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Scholarships: As a Branding Tool
-Scholarships and University Recruiting is about BRANDING your company and attracting “top” students
-Converting the scholarship students to interns or full time grads may be a result of recruiting efforts – but the primary goal of program is to build brand awareness with students
-The “elite” recruiting companies:-Engage students early-Build a brand with students-Focus on diversity-Have a clear strategy that defines their return on investment
-For more information on this subject, sign up for the AfterCollege Free Webinar: Building Brand Recognition with Scholarships
Scholarships: As a Branding Tool
-No open positions?
-You still need a presence on campus!
-Takes years to build talent pipelines
-Your competitors may already be ahead of you!
-Start to build your on-campus presence by offering scholarships to students and attending other on-campus events
Scholarships: As a Branding Tool
-Community Awareness
-Many companies use scholarships to promote community awareness and inclusion with their brand
-Communities can be included in:-Promoting the scholarship-Picking target high schools-Incorporating current employees into the recipient
pool-Giving out the scholarship award
-Does not have to be local community – can be part of a larger global community or even community of certain types of skillsets
Scholarships: As a Branding Tool
-Social Consciousness
-According to reports, Generation Y cares about:-Community-Corporations with a social consciousness
-Scholarships are great way to show potential new college grad talent that your company has a culture of social responsibility and giving back to our society
-Scholarships communicate a commitment to students
Scholarships: Role In University Recruiting
-Scholarships are just one tool in the University Recruiting tool kit
-Elite university recruiters have clearly delineated scholarship programs where they invest
-Deciding what types of scholarships are for your company or leveraging your current scholarships is a core part of a comprehensive strategy
-Scholarships are a great way to build relationships with students
-Can see what certain students have that stands out-Keep your brand on the front of students’ minds
Scholarships: Role In University Recruiting
-Always mention scholarship offerings to students
-Incorporate Scholarships into Career Fairs – if freshmen or sophomores attend your career booth encourage them to apply for scholarships
-Mention scholarships at info sessions, classroom presentations, and any other on-campus events
-Make sure company representatives at on-campus events know about scholarship programs
Scholarships: Role In University Recruiting
-Remember Top Students
-Establish an early relationship and keep track
-Keep in touch with students and engage them with your company brand
-Top Scholarship applicants can become future interns or full-time hires
Incorporate Scholarships into your company careers page!
Ex: Microsoft Careers Page
-Helps draw attention to your career offerings to scholarship applicants
-Reinforces to new grad applicants your commitment to giving back to the community
Competitive Analysis
What type of brand are your top competitors presenting to the new college grad talent you want to attract?
-May want to invest in areas where competitors are – or may want to invest in different location or programs where there is not as much competition
-Make strategic decisions: check out target organizations you may want to attract such as diversity, different industry groups, etc.
What Students to Target?
-Create target schools
-Break target schools into Tiers – Decide on strategy for each tier of schools
-Target schools and tiers created on many measurements
-Programs offered, geography, and past ROI
-Elite recruiters focus main resources on top tiers
-Invest in campus events, scholarships and educating students about their brand, company and opportunities
What Students to Target?
What are your corporate diversity and inclusion goals? What are your university recruiting diversity goals?
Are there certain schools you could target to help you reach those goals? High schools? Student groups?
What Students to Target?
-Diversity and inclusion scholarships are very common as a way to attract a diverse talent pool
-Elite recruiters start as early as high school offering scholarships for specific majors to diverse candidates who may not have thought about pursuing that degree otherwise
Types of Scholarships
-Funded by Foundation or corporate giving arm of the organization – Not currently used as a pipeline and branding tool for UR
-Funded by marketing – Can benefit company brand in the community as corporate branding tool
-Also can create a partnership with another outside group and treat as a strategic alliance
-Funded by University Relations/Recruiting – Strategically incorporated early in university recruiting pipeline
-Typically start in high schools and driving students to choose the field that the company will have a future talent need
Types of Scholarships
Questions to ask:
-What is my budget?
