University marketing – find new talent using campus recruiting
If you want to win the "War of Talents", you should draw attention to yourself as early as possible and convince young talents to join your company. In the past 20 years, the proportion of graduates with a university degree has risen from 10 to 30 percent in Switzerland alone, and the trend is rising. Following graduation, for more than 45,000 of them this means: "Which employer is right one for me?". At the same time, companies are faced with the challenge of attracting the best talent.
Campus recruiting – or university marketing, as it is also known – is an opportunity for companies to convince students to join them even before the application process begins. However, employers do not have to carry out promotions or distribute flyers in the canteen every day at lunchtime in order to do this.
University marketing is a combination of several different measures: Employer branding, special recruiting events, social media recruiting or classic university partnerships help companies to raise their profile with graduates.
Get ahead of the competition for young talents, and reach your future employees with a clever university marketing strategy.
Definition of university marketing & campus recruiting
Campus recruiting is a procedure which companies use to identify and evaluate potential employees – and therefore students or graduates from universities.
The procedure can include the following university marketing measures::
Employer branding measures, online and offline
Information events on campus
Company presentation at job fairs
Classic university marketing tools such as advertising in Career Service Centres
Posting job advertisements at universities (on notice boards and/or online platforms)
Using company representatives as guest lecturers
Offers of internships, student jobs or short workshops
Campus recruiting gives companies and students the opportunity to get to know each other in a very relaxed way. The special advantage of university marketing for companies: Talented employees can be identified at an early stage by means of casual contacts, and their skills and qualifications can be assessed. Campus recruiting gives graduates the opportunity to find out more about the company and the positions that are available. They also have the opportunity to make initial contacts with company representatives and other potential employees.
Proactively appeal to the right target group with Campus Recruiting
The start of professional life for university graduates usually takes place in one of two different ways. Whereas some of them have precise ideas about their future employer and often look for a job quickly and in a targeted manner, others are a little more relaxed when looking for their dream job, take more time to look around, and often need some orientation with regard to the job market. It is precisely this second target group which requires persuading and winning over with university marketing.
In other words, go "all in" and proactively address your future talents with targeted university marketing measures.
What is it that makes you different as an employer? And what are your company values? You should tailor your employer branding measures specifically to that talent that you are looking to attract. When you are developing your employer brand, focus on the needs of the graduates. In order to really convince high professionals, you should particularly present the flexibility and development opportunities for your talents within your company in an attractive way. Your personnel marketing measures should be developed to highlight these aspects to the outside world, provided that they are actually practised.
What is it that makes you different as an employer? And what are your company values? You should tailor your employer branding measures specifically to that talent that you are looking to attract. When you are developing your employer brand, focus on the needs of the graduates. In order to really convince high professionals, you should particularly present the flexibility and development opportunities for your talents within your company in an attractive way. Your personnel marketing measures should be developed to highlight these aspects to the outside world, provided that they are actually practised.
As soon as your organization is actively cooperating with universities, the "War of Talents" is there to be won. The cooperation gives you access to qualified specialists and valuable insights, whereas the universities support their graduates and talented students in making initial contacts with potential employers. Apart from this, partnerships can also help to improve the accuracy and quality of unsolicited applications[1] , and increase the motivation to apply. This can be an efficient way of finding competent employees for your company.
Our tip: Before getting into activism and entering into partnerships with well-known universities, check whether the courses which the university provides are also a match for your requirements.
As soon as your organization is actively cooperating with universities, the "War of Talents" is there to be won. The cooperation gives you access to qualified specialists and valuable insights, whereas the universities support their graduates and talented students in making initial contacts with potential employers. Apart from this, partnerships can also help to improve the accuracy and quality of unsolicited applications[1] , and increase the motivation to apply. This can be an efficient way of finding competent employees for your company.
Our tip: Before getting into activism and entering into partnerships with well-known universities, check whether the courses which the university provides are also a match for your requirements.
You won’t only find qualified young talents on campus. You can also meet them online on social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Xing and LinkedIn. You can use exciting formats to show what it is like to work for your company, and therefore make communication with your HR managers easier. You can also use digital advertising measures on the various platforms to put over your messages to your target group, such as insights into the company or the presentation of a job profile, and increase the visibility of your company.
You won’t only find qualified young talents on campus. You can also meet them online on social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Xing and LinkedIn. You can use exciting formats to show what it is like to work for your company, and therefore make communication with your HR managers easier. You can also use digital advertising measures on the various platforms to put over your messages to your target group, such as insights into the company or the presentation of a job profile, and increase the visibility of your company.
Graduate fairs or information events on campus give you the opportunity to make direct contact with high professionals. And graduates can also gain an initial personal impression of your company, and ask questions directly. However, particularly when major companies are being presented, the representative of the required department may not always be available. In this case, offer on-site workshops or company tours, and give your future employees a direct and uncomplicated insight into your working environment.
Graduate fairs or information events on campus give you the opportunity to make direct contact with high professionals. And graduates can also gain an initial personal impression of your company, and ask questions directly. However, particularly when major companies are being presented, the representative of the required department may not always be available. In this case, offer on-site workshops or company tours, and give your future employees a direct and uncomplicated insight into your working environment.
Conclusion: University marketing is the guarantee of success in your search for talent
Are you thinking about whether campus marketing is actually the right tool to use for your employee search? Concentrate on the benefits. Because you can only get access to highly motivated talent if you also appear on the students' radar. If you succeed in showing that your company deals with the requirements and needs of graduates, and even more, that these are also firmly anchored in the company philosophy and are practised, the first qualified applications should soon arrive.
You should regard your university marketing as a kind of application which is oriented to future employees. If you get the chemistry right during these encounters, the cooperation will also be promising.
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