Campus placements see uptick with companies returning from COVID-19 hiring freezes

COVID-19 has changed the face of recruitment globally. As much as organisations were trying hard to adapt to technology-enabled virtual hiring, the number of hires from college campuses had drastically come down. But things have started looking up for campus hiring, and how! As the world gets on with business as usual, and moves on from the pandemic, campus hiring has seen an unprecedented spike.

Pre-COVID campus recruitment scenario

Campus recruitment requires a lot of planning, right from building campus connections to setting up infrastructure for the end-to-end process. The major challenges for organisations in campus recruitment were the number of resources needed throughout the process and the pressure of getting to the crème de la crème of the market first. Right from identifying campuses from which to recruit and setting up exclusive teams that will take care of the end-to-end recruitment process to ensuring campus hires get a first-hand experience of company culture and perform as expected, campus recruitment has been a time-consuming and resource-heavy process.

Impact of COVID — adapting to virtual hiring, reliance on technology

With the pandemic reigning on the world and everything going remote, campus hiring took a complete detour. It was no longer only about clinching the best from the top universities, based on marks and resumes. With talent available to join readily even from remote locations, organisations needed a well-thought-out strategy to hire for skills and capability rather than just marks and scores.

Trends for post-pandemic hiring

It has undoubtedly been an unprecedented couple of years of coping for campus recruitment, and it has transformed into something entirely different from what it used to be before the pandemic. Businesses and hiring, in particular, went virtual. Overnight, organisations pivoted to technology platforms that enabled virtual campus recruitment. Apart from adopting technology, organisations had to keep up with the fast changing landscapes of technology and recruitment trends to ensure they stayed ahead in the race to hiring the best campus talent. Today, organisations need to redefine their campus hiring strategies. Here are a few trends that will shape the success of campus recruitment for organisations, whether big or small.

Growing importance of employer branding: Campus recruitment today automatically means attracting Gen Z, a generation of youngsters glued to their phones. Being forced to sit at home during the pandemic, they are even more particular about finding information online. They are more bothered about the kind of work environment that they will sign up for than the aesthetics of the workplace.

Diversity and inclusion: Today’s campus hires want to see substantial diversity and inclusivity in campus recruitment. Many organisations have made efforts to develop a robust D&I policy, but candidates today want to see companies doing more for representation and inclusion at all levels in the workplace.

Personalised candidate experience: With hiring going remote and in-person communication being close to nil, it is a huge challenge for organisations to forge authentic connections with their candidates. With advanced technology available today, it is possible for organisations to personalise the hiring process to suit the needs of their candidates and provide superior candidate experience. It is the end-to-end experience, which organisations provide, that attracts top talent.

Better job security and perks: The pandemic has put thousands of people in a state of vulnerability. Though organisations have taken noteworthy steps to put forward relief plans, Gen Zers expect more security and stability in the job offers that they receive. They expect more support and better perks than what was given to the earlier generations, which will give them assured financial safety.

Organisation adaptability to changing scenarios: The onset of the pandemic threw organisations off-track in many ways. It led to challenging scenarios for employers and employees alike. After witnessing the instability ushered in by the pandemic, campus hires expect organisations to be in a better position to adapt to changing scenarios and organisation leaders to be better prepared and strategise for unexpected challenges that may arise in due course of time.

Conclusion

With campus hiring surging, organisations need to up their game and keep a close watch on the trends for hiring and retaining the best candidates from the available talent pool. Despite meticulously planning the visits to colleges for campus recruitment, a majority of the process may still become permanently virtual. Organisation heads need to strategically think and utilise available tools from the market that will help them sail through the tough sea of campus recruitment.

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