My 5 Tips for Recruiting College Grads

I spent a lot of time in my previous talent acquisition roles targeting college students for my various employers. We had two goals in mind, build brand awareness of our company and drive applicants. We had to make them aware of potential opportunities first before they could apply.

Leverage next generation job sites like WayUp, QuadJobs and Looksharp. WayUp is actually my favorite of the bunch (and the one I had most success with) ...they gave me a discount code to share. Enter RCJOBS (all CAPS) at checkout to get $25 off your order with them.
There are several other job sites for recruiting students and recent grads. Some of my other recommendations are CollegeRecruiter, CollegeGrad.com and Experience.com. Experiment with them and see which ones deliver. Then concentrate your spending on the winners.
Career fairs are an excellent (and fairly inexpensive) way to recruit and build awareness of your company. These events also give you a chance to establish relationships with the career services team at the school who can be a great ally in recommending you to students. Most career fairs cost between $300-$500 for a table which is helpful to know if you are putting together a budget. They also allow you to put a face on the company name by deploying your recruiters into the field. (don’t forget people still hire people)
Post your jobs on university websites. Almost all of them allow you to post for free. In the spring, start posting on every college site in your area and you can build a steady stream of free candidates to your jobs. The only negative to this strategy is that it’s time consuming. But if you only do it once or twice a year it’s still worth it.
Have a section on your company career site dedicated to internships and/or recent grads. If you hire them regularly you need to speak to them in their own language. Use pictures and video. Describe what they will learn if they come to work for you and what makes your company different. Sell them on why they should apply.