A successful recruiting effort begins well before you arrive on campus. Take the time up front to ensure that your needs and goals are defined, your people are prepared, and your processes are in place.
Set Recruitment Goals and Plans
Start by considering your organization’s current hiring needs and resources. The following checklist of questions is meant to help you build a framework for articulating your recruiting goals and plans.
- How many openings do you plan to fill?
- What background will successful candidates have?
- Where will the jobs be located (international/domestic)?
- When do you need new hires to join?
- How does your organization plan to develop and keep your new Stanford GSB student hires?
Build Your Recruiting Team
Organizations that consistently achieve successful results are effective at leveraging their people. Consider the following recommendations:
- Assign a team captain for recruiting efforts. Create a high level of internal communication and coordination so you can integrate efforts and focus resources.
- Involve employees at different organizational levels of your firm in recruiting.
- Bear in mind that our students consistently rate “compatibility with people in the firm” among the top three criteria when choosing a job. Students are particularly interested in connecting with Stanford GSB alumni.
Prepare Interviewers
Prepare your interviewers to view students as future employees and ambassadors of your organization.
- Provide interviewers with the recruiting policies and an understanding of the school culture.
- If recruiting on campus, be sure interviewers are aware of all the important deadlines.
- Remind interviewers that students influence the opinions of their peers.
- Make sure interviewers are well-informed about your next steps in order to explain them to students.
- Ensure that students receive a timely follow-up after they interview, preferably within one week.
- If an interview involves travel, be sure students are aware of any financial obligations they may have and/or what costs your organization will reimburse.
- Be mindful of students’ academic obligations, and work with the students to arrange first- and second-round interviews when they do not have class. Generally, classes are not held on Wednesdays.
- Keep all commitments made to students.