Skip to content
Log in
Employer spotlights

M&T Bank optimizes on-campus visits with proactive outreach on Handshake

This Fortune 500 bank leverages Handshake to maximize visibility prior to college visits — optimizing time and resources on-campus and generating thousands of qualified applicants.

M&T Bank quick facts
HQ: Buffalo, New York | Founded: 1856 | Employees: 17k
Assets: $118.6B | College hires: 100 full-time and 150 interns per year

M&T Bank offers a number of different opportunities for graduating seniors within the Management Development Program — from Branch Management and Finance to Technology and Wealth Services. With a wide range of opportunities, M&T Bank was looking for ways to enhance their recruitment strategy to reach more students to fill their candidate pipeline in a meaningful and proactive way.

The team at M&T Bank had identified the following challenges in engaging a wider student audience:

Brand awareness
Many financial firms are competing for top college talent — often with the added advantage of being in traditionally favored cities. As a commercial bank headquartered in Buffalo, NY, M&T Bank needed to further educate students on the opportunities available within their organization and city.

Student reach
Students are getting information everywhere — from peers, to employer websites, to career centers, to social media. M&T Bank was looking to grow their promotional efforts with a platform that reaches students directly.

“We needed a solution like Handshake to ensure deeper engagement when we went on campus, reaching students of all backgrounds and majors, and generating qualified applicants.”

Andy Smith, Campus Recruiting Director, M&T Bank

M&T Bank partnered with Handshake to reach and exceed their on-campus recruiting goals

Since the Fall recruiting season of 2017, M&T Bank has made their on-campus investment worthwhile through proactive and targeted student messaging campaigns on Handshake. By reaching out to students ahead of an on-campus visit, M&T Bank was able to establish a relationship early and narrow in on interested candidates. M&T Bank has leveraged Handshake Premium to develop and deliver a highly targeted talent engagement strategy, which has transformed their college talent pipeline.

The Handshake customer success team designed and implemented the following key programs for M&T Bank’s university recruiting team around their specific needs:

Segmentation
Campaigns were designed to target individuals that express explicit interest in working in upstate New York — specifically Buffalo — by leveraging Handshake’s ability to filter by students’ location preferences. In addition, criteria was optimized to segment based on relevant skills and experience for the available roles. This strategy produced a talent pipeline filled only with students that were both qualified and interested.

Messaging
Personalized and informative messages were crafted — making students aware of upcoming on-campus visits and calling them to action.

Analysis
Campaigns were then analyzed and benchmarked against competition, setting M&T Bank up for success in the future.

The campaign

Running campaigns on Handshake gave M&T Bank the tools they needed to hit their college recruiting goals.

THE OUTBOUND: Widespread & Targeted

  • 21 campaigns sent across
  • 43 schools generated a
  • 67% average read rate

THE OUTCOME: Effective & Fast

  • 161% increase in applications led to
  • 20 qualified hires in
  • 1 recruiting season

Recruit smarter with Handshake

Stay up-to-date on the latest early talent trends.