Part 3: Show the Love – Without Stretching Your Resources
Welcome to the third installment of our Yale SOM Insights for Employers: Campus Edition series, where we highlight creative, effective, and resource-conscious campus recruiting strategies we’ve seen in action. This edition focuses on how employers are making students feel valued – and giving students a chance to show their interest in an organization – without overextending teams or budgets.
Tip 1: Equip your team with “next step” language
One of most powerful ways to show students they’re wanted is one of the simplest. When a conversation with a student goes well, a few thoughtful words from a colleague or representative can make all the difference:
“Let me get you in touch with someone on our team.”
“You should reach out to [Name]—they’re working on a project similar to your interests.”
“This was great—I’ll let our team know we’ve connected.”
These small gestures help students feel special, provide clear next steps they are invited to take, and build a positive candidate experience. Conversely, the absence of such follow-up language may result in desirable students:
- feeling dejected, assuming the conversation didn’t go well
- expending unnecessary energy to seek out others in your office
- devaluing your organization’s brand
Encouraging your team to adopt a “next step” approach is an easy and effective way to retain desirable students in your recruiting process.
Tip 2: Expand invite-only beyond dinner
Exclusive events don’t need to be elaborate dinners. This past year,
- One consulting firm only offered coffee chats to those students who attended their interview workshop. This approach rewarded student engagement, created a sense of momentum, and added a halo of exclusivity for the recruiting brand.
- A big brand media company managed applicant overload by kicking off its recruiting season with an invite-only half-day info session at its offices. Students were required to apply for an invitation, understanding that event participation was a near-requirement to be considered for a job offer. Selected students felt special “making the cut,” while the media firm spent subsequent recruiting energy to get to know truly qualified and interested students.
Tip 3: Personalize outreach through resume books
Resume books aren’t just for screening – they’re for connecting. Employers who send personalized emails to students – highlighting a specific skill or experience and encouraging them to apply or attend an event – often see higher quality engagement. These messages show students that you see potential in them.
Recently a tech firm went one step further. Alumni at the firm were eager to engage with more students. Referring to the resume book, these alumni called targeted students, extending personal invitations to an on-campus event, ultimately driving higher than expected turn-out, meeting the goal of the alumni.
Tip 4: Let students signal interest in you
In this age of application overload, give students clear pathways to signal they are truly interested in your organization. Not only is this a welcome message to students, but it helps hiring teams target recruiting energy. A global CPG firm did just this – at the close of an on-campus event, the firm shared a way for students to request coffee chats. This gave students a promise that their efforts would be rewarded with a chat and ensured the firm targeted recruiting resources against those students most interested in the firm.
Final Thought: Love makes the recruiting world go ‘round
Recruiting is chaotic these days and both job-seeking students and hiring organizations have trouble breaking through the noise to be noticed. Looking for ways to target messaging to students will yield the highest quality results of engaged and eager applicants in your process. Meanwhile, being transparent with students about how they can signal their skills and interest in your organization goes a long way to engender their appreciation and to create a positive candidate experience. We are happy to help ideate ways that work best for your organization to show students the love.
Written with support from Copilot
