IT'S ALL ABOUT PEOPLE: Building a College Relations Program: Part I

I’ve spent more than three decades seeking, hiring and developing high-potential college graduates from more than 20 universities across the country. But before I divulge any infinite human resource wisdom, I’d first and foremost like to get the notion of college “recruiting” out of reader vocabulary. Instead, think of the program as being a relation-building process. And prior to launching a well-managed, multi-step relations program, you should have one clear sense of purpose: To be perceived by administration, faculty and students as an excellent place to establish a long-term, satisfying and rewarding career.

The overall strategy to gain this level of perception requires you to be visible, to participate in key events, to support targeted opportunities where your company will be viewed as an industry leader and to offer expertise in planning and landscaping technology.

Step One: Prepare
There is a sequential order to program building, and a solid foundation is essential for success. 

Establish your needs. Ask yourself, “What type of graduate do I need? A team leader? Someone for sales or operations? A designer?” Determine how many you need and when. 

Identify your target campuses and departments. Know which departments at specific colleges harbor potential candidates.

Understand the system. Visit the college or university’s career center and relevant departments, both on the Web and in person. Learn how job placement works.
Know the competition. Research your competitors and recognize how your company is different.

Know your company. Prepare a stump speech and know your “wow” jobs, training and development programs. Be familiar with your internship program, your existing grad successes, your company job descriptions, salary ranges and benefits summary.

Know your system and tools. Build a flexible career booth. Have a needs assessment list, brochures, career path maps, training and development information, internship outlines, job summaries, interview questions and rating systems,

Focus on the students. Identify the stars, learn from the students and establish contact tracking system.

If you’re starting out, first choose one college (start with alma maters of current employees) then move up to a maximum of three until you are fully skilled in the college relations process.

Find out who does what at each college. Is the college driven by a career center or is it department driven? (Perhaps a little of both?) Professors help those who help them. Learn how and where you can be an asset. Build a relational bank account: Make deposits and withdrawals and don’t be overdrawn.

Get your act together with a system of collecting recruit information and following up with candidates. The best relationship builder wins the recruiting game. Keep in touch regularly with candidates via e-mail and phone.  

Step Two: Make Your Game Plan
Keep in mind that a relations program is very similar to a marketing/sales campaign and not all events are direct transactions. Some are promotional, some show support and some are actually direct hits.
Know what type of event you’re attending, based on the sponsor.
Career center. Try attending job fairs, career symposiums, spring board job fairs and interviews.

College/university. Consider coming to an open house, homecoming, annual parade or a new building dedication. Volunteer to be on an advisory committee.

Academic department. Drop in at banquets, speak with classes and participate in competitions. Be a part of club meetings, advisory boards and fundraisers.

After you identify the appropriate events, put a game plan together. Gather the information, insert everything on a master calendar and decide which events have the greatest strategic leverage.

Investigate the departments you want to draw from and determine what events they place the most importance on. Focus on more department specific events rather than overall college-based. Your recruits will be easier to identify and you won’t have to bother with as much screening at the booth. Job fairs are more about marketing than sales, and you will spend most of your time promoting.

You should have a minimum of four and as many as six or seven touch points with your target college. Remember, it’s not all about the job fair. It’s about being involved and perceived in a positive, professional manner.

So, there are the first two steps. In Part II, we’ll review setup, screening and follow up.

View Bill’s college relation toolkit at www.lawnandlandscape.com.