At the Campus Recruiting Forum in Vancouver a couple weeks ago, we held a panel discussion with a dozen university and colleges students from a variety of programs. Nobody could fail to notice the sea change that has place in the students’ career outlook. Of course, I wasn’t terribly surprised, but it is remarkable nonetheless how quickly the hunted have become the hunters. I think that perhaps a few employers in the room were pleased to see students getting a little “taste of reality”, but most were sympathetic.
On the bright side, several employers commented during discussions that the students they were meeting at career fairs and other events appeared to be better prepared to meet with them and ask good questions. On the other side, however, some commented that students are approaching them with that “I’ll take any job you’ve got attitude”. While students are wise to be flexible, there is perhaps nothing less appealing than a candidate that values their abilities so little. What most employers hear when students say that is “I don’t know anything about you, but I’d like a job with you to hold me over until I can find a good one!”
I am struck by two thoughts related to this change in the campus recruiting environment.
The first is that for many employers the search for great candidates is still a challenge. This is especially true in the consistently competitive markets such as health care, municipal government, or policing. But even for organizations in less competitive industries, finding the right candidates — with the right fit — still takes hard work. It also takes resources for travel, sponsorships, special events and so on. But most employers have slashed budgets for these — which means recruiters are having to make up for this with more leg work. I suspect that most will be pretty worn out in short order.
My other thought is about the students. First of all, the job market on campus is not nearly as bad as they may think. Despite the huge layoffs across the country, many employers are filling gaps with less expensive new hires from campus; others are increasing their hiring because they believe the talent they are looking for is more easily available now. My fear — and we’ve seen this in past downturns — is that students will lose hope and not invest appropriately in their job search. Already, many graduating students are making plans to go to grad school (whether or not it’s the best choice for them) to avoid the job market.
So some employers may actually find themselves competing with grad schools for great candidates. After all, students don’t have to worry about layoffs at grad school!
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