“Make yourself available and helpful and you’ll often find young talent is knocking at your door.”

6 Ways to Scout Recent Graduates

Reach Out to University Career Centers: Graduates are generally hungry for job opportunities with up-and-coming businesses, and they’ll use their schools’ resources to find them. Developing a strong, close relationship with universities – particularly through their career centers – can help leverage connections with recent and future graduates.

Offer to Guest Lecture on a Topic Related to Your Business: Consider reaching out to department heads – particularly for schools with business or entrepreneurial programs – to discuss the possibility of guest lecture opportunities. Once you’re given the green light to guest lecture, cater your presentation to the job titles you’re seeking. Be sure to pitch your company at the end of these lectures – mention that you’re hiring and ensure that students are provided with your contact information.

Host Events at Your Office: Finding young talent isn’t is a one-way street; there are multiple ways to make them come to you as well. Consider organizing an enticing event for college students and grads at your office that they would actually be interested in attending, such as an evening informational seminar with free food, refreshments, and even prizes. This is a great way to introduce your company’s mission – and culture – to this demographic.

Connect with Media Sources to Publish a Press Release or Featured Story: In today’s volatile and uncertain job market, local business reporters are often interested in covering stories about companies offering multiple open positions. This type of media coverage can have a powerful impact on your company for several reasons; reporters will not only be communicating your job openings, they’ll also be interested in sharing information about your company’s story and mission. This caliber of advertisement can easily generate interest and high-quality leads from recent graduates.

Utilize Your Own Employees: Bear in mind that finding young talent should be a full team effort at your company – each of your employees should be encouraged to engage with their own alma maters. Did one of your employees graduate within the past few years? Perhaps they still have connections at their university that can offer a foot in their door. Or, perhaps they have access to a LinkedIn page for students and alumni from their alma maters.

Connecting on Their Terms – Through Technology: To reach young talent, it’s critical for entrepreneurs to connect with them in ways that they relate to – nowadays, this will largely involve technology. Social media is one of the most effective tools for reaching recent graduates. To connect with a large pool of them, entrepreneurs should focus on creating social media platforms which highlight entry-level jobs. Facebook offers a Graph Search option to find recent graduates with specific skillsets and educational backgrounds. LinkedIn posts should focus on utilizing keywords relating to open entry-level positions, as well as turn to alumni groups and university pages to attract potential candidates. On Twitter, entrepreneurs can grab attention with photos and videos about their organization. Because this new generation is always online, it’s worthwhile to consider investing in well-designed career page for recent graduates to learn about job opportunities.

Ultimately, entrepreneurs who are trying to attract others who will help to build their vision must cultivate a company culture that encourages others to do this. Entrepreneurs are leaders who bring their business model – and their company’s culture – to life with the decisions that they make. Creating a compelling, meaningful company culture is a powerful way to not only ensure the success of your company, but also to impress and attract young talent.