You know you want to expand and diversify your workforce with some young fresh-eyed talent. But how? How can business owners connect with college students, especially those interested in your industry? One great option is Handshake. Handshake is an online job board connecting businesses directly with college students who are looking for opportunities.
Read on to understand how to use Handshake to recruit college students for your business needs.
Benefits of using Handshake
It’s Targeted
Handshake is specifically designed to connect employers with college students. Consequently, you know that the students you’re reaching out to are interested in hearing from employers. This saves you time and energy that you would otherwise have to spend on outreach.
It’s Efficient
With Handshake, you can easily search for students based on their location, major, graduation date, and other factors. This makes it easy to find the students who are the best fit for your needs. It also makes the process of reaching out to them much more efficient.
It’s Personalized
When you reach out to students through Handshake, you can personalize your messages to them. This helps you build relationships with potential candidates and makes them more likely to respond positively to your outreach.
How to get started
Create a Company Profile
The first step is to create a company profile on Handshake. This is where you’ll be able to showcase your company and tell students what it’s like to work for your organization. Be sure to include information about your company culture, benefits, career growth and any other reasons why students should consider joining your team. You can also use your company profile to post job openings and internships.
Connect with Schools
Once you’ve created your company profile, take some time to connect with schools on Handshake. This will allow you to view their students’ profiles and see which ones might be a good fit for your business. You can also use this feature to search for specific majors or skill sets that you’re looking for in candidates.
It should be noted though that Each school is independently responsible for approving or declining employer requests to connect, and every school has different deciding factors when selecting which employers to connect with and which roles to provide to approved employers.
If a school declines your request to connect, they can be prompted to:
- select a reason for the decline.
- This provides sufficient information for you to correct any errors or awareness of any moral, ethical, or state-specific legal reasons for the decline.
- The selected reason is added as a comment to the school’s overview page and is visible to other team members in Handshake.
- Allow a second request for approval.
- a blue ‘Request approval again’ button will appear above the comment text box.
- you may submit the second request after taking action on the specific decline reasons.
- If the school has not allowed for a second request for approval your best action is to follow up with the school.
Attend Career Fairs
Another great way to use Handshake is by attending virtual or in-person career fairs. These events are a great opportunity to meet with potential candidates and learn more about their skills and experience. Many career fairs also allow you to set up booths where you can promote your company and hand out marketing materials.
Post Jobs and Internships
As we mentioned earlier, one of the best ways to use Handshake is by posting open jobs and internships directly on the platform. This will allow interested candidates to apply directly through Handshake. Be sure to include as much information as possible in your job postings, such as job duties, qualifications, and compensation details. For internships you may also include hours expected, flexibility in scheduling and remote or in person options as allowed. You should also use this space to promote your company’s culture and values, you are , after all, speaking to your next generation of potential workforce.
If you’re looking for a way to connect with college students who might be interested in working with you, Handshake is a great option. It’s targeted, efficient, and personalized, which makes it easy to find and connect with potential candidates. So why not give it a try? You might be surprised at how well it works.
If you need help with Handshake or any other recruitment tactics, Red Shoes Inc. is just a call away at (920) 574-3253.
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