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Start Securing Class of 2019 Talent Now

September 20, 2018
 
iCIMS Staff
2 min read
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At one time, college students may have entered the job search with much less confidence than today’s seniors, but in recent years things have certainly changed. Job seekers now have more expectations than ever before and hold a lot of power in the recruitment process.

Compared to three years ago, 79 percent of recruiters find it more challenging to fill entry-level roles, establishing a strong need to build relationships with students early on.

Proactive Approaches Win Over Talented Students

Although entry-level hiring typically brings up thoughts of new graduates, it is important to note that today’s college students are thinking about their career much earlier. In fact, 70 percent of college seniors said they planned to start applying to jobs before their graduation date, and 31 percent begin at least one month before.

As the first semester is just kicking off and career fairs are in motion, now is the perfect time to ensure your organization is top of mind with the class of 2019. Turn to the primary communication method that college students rely on, texting.

Drip Campaigns Create Strong Candidate Engagement

Gen X is moving away from email and phone calls, and prefers to have convenient conversations from their phone, wherever they are. It may seem like a diversion from candidate engagement norms to chat with talent less formally, however, 77 percent of millennials view companies that use text message to communicate, more positively. With 90 percent of text messages being read within three minutes of being sent, this is a simple way for recruiters to stay top of mind for students with less effort.

To enhance efficiency, organizations can set up automated text message drip campaigns similar to the way many businesses use email drip campaigns. Drip campaigns are a series of text messages that can be created based on each stage of a college student’s candidate journey to drive deeper engagement throughout the academic year.

Setting up a personalized drip campaign in three easy steps:

  1. Create a set of messages and decide how much time you want between them
  2. Once your campaign starts, candidates who respond stop receiving automated messages while unresponsive candidates move to the next drip message
  3. After the campaign, view analytics to track your response rates and build talent pools

The Result: A High-Quality Entry-Level Talent Pipeline

Forty-one percent of college seniors have missed a potential job opportunity specifically because they couldn’t connect with a recruiter or hiring manager. That lack of communication is likely a result of a missed phone call or an email sent to spam and is easily avoidable with the right tactics for reaching talent where they are. This year, let your employer brand shine and build up robust talent pools of qualified talent for all unique entry-level roles with automated text communication fit for every stage of your process.

To learn more about the expectations and behaviors of entry-level talent, make Do’s and Don’ts of Mobile Engagement from a College Student’s Perspective your next read.

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