For employers: connecting with students

While not all employers have a recruiting strategy that includes visiting college campuses, recruiting on Virginia Tech’s campus will benefit your hiring efforts. 

When thinking about your organizational hiring strategy, consider how you might include goals to focus on engaging students throughout the year. One suggestion is to develop a communication strategy for re-engaging with those students you have met while at a career fair, hosting an information session, or participating in our On-Campus Interviewing Program. Students appreciate hearing from employers who continue to show interest even when they are not actively recruiting.

Below are some suggestions we have for connecting with Virginia Tech students!

• Connect with faculty who align with your organizational needs.
• Create an ambassador program using current interns/co-op students to tell your organization story when they are on campus.
• Invite individual students to attend your career fairs, information sessions, etc.  (Use Handshake, networking opportunities, classroom presentations, etc. to identify those students).
• Participate in the Cooperative Education and Internship Program.
• There are over 800 student organizations on campus.  Reach out to student organizations/sponsor a student organization meeting.
• Schedule an information session, which could be on campus or virtual.
• Use Handshake to search for students who might meet your employment needs, review student profiles and send personal messages to those students.

As employers continue to look for ways to connect with Virginia Tech students both while on campus and virtually, our employer relations staff are happy to discuss opportunities to reach out to students. We encourage you to contact us.