Your summer students have brought fresh ideas, enthusiasm and more to your company, but what will they bring back to school about their experiences? Students will network extensively with companies they are interested in, and their peers are often the first step. Social media has also made it easy for students to see how their peers spent their summers, providing a glimpse into life at a specific organization. These conversations and social media publicity is a great opportunity to reinforce your employer brand within talented groups of students for the upcoming recruitment season.
KPMG has been deemed a top employer for young people and is consistently able to attract top talent for their offices. During their internship, students work with their engagement teams on real client cases, have social activities with other interns, and learn about their future careers by networking with senior staff from different areas. They also have the opportunity to engage in the #KPMGSIP Social Media Challenge, with new themes every week, and a hashtag to follow their experiences. After their program, students can become campus ambassadors to share their experiences at KPMG and offer recruiting advice to interested candidates. Finally, the student-specific career site further emphasizes opportunities and makes the students’ recruiting process easier.
KPMG’s work in the talent attraction space sets an important example for other organizations interested in recruiting top students. An employer branding and employee engagement partner can work closely with your organization to develop creative and interesting recruitment and retention strategies that will resonate with students. A few considerations in developing these strategies include mentorship programs, the type of work offered, as well as organization-wide engagement:
Mentorship
Give young talent a chance to get to know full-time staff throughout the organization. Offer time with senior leaders for students to ask questions about career goals and trajectories. Direct managers should also offer frequent feedback for students to offer optimal learning opportunities, and to ensure the internship experience is personalized to students’ needs. Career development opportunities and a strong mentorship program are a popular trait students look for when choosing a summer internship – over 42% of millennials surveyed want mentoring, rapid responsiveness from their leaders and ongoing feedback.
Meaningful Work
Students want to be challenged during their summer internship. Students will reflect more positively on their experience if they are proud of their contributions to your company. If possible, offer projects that they can see through to completion (or a specific project phase). Challenging your students and reviewing how they respond will also give you an opportunity to assess their fit for a full time role within your company, especially if you are interested in hiring them back upon graduation.
Organization-wide Engagement
Helping students understand how their work contributes to the company as a whole will help them feel more engaged with their role, and help them better promote your company when asked about their experiences. Offer students opportunities to spend time with peers in other departments, as well as engage in company-wide socials, interest groups, or community work.
About Blu Ivy Group
Blu Ivy Group is a leading employer branding and employee engagement consultancy that aligns your organization with contemporary workplace paradigms. It is our mission to help clients build award-winning people practices, inspire extraordinary employee engagement, and cultivate unique and desirable workplaces.
We provide integrated solutions in employer brand and engagement research, strategic consulting, employer brand integration, creative and talent communications. Blu Ivy Group is a trusted partner to many of North America’s most respected employer brands. For more information, go towww.bluivygroup.com