-How many scholarships will I make available? How often?
-When will you award the scholarship?
-Will students still be in school to spread the word?
-Would there be a benefit to create timing in line with your UR cycle?
Types of Scholarships
Questions to ask:
-Who is eligible? International students? High School students?
-Only people from certain states? Certain schools? Certain Majors?
-Will there be a diversity component?
-Will there be an essay? If there is an essay, what do you want to capture in that essay?
-How will you be using the essay in the selection process?
Selection Committee
There are groups (Including AfterCollege) that you can hire to run your scholarship programs
-Whether or not you manage the scholarship process in hours or via an external service you can have a voice in the selection process
-Often times executives can enjoy being part of a selection committee – It can be a great way to engage them in the support of university relations program
Marketing Scholarships
-Scholarships are about reinforcing your brand to eventually attract the top talent your company needs!
Marketing Scholarships
-Many companies work closely with their agencies or marketing departments to have a comprehensive, consistent outreach policy to students in their talent pipeline – scholarships should be no different
-Scholarships should fit in with your corporate brand in a way that will be relevant and memorable to the entry level talent you will be trying to attract
-Continue to engage and educate students on your company brand, culture, and eventual opportunities
-Start with the brand you want them to remember when marketing your scholarships
Create Your Schedule
Work backwards:-When do you want the scholarship recipient selected – to get the most attention for your brand?-How long will it take you to do the selction?-When will the application deadline fall?-When do you need to start marketing the program? How to market it?
Students are deadline driven – bank on the fact that you will get the most traffic and applicants closest to your deadline
Create a plan, work the plan, and make sure everyone knows about the time frames
Let Students Know!
-You need to inform your target applicant the scholarships are available
-Let them know when, where, and what to expect
-Not a “build it and they will come situation”
-Work with your agency or marketing department – figure out who and how to contact
-Do you have database of past students you spoke to previously?
-Do you have students who have applied for past internships?
-Do you have a consumer facing brand where you can let “followers” or customers know?
Let Students Know!
-Once you have your message and scholarship details – get it out in every possible way
-Ask student groups that you have connections with and national organizations that you engage with to inform their members
-Do you have alumni on staff who can help? Do they still have connections with campus organizations? Can they contact faculty in key programs?
-Do you have a student ambassador program?
-Get creative! – some companies have had success with creating social media buzz
Scholarships: Awarding Recipients
-Scholarships are large investment – make granting the awards FUN!
-Whether it’s a virtual or in person party – spread the word and celebrate!
Scholarships: Tracking Value
Investment starts with upper management – management must believe in college talent as a pipeline to future success
-Needs investment – not just monetary – but support from management and staff time
-Often no immediate return – like planting a seed then reaping the benefits later
-Can take multiple years to gain investment
Scholarships: Tracking Value
Application Tracking System (ATS) vs. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Tools to input information from students engaged with at event
- Find way to track where you met student and if they continue to engage with your company around career information
- Need unique source code for each event - Track where students first interacted
Scholarships: Tracking Value
Tracking for long lead time:
-Can be a time lag in ROI – need to prepare management and explain process
-Some companies now starting to measure new grad hires as someone who may have been out of school 1-3 years but this is their first professional position
-If you have coordinated your CRM and ATS information – your university program should still get “credit” for the hire – and be considered a success of your program
AfterCollege Can Help!
-The worst thing that happens is you do everything right in creating your strategy – getting the funding for your program and creating excitement in management – only to have no students and/or no quality students apply.
-AfterCollege has a solution to help you solve this. We help employers with getting messaging out to the right students, by school and major – via departments, students groups and to students directly to evangelize your scholarships. We also have an integrated way to manage all of the applicants and provide them to you after the application period has closed.
-Visit the AfterCollege Products and Services Web Page to see how AfterCollege can help
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