Finding a campus rep often occurs through online and offline recruiting methods on college campuses. The four most common ways to find campus reps are to utilize your existing reps’ network – or put another way, an employee referral program; develop relationships with universities’ career services offices to recommend students; post the opening on a site such as Indeed or LinkedIn; or sponsor a classroom project to assess candidates’ skills before asking them to apply. You will want to evaluate your current assets, seek relationships with those that help students find job opportunities, create high awareness with postings and get involved outside of the office. Below is more detail on the most common ways to find campus reps.
- Utilize existing campus reps
Students have a limited window on campus. However, they are always surrounded by their peers. Give existing campus reps an incentive if they find their replacement. Common incentives include cash, free product or testimonials. They know best on what it takes to be a successful campus reps. Arm them with assets to self-recruit. Assets can include a unique, trackable link to the position, ability to say where the student heard about the position on the application form, and short informational handouts on your company, including what benefits campus reps might receive.
If you have an existing internship program at your office, invite those interns that are returning to campus to be a part of your campus rep program. Assuming they had a positive experience with your brand, this enthusiasm will be contagious when they return to campus. Talk to your Human Resources team to learn about hiring of interns, part-time, and co-op team members.
2. Relationships
Talk with Career Services to get your position posted
Career Services exists to help with the success of their campus’s student body. This includes planning for on-campus interviews, advertising open positions, and preparing students for interviews. Use this asset. Call them and introduce yourself. Have your campus reps do the same. Share the value of the position and how it helps students figure out what they want to do after college. Career Services departments want to help students find jobs. They are an often overlooked asset when it comes to student recruitment and will be happy to talk with members of your company’s team.
3. High Awareness
There is no shortage of places you can post your open position online. The most common places include Handshake, Simplicity, Indeed, LinkedIn and the Go Commando App. These places already have a built-in student pool to recruit from. Some involve a fee, but it is typically pretty affordable.
You can also communicate offline about your position. The most common offline activities include showing a video in front of student organizations, speaking in front of a classroom, participating in career fairs, or putting up flyers on campus.
Whether you are advertising online or offline, include unique URLs to the position page to track where applicants are coming from. Make a note of where the most qualified applicants are coming from to do an analysis of your return on investment.
4. Classroom Competitions
You can get a look at talent before asking them to apply for a position with your company. A common way to do this is through classroom competitions. Competitions can be found through American Advertising Federation Campus Chapters and Capstone Courses.
Competitions are a good way for students to learn different skill sets. A few include public speaking, organization, teamwork and brainstorming.
Campus Commandos’ client – Protect America – worked with various classrooms on college campuses. Students were divided up into teams of four students per team. They competed against others in their class to raise money for local non-profits. Top teams were invited to get more involved with Protect America philanthropy efforts.
Take these 4 tips to improve your campus rep recruitment. There is not one silver bullet, so include a few options in your recruitment strategy. If you would like more ideas or a personalized plan to improve your campus rep recruitment strategy, contact Campus Commandos.
