety of opportunities available to them in civil engineering at Garver.”
Overall, Garver’s program has seen a retention rate of 70% year over year.
“Over the past five years, our university recruitment program has tripled in size and has had a direct impact on our firm’s overall growth rate as we continue to hire on more and more new graduates,” Sajdak says.
“Because of this, our leadership remains committed to investing in the program’s future. Intentional recruiting is essential to not only the success of our firm, but ultimately, the future of the engineering industry, and we are committed to laying the foundation for the future engineers who will support our communities.”
