10 reasons why campus recruiting today is a lot harder than it looks.

What is the true state of campus recruiting today? Sure, we know that the hiring numbers are down for most big employers – way down for some. But what is it actually like to be hiring on campus right now? Students should be “desperate” for jobs, right? And employers should be swamped with great applicants?

While meeting and talking with recruiters at the NACE Conference in Las Vegas a few weeks ago and the CACEE Conference in Vancouver recently, it was obvious that things are not as they seem. So I posed two questions to the hundred or so employers who attended my presentations at these conferences.

First, I asked if they had colleagues back at the office who had the impression that hiring on campus must be an easy task these days. The answer was a resounding “yes”. Those who aren’t on campus, think it must be like “shooting fish in a barrel” (sorry for the poor analogy, that’s what one recruiter actually said to me). So my second question was simply: is it true? Not surprisingly, the answer was a near unanimous “no”.

Given all the media stories about this being the worst possible time to be graduating because of the lack of jobs, it is understandable that some might think this makes hiring a simple task. But in conversation after conversation, I have learned just how challenging hiring in this market can be.

Why? Here are ten reasons that I have observed:

1. Budgets have been slashed for advertising, sponsoring campus activities, career fairs and other events. Some are even unable to pay career center job posting fees!
2. Fewer staff available – many recruiters have been laid off or assigned to different roles; people are being stretched the limit (and are often feeling demoralized by the “slash and burn” approach to business)
3. Planning is impossible – nobody will commit to the required hiring numbers and roles to be filled; it’s a moving target.
4. Some are required to hire “under the radar”: they are trying not to be detected when hiring on campus on the one hand, while laying experienced people off on the other.
5. Students are asking tough questions like, “why should I trust that you won’t lay me off too?” Students are wary of certain employers and industries no matter how reassuring employers may try to be.
6. Wading through masses of poor applications: many students are “blanketing” the market with applications to every opportunity without bothering to customize their cover letter and resume. Filtering down to the great candidates is far more time consuming.
7. Wading through masses of excellent applications from inappropriate candidates. Similar to the above point, except in this case students who are not right for the role are doing a great job of making themselves appear like a good fit. Again, this creates a burden on the filtering process.
8. Research says: students are no more likely to accept an offer this year than last. According Ed Koc’s research at NACE, students are no more likely to accept an offer in 2009 than the were in 2008. The good candidates are still very demanding.
9. Research says: the good candidates are still very confident. Our upcoming research report on the Canadian market (the From Learning to Work Report) indicates that although students are aware of the hiring downturn, they are still confident that they will get a great opportunity.
10. Future retention hell: hiring a “star” candidate that you couldn’t normally attract may create a retention nightmare later. This means employers have to take a long close look at whom they are hiring before making an offer.

On this last point, I am convinced this will be the real challenge of the future. Soon enough hiring will pick back up and when it does the coming battle for talent will be further complicated by all those recent hires who jump ship to the job they really wanted when they were hired during the recession. Now is the time to focus on retention by making your workplace a great place to stay.

Have you experienced any of these 10 challenges? Do you have others to add? Please click “Comment” below to add yours.