Building a pipeline

New England Journal of Higher Education, The, Winter 2003 by Pratt, Joseph

ONE COMPANY'S HOLISTIC APPROACH TO COLLEGE RELATIONS

Over the next two decades, many of America's 76 million baby boomers will exit the workforce. This, along with an expected 15 percent decline in the 25- to 44-year-old workforce over the next 15 years, is a worrisome statistic for companies like Fidelity Investments, who rely on a steady supply of new talent for success.

In light of existing labor trends and the ever-present pressures to do more with less, Fidelity, the largest mutual fund company in the United States, has transformed a traditional college recruiting program into a holistic college partnership that emphasizes the interdependence of its parts. As the chart on p. 30 reveals, recruiting college graduates is only one piece of the proverbial pie.

How does a company maintain a consistently strong presence on campus when markets are sporadic and there is little recruiting activity?

Fidelity is privately owned, which allows the firm more flexibility in developing long-term strategies for business development without the same short-term profit pressure as publicly traded companies. On campus, Fidelity's multi-pronged solution includes fashioning a College Relations Program around the themes of learning alliances, talent acquisition, public affairs and business development. This unique initiative is being executed across Fidelity's businesses and eight regional sites.

Classroom collaboration

In New England, colleges and universities have opened their classrooms to learning alliances for the benefit of business, students and the institutions themselves. In Rhode Island, Bryant College, Johnson & Wales University and the Community College of Rhode Island joined with Fidelity to fine-tune their curricula to prepare students for careers in the financial services industry, specifically training students to take the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) Series 7 exam and earn broker's licenses.

Providing the Series 7 training at the college level, rather than in the workplace, saves financial services firms both time and money. At Fidelity, new hires spend approximately three months in training before taking the Series 7 exam. "Companies who hire licensed students have a reduced rate of attrition, because the students have already succeeded on the exam and shown an interest in continuing in this field," says Tim Walker, director of performance, support & improvement for Fidelity in Smithfield, R.I.

College programs also benefit existing associates who are looking to continue their education. Convenient classes and full-tuition reimbursement for full-time employees make it easy and affordable to attend school. For example, Clark University offers its master of business administration program at Fidelity's Marlborough, Mass., site.

Innovative internships

Last year, Fidelity employed approximately 500 interns and co-op students across the country. In New England, interns are recruited from a variety of colleges, including Bryant and Babson colleges, the University of New Hampshire and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Fidelity's enhanced internship program embraces the "try before you buy" philosophy, which benefits both the firm and the student. During their internships, students are encouraged to explore Fidelity's 60-plus business units by attending onsite education and training sessions, visiting other regions for job shadowing and mentoring opportunities and participating in community service initiatives with current employees. The internship and co-op positions offer students the opportunity to do "real" work and participate as active members of their business group.

Melissa Marcoux, a senior at Northeastern University, works as an intern in Fidelity's Corporate Affairs department in Boston. Her work includes interviewing senior executives on a variety of topics, ranging from developing sound investment strategies to demystifying gender communications at work. "My internship has taught me lessons that could never be learned in a classroom," says Marcoux, who serves as the Fidelity Student Ambassador, a sort of on-campus student representative, for her school.

As a senior finance and economics major at Babson College, William Connors has spent the past two years as an intern in Fidelity's finance department. "The summer internship speaker series was a great opportunity to hear senior executives talk about diverse cutting-edge topics ... and is also a great way to get a sneak peak at the multitude of career opportunities that Fidelity offers," says Connors, the Fidelity Student Ambassador for Babson.

Interns are fully emerged in Fidelity's high-- achievement, entrepreneurial culture. Says Fidelity's vice president of strategic staffing, Terrance Savitsky: "Looking to attract students who are excited by the culture, the internship program provides students the opportunity to stretch their skills and achieve significant results, right from the start."

One challenge arises in consistently recruiting employees who possess the right skill-set to thrive in Fidelity's unique culture. "A typical college student must demonstrate competency in a variety of skills, such as problem-solving, intellectual curiosity, flexibility, commitment to quality, teamwork, leadership and communication," notes Savitsky.