Case Study

University relationsand campus hiring.Build an early career talent program.

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About Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry is a global organizationalconsulting firm. We help clients synchronizestrategy and talent to drive superiorperformance. We work with organizations todesign their structures, roles, andresponsibilities. We help them hire the rightpeople to bring their strategy to life. And weadvise them on how to reward, develop, andmotivate their people.

Founded as a small ophthalmic shop in Fort Worth,Texas in 1945, Alcon is the global leader in eye careand the second largest division of Novartis. Its missionis to provide innovative products that help people seebetter. Operating in 74 countries and serving patientsin over 140 countries, Alcon employs more than 19,000associates around the world.

The company believes strongly in bringing early careertalent into the organization through a dedicateduniversity relations program - administered inconjunction with Recruitment Process Outsourcing(RPO) provider Korn Ferry - that includes internships,co-ops and capstone project opportunities. Theprogram launched in February 2016, a few monthsafter the launch of the RPO partnership.

Driven by a lack of strategic planning around universityrelations, the team was quick to develop a morecompelling employer brand geared towards earlycareer talent that would be the backbone ofinteractions with career services teams and thestudents themselves. Without a unified approach tocampus recruiting, the team also began a process ofcentralizing operations and worked diligently to securebuy-in from business leaders to support their efforts.

Leveraging the experience of the Korn Ferry teammembers, Alcon developed a campus recruitingprocess that utilized an ATS tool and a CRM to growthe scope of candidate pools and drive quality ofcandidate. They then implemented video interviewingtools to facilitate interaction between recruiters, hiringmanagers, and candidates, improving the experiencefor all.

The team built relationships with core universities,attended career fairs, delivered in-class presentationsand info sessions, and maintained frequent contactwith faculty and professors to increase candidate flow,always with an eye towards ensuring diverse candidateslates. They also sought to increase awareness throughsocial media. Through targeted posts and events, theteam reached more than 5,000 followers, a 400%increase since the beginning of the RPO partnership.

In just a few months, the team increased the summerintern applicant pool by 48% year over year, netting19,250 candidates for summer 2017 and working out toan average of 113 applicants per intern role.

The team had attended 45 career fairs in eight states,and their efforts to convey the Alcon story in acompelling way and get the business excited aboutthis younger generation of talent paid off. Theprogram hosted 170 interns from 42 different schoolsacross all functions of the business in the US thatyear, a quarter of whom went on to accept full-timepositions.