Career matchmakers: partnering with collegiate career centers offers recruiters access to a rich source of applicants

HR Magazine, Feb, 2005 by Lisa Munniksma

Similarly, it's now relatively simple for recruiters to browse a college's student and alumni resume database. Says Katrina Jordan, director of career services at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio: "Students who are using our employment services will put a resume on our [online database] system so an employer can look on there themselves, do a search, and come up with persons within a certain major or area of concentration."

Alumni Alliances

One way to form an alliance with career services centers is via alumni who currently work for your organization. Alumni often keep in touch with their alma maters' alumni relations offices; the same offices often partner with career services offices on career fairs and workshops.

As a result, an institution's alumni can serve a valuable role as "ambassadors" for companies that are recruiting specific student candidates or that are trying to establish a campus presence.

"Having the alumni recruit with us is important," says Denise McGee, senior vice president of employment for National City. "We show success stories [in the form of current employees] when we're extending offers on campuses."

Alumni can help recruiters seek out qualified candidates among current students and can talk to graduating students as peers. Job-seeking students get advice from someone with a "been-there, done-that" perspective.

The fact that alumni often stay in touch with their alma maters can benefit employers in another, perhaps unexpected, way: Such alumni can provide a bonus applicant pool for employers who establish relationships with universities and their career services offices. Many alumni stay in touch with department faculty and career services staff as a way of finding potential employment opportunities.

As a result, using college career centers can help employers find not only entry-level talent but also more experienced job applicants as well, say professionals such as Delaware Valley's Ellis.

Spell Out Your Needs

The more you can help the career center specialists get a picture of the types of candidates you're looking for, the better the office can help you find a perfect match.

McGee of National City says: "We focus very closely on making sure we're sharing information about National City to educate the centers about who we are, and we're also making sure that the colleges are providing us the information about the different programs they have, the different associations they have, so that we can be best informed."

Once you connect with a career center, stay involved and share your recruitment ideas and your interest in the students. "Get to know us," says Jordan. "Use us. Ask questions. Tell us what you need, and we will go after that with a vengeance."

Online Resources

See the online version of this article at www.shrm.org/hrmagazine/05February for additional information, including:

* Countering the myths of college recruiting.

* Links related to collegiate career centers.

* Two SHRM white papers on campus recruiting.

LISA MUNNIKSMA OF FRANKFORT, IND., HAS WRITTEN FOR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS, SMALL BUSINESSES AND AGRICULTURAL BUSINESSES FOR EIGHT YEARS.