The college recruiter’s role is changing

Recruitment used to work like this:

You’d post a job ad in the newspaper or on an online job board and watch applicants roll in.

Today?

Job boards still have their place in the modern recruitment process, with 78% of job seekers identifying job network sites as their primary place for finding employment.

However, with Gen Z having officially overtaken Baby Boomers in the workforce as of 2024, hiring teams aren’t only experiencing a shift in who they’re recruiting—there are also major shifts in how they’re attracting them.

Put simply:

It’s no longer enough to think like a recruiter. You need to think like a marketer.

A recruiter’s role is no longer transactional. It’s transformational.

Not that long ago, recruitment was mostly transactional. This is the job—take it or leave it.

But that one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t resonate with today’s job seekers, particularly Gen Z.

They see the recruitment and hiring process as more of a two-way exchange. They know employers are evaluating them, but they’re also evaluating employers to find the right match for their values and career ambitions.

That means a single, copy-pasted job post isn’t enough to grab their attention and encourage them to apply.

A recruiter’s role is changing to one that can influence careers, and transform how a generation of talent engages with the job search process.

How does Gen Z research your employer brand and decide if they want to take next steps?

Why are talent acquisition teams are at the forefront of developing a strong employer brand and getting it out in front of candidates, rather than waiting for them to stumble into your pipeline?

Recruiters need to think like marketers now because as Gen Zers evaluate career opportunities, they want to see:

• Behind-the-scenes peeks about what it’s like to work for your organization: 73% of Gen Z candidates say they’re more likely to apply after seeing behind-the-scenes content from an employer.
• Information about your company values: 70% of Gen Z want to work for a company whose values align with their own.
• Content from existing employees and interns: 75% of 2024 graduates prefer to read reviews from current and former employees before applying for a job.
• Proactive outreach from employers: 46% of new hires polled in the first quarter of 2024 said they were recruited to their jobs rather than applying themselves and 87% of Gen Z job seekers say they think responding to an employer’s message online can lead to job opportunities.

Think it all sounds like an entirely separate function on top of your already towering to-do list? It doesn’t need to be.

Recruiting Gen Z on Handshake means you’re seamlessly integrating your brand content with your recruitment strategy in one place so you can target and connect with early talent where they already are.

How to build a brand early talent loves

Gen Z feels connected to your brand through personalized outreach, customized information, and humanized experiences. Give early talent insight into your values and your overall employee experience. Then they can decide if their own goals are in alignment—and apply.

Learn more

4 ways to recruit like a marketer on Handshake

Understandably, it can feel daunting to adapt to new expectations in your role. But the future of work requires you to stay on top of Gen Z trends in your recruitment marketing and expand your skillset.

Fortunately, making the transition to modern recruiting and flexing your marketing muscles doesn’t need to feel like a drastic departure from what you’ve already been doing.

You’re likely used to putting yourself out there at career fairs and campus events, and you can tap that same energy and enthusiasm when engaging students on Handshake. Not to mention, most people create or engage with digital marketing or social media in their personal lives on a daily basis.

To start recruiting like a marketer, here are 4 ways you can shift your recruiting tactics from transactional to transformational.

1. Actively post to the Handshake feed

With 68% of students saying they research an employers’ brand when considering a job through social media, news stories, employer testimonials, reviews and more, you can more effectively target, attract, engage, and hire early career talent with full-funnel recruiting.

Handshake’s early career social network brings together students, employers, and career services to create key moments for early talent, where and when it matters most.

Go beyond job descriptions to share your story on the feed. You can post photos, videos, and other content on behalf of your company or post using your personal brand.

Wondering what to post? Here are examples based on top-performing content:

• Behind-the-scenes video clips of a day-in-the-life of an employee or intern
• Short interviews with employees about why they love your company
• Tips from hiring managers about what they look for in candidates
• Advice for getting the most out of fairs and events

“I tend to lean toward companies that are transparent and share their practices through various platforms. This tells me they’re willing to showcase their work culture and environment to appeal to potential employees.”

– Class of 2024 grad

2. Connect and engage with proactive outreach

Boost your impact by reaching out to right-fit candidates—rather than waiting for them to come to you. In fact, 70% of students say they’d be more likely to apply to a job if they receive a message from an employer.¹

This is easy to do in Handshake Talent Engagement Suite, where you can use Segments to target qualified audiences and Campaigns and messaging to get the attention of top talent.

With Handshake Campaigns, you can:

• Personalize your messages with dynamic variables
• Highlight relevant career interests specific to candidates
• Include clear calls to action to encourage engagement
• Deliver your messages at the best time for maximum impact

Being the first one to reach out with a genuine and personalized message emphasizes to early talent that you treat the recruitment and hiring process like a mutually-beneficial relationship—not a cold and impersonal transaction.

3. Build out your Handshake Brand Page

If your company catches students’ attention on Handshake, they’ll check out your Handshake Brand Page. Make it the most accurate representation of your employer brand by:

• Sharing your existing profile with interns to ask for and implement their feedback
• Asking interns to write reviews and testimonials to feature on your profile
• Featuring employees early talent can directly connect with
• Adding images and video to your gallery to bring your company to life
• Highlighting featured posts to share up-to-date information about your company

As you refresh your Brand Page, use your company values as your North Star to ensure your profile aligns with your larger vision. And remember to triple-check for inclusive language throughout all of your content.

What story does your brand page tell?

Attract and engage talent on Handshake with a dynamic Brand Page—your hub to showcase what makes your company and culture unique.

Compare Brand Pages

4. Forge strong relationships

Gen Z wants authenticity over a polished corporate image. Allowing them to connect with people outside of the hiring team is a great way to exceed that expectation and engage top talent. This helps you build a more authentic brand and give early talent the insider insights about what it’s really like to work for your company.

Career fairs and events are one key channel for relationship building, and a springboard for students to start building their professional networks. But your cross-functional team can also use Handshake to message students, post on the feed, and serve as Advocates.

Students want to speak to employees, hiring managers, and recent graduates at events. Source: Handshake pulse survey, Q2 2024 | N = 1,021

“When we have a multi-faceted team at an event, students can interact directly with someone who’s doing the work they would potentially do, so they can talk that language. That is very enriching and helps with the recruiting process, and strengthens the relationship of talent acquisition with our stakeholders. As we build our strategy for university recruiting and we bring along our business stakeholders, there’s more buy-in to the process. When we share out the data on who we’ve hired, they can see how they’ve impacted that.”

—Erin Niebylski, Early Careers Talent Acquisition Lead, North America, Worley

Campus recruiters are in a unique role to influence moments that matter on a student’s college to career journey

According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), low numbers of applicants and stiff competition from other employers are the top two recruitment difficulties facing companies today.

Fortunately, powerful recruitment marketing can address both of those challenges. When you recruit like a marketer, you can tell talent at all stages of career discovery a compelling story about what makes your employer a place they’d want to work.

Transformative early career moments happen beyond the job board.

Find out how you can harness Handshake to build your brand during the most formative period of career discovery. Talk to us.