Early talent recruiting tips

Back to school checklist for recruiters

Employers

Tips and trends for modern recruiting

Find the talent you’re looking for

When students are exploring opportunities and engaging with employers on Handshake, they’re starting to imagine their career journeys. So imagine the impact you could make with the right message, at the right time.

Messaging Campaigns help you scale your outreach to early talent across  schools on Handshake. An invitation to attend an event, apply to a job, or learn about your brand is a moment that matters to a student or recent grad...and can improve conversion for you.

What are Campaigns on Handshake?

Campaigns is a premium end-to-end messaging hub within Handshake Talent Engagement Suite that gives you the ability to:

Generate leads by asking prospective candidates to RSVP to events and fairs

Send unlimited 1:1 messages to build relationships

Scale your outreach to a large volume of students

Personalize your messages with dynamic variables

Automate your workflow with smart lists and saved templates

How do Campaigns help talent teams?

Talent acquisition teams can scale their outreach and improve conversion with Campaigns. For example:

Target a qualified and relevant audience to engage with

Nurture top talent who may not be ready to apply yet

Connect with students outside of "peak seasons" on-campus

Expose your brand to students early in their college experience so you stay top of mind

Invite teammates—for example, ERG leads or hiring managers—to message top talent

Connecting with talent through Campaigns can improve conversion. For example, according to Handshake platform data, you can achieve:

62% increase in job applications when attaching a campaign message to a job

141% increase in event RSVPs when attaching a campaign message to an event

40% increase in virtual career fair RSVPs when attaching a campaign message to a virtual career fair

8 tips for building strong Campaigns on Handshake

Engage students across multiple touch points to improve your conversion rates. Based on Handshake data, use these tips to get more efficient and stand out to students.

Find the right students. You can start by creating your targeted audience Segment with 20+ filters, or building your audience within the Campaigns tool.

Personalize message content. Let students know why you’re reaching out, and make sure your message is relevant. According to Handshake survey data, students want to know about salary expectations (95%), essential skills (69%), and growth opportunities (64%).

Use simple formatting, and be concise. Plain text is best. Don’t use fancy formatting, unnecessary capitalization, or too many links—stick with one hyperlinked CTA. But you can add personality while keeping it professional with emojis here and there!

Be strategic with your Campaign schedule. According to Handshake data, students are most active on Handshake in the evening and most typically respond to messages between 5-8PM.

Follow up and stay in touch. Keep top talent warm. For example, after attending a career event, 64% of students want to get a message recommending specific jobs to apply to.

Respond to messages. Let students know you’re monitoring your inbox and looking forward to hearing from them. As a best practice, log in to Handshake at least once per day to stay on top of your inbox and respond to candidates.

Enable team members to send messages. Students want to hear about current employees’ personal experiences applying to and working for your company. Add an Advocate to your message to bring internal perspectives and authenticity to your Campaign.

Get more efficient. Save your top performing messages as templates that you’ll use over and over again.


Improve conversion with Campaigns

Create Campaigns to engage targeted audiences, power a high touch candidate experience, and achieve impressive results for your early talent programs. For more messaging best practices, check out:

How to write a recruiting message to students (plus 7 templates) 

4 steps to a winning message that engages college talent 

8 dos and don’ts of messaging underrepresented students 







8 tips to attract & engage students with stronger messaging campaigns

A job description is often a candidate’s first impression of your organization—and one of your most impactful opportunities to stand out from the crowd. For job seekers with a college degree, 24% have been turned off by a job description’s tone. So how do you write a job description that resonates with the candidates you’re trying to reach?

Some of the things that students and recent grads look for in a job description include:

What type of position is this?

Will this role help me gain experience?

What is the salary?

What are the perks and benefits?

Do I meet the qualifications?

Where is the position located, or is it remote?

Does this job require work authorization?

What is this employer’s reputation?

What are the employer’s values?

What makes this employer and this job special?

From writing with inclusive language to highlighting the skills that can be learned on the job, use the following five tips to uplevel your job descriptions and attract Gen Z job seekers.

Best practices for writing job descriptions for early talent

1. Use a relevant job title

Consider how students might search for your role and treat potential job titles like keywords. Be literal—new job seekers want and need consistency. Ensure the title in the job description is the same everywhere you post and promote your role. For example, if you're hiring for a position your industry commonly refers to as a “Business Development Specialist,” but you label it “B2B Corporate Sales” elsewhere, you could miss out on potential pipeline.

2. Focus on skills, not experience

For your job description to resonate with early talent, you may need to rethink what’s required to be successful in your entry level roles. Most recent grads have less than 3 years of experience, so you don’t want to put in a job description that 5 years of experience is required.

Shift your focus from experience to coursework, skills, and certifications so that the job description is relevant to someone just starting out in their career. Highlight skills that a student can learn on the job to excite them about the opportunity to grow professionally. And use bullet points to help students and job seekers of all backgrounds easily identify what soft skills you’re looking for.

3. Write with inclusive language

As the most diverse generation yet, it’s no surprise that Gen Z uses diversity as a criteria for their evaluation of a job. In fact, more than 60% of Gen Zers indicated that they either always or usually research company leadership diversity, according to a Handshake Network Trends report.

Gen Z job seekers factor an employer’s core values and social responsibility into decisions about where to buy and where to work. Your job description should highlight your mission, your values, and your culture, and be written using inclusive language. Job descriptions are an important part of your overall DEI strategy, too. Making tweaks like replacing “talking” with “communicating” is more welcoming for an applicant with disabilities, and avoiding gendered words like “ninja” is more welcoming for women.

4. Remove or loosen requirements

One way to show candidates that you understand their competing priorities is to be up front about the application process. GPA cut off, rigid application windows, and requiring additional documents can deter the best and brightest from pursuing an extensive application process. Gen Z is looking for an interview process that’s 2 weeks or less, so provide a thoughtful timeline that takes into account students’ school priorities and remote preferences, and requires fewer application steps. Build relationships with promising candidates so they feel they can connect with you for any support.

Also consider that men are more likely than women to reach out to employers about potential opportunities even if they don’t meet all requirements. And since certain majors can be gender imbalanced, you can expand your candidate pool by dropping a major requirement. Keep in mind that many students don’t yet know the variety of roles that their major can map to, and engaging with recruiters is part of that learning curve!

5. State compensation and benefits

Salary is the number one motivator for staying in a job for both women and men, and Gen Z is behind a growing movement toward salary transparency as a lever for equity. In addition to clear expectations for how much they can earn, Gen Z is looking for competitive differentiators like flexible work schedules, tuition assistance, and learning and professional development stipends. In fact, a Handshake Network Trends survey found that almost 50% of 2024 graduates say they’re more likely to apply to a company that provides employer-sponsored upskilling resources.

They also want to know about dress codes, paid time off, and other details that make sense to include in a job description for those newest to the working world. Showcase opportunities for building social connection and community, such as through ERGs or volunteering. As early career professionals explore where to live, how to start paying off student loans, and the type of culture they are drawn to, these are important details.

Reach the candidates you want with improved job descriptions

Writing engaging, inclusive, and clear job descriptions takes practice and patience—but the payoff is worth it. Once you evolve your job descriptions, you can better attract early career candidates excited to apply—and see a future with your employer.



5 tips to improve your job description and attract early talent

Internships are an opportunity for students to get their foot in the door, gain some hands-on experience, hone valuable skills, build connections, and explore potential career paths.

But what returns can employers expect from creating or expanding an internship program? 

According to data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employers point to internships as the recruiting strategy with the highest ROI.

Here are six benefits that prove internships are a strategic initiative and competitive advantage for you:


Internships improve your hiring efficiency

Internships engage talent early in their college-to-career journey

Internships build your early talent pipeline

Internships generate brand awareness and affinity

Internships support your DEI efforts

Internships upskill your pipeline

When internship programs are done well, they can be a huge differentiator in an employer’s ability to engage, recruit, and retain early talent. Read on for six reasons why it’s important to set up or build out your internship program.

1. Internships improve your hiring efficiency

An internship program translates to a stronger pipeline, and a stronger pipeline translates to better candidate conversion and shorter time to hire—both of which are important when hiring teams are feeling the pressure of doing more with less.

Provided your internship is a positive experience, your interns are likely to want to become full-time hires. According to NACE, 57.6% of interns convert to full-time employees, which saves the hiring team time, effort, and energy they’d have to invest in hiring from scratch.

2. Internships engage talent early in their college-to-career journey

When it comes to engaging early talent, you want to get there…well, early. To forge a deeper relationship, more brand affinity, and a sense of loyalty, start interacting with students long before they start thinking about the actual job search—ideally during their second and third years of college. This is the ideal time for an internship.

Why? Students have settled into the major transition of college life, have started to build skills and knowledge through their coursework and extracurriculars, and have more curiosity about what career opportunities are out there.

Your internship program gives them a chance to experience your organization and fosters a sense of familiarity and commitment early on—so your company will be top of mind as they approach graduation.

3. Internships build your early talent pipeline

When you have entry-level roles available, an internship program means you don’t have to start from scratch—you already have a thriving pipeline of qualified and engaged candidates that are eager to make a difference.

Since many organizations want to attract students and early career professionals, an internship program is a future-thinking way to build a solid pipeline of talent that you can tap into when you have full-time vacancies.

For example, 90% of PwC's interns end up receiving full-time offers, positioning the company’s internships as stepping stones to rewarding careers.

4. Internships generate brand awareness and affinity

Gen Z talent is more values-driven than previous generations, with 70% of students saying that they want to work for a company whose values align with their own.

Your employer brand is how you demonstrate and reinforce your organizational values. And your internship program is more than a recruitment initiative—it’s a powerful brand boosting opportunity too.

Of course, a challenging, rewarding, and meaningful internship fosters brand affinity directly with your interns, who will hopefully want to return to your company for full-time opportunities.

5. Internships support your DEI efforts

You can’t have diverse leaders without starting with opportunities at the internship or entry level. And internships need to be paid. According to a NACE report, white male students are disproportionately represented among paid interns: 76.4% of men who took part in internships received compensation, compared to only 51.5% of women. NACE data also shows that Black and Hispanic students are significantly less likely to be paid for internships.

When research shows a correlation between race and lower socioeconomic status, underrepresented groups often can’t afford to take on unpaid internships. Offering paid internships gives students a chance to capitalize on a valuable career opportunity, while still getting the resources they need to support themselves.

6. Internships upskill your pipeline

Internships give students both skills and experience. But that doesn’t mean your interns are the only ones benefiting. Your organization is, too, because you’re not just building a pipeline—you’re building a pipeline of candidates that already have the knowledge and competencies that meet the demands of your organization.

Charles Schwab's internship program—with 480 interns across 14 business lines—provides early talent with skills, experience, and exposure. Historically, Schwab has offered 70-75% of the class full-time roles, and 70-75% accept—which is well above the program’s goals.

A top-notch internship program can lead students into a full-time position with your organization.

From cost to opportunity: building the business case for internships

Internships have long been positioned as a competitive edge for students looking to get an early start and a leg up in their careers. But internships aren’t just a win for early talent—they’re a powerful advantage for employers, too.

With a high-quality internship program, you can engage talent early, boost your employer brand, support your DEI efforts, build a skilled and knowledgeable pipeline, and streamline your hiring strategies.

For employers that need to compete for early talent, it’s time to stop asking if you can afford to launch an internship program and ask a more pertinent question: can you afford not to?

When 75% of students in the US have access to Handshake through their campus career services, Handshake is the most effective and efficient way to reach targeted groups and fill your internships and other entry-level or early career positions. Ready to build your internship program and get in front of early talent? Talk to Handshake.




Early talent recruiting tips

Back to school checklist for recruiters

8 tips to attract & engage students with stronger messaging campaigns

5 tips to improve your job description and attract early talent

Why is an internship program important? Here are 6 reasons

Virtual Recruiting Toolkit for Employers

Virtual Recruiting Student Perspectives

Infographic: "Trading Cards" for Your Multi-Generational Workplace

Holistic Guide to Recruiting from Home

Handshake's Advocate Playbook