College Recruiiting Gets an MBA (More Buzz Available)

On January 14th, HRNY’s Staffing SIG was pleased to host Deanne Holzer, Vice President, Group Director for Alloy Media + Marketing, one of the country's largest providers of targeted media programs. Our objectives were to learn more about what companies how companies are attracting college students, and passive job seekers in innovative, exciting and unexpected ways.

Anyone with responsibility for staffing knows full well the challenges presented by recent demographic workforce statistics:

• Over the next 10 years, for every 2 experienced workers who exit the workforce, only 1 person will be coming in.
  

• Healthcare, energy, green energy, technology, and business and professional services will be hot industries in 2008, and diverse candidates are always in demand.
  

· According to recent research from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 235 members surveyed expect to increase college hiring by 16 percent. This is the fifth consecutive year in which employers have projected double-digit increases.

Alloy Marketing and Media, with an arsenol of assets at their disposal, including more than 100,000 media displays nationally in clubs, fitness centers, restaurants, laundries, salons, schools and campus movie theatres, presented us with many ways to make a buzz. That’s good news for recruiters, since when it comes to interacting with a digital generation, it’s all about capturing attention and creating content that people will use and hopefully interact with.


If you were a human resources recruiter when it was called personnel, you may remember
· when cell phones only came installed in cars
· when Atari Space Invaders was cool
· when Michael Jackson’s hair caught on fire while filming a Pepsi commecial

You may also remember when cutting-edge campus recruiting involved posters, flyers and recruitment ads in the campus newspaper. And while that type of messaging is still in play, today’s students might also

· be invited to a private, on-campus movie screening with pre-event promotions
· find hidden flyers in their required class textbooks when they buy them at their campus bookstore
· see branded napkins and table tents or bathroom mirror clings when out at their favorite hangout
· find ads and signs in their laundry room or barber shop!

From floor clings, coffee cozies, texting, digital signage or actual Buzz Squads dressed as chefs to deliver pizza to your target audience, anything is possible with an open budget and an open mind.

Sounds easy but here’s the catch.

If attention is the currency of the new economy, the message is the mint.

According to a Ypulse College Survey, the Number 1 thing college students look for in advertising: honesty.

Once you get someone’s attention, its critical to make sure they don’t regret it. Be sