Recruitment Today: Managing the On-Campus Brand

University-based recruiting practices have come a long way from the days when firms could just ship flyers to a school’s career centre and make a few phone calls. Recruiting has flourished into a heavily resourced, high-touch approach to connect with, educate, and entice the most promising students as early as their first week on campus. The evolution has been dramatic, from a one-size-fits-all strategy to a focus on being the preferred choice for the preferred customer. If that sounds like marketing, it’s no accident: on-campus recruiting is paralleling the world of marketing, specifically the niche world of content marketing. Alongside content marketing, companies that take the "feet on the street" approach — establishing a physical presence on campus — are attracting the best talent and tend to have better retention rates as they have invested time up front to create a relationship with the students.

In this discussion paper, talent consultant Kathryn Christie discusses how firms such as Scotiabank Global Banking and Markets, Walmart Canada, and A.T. Kearney conduct on-campus recruiting in ways that align with their branding and human resources needs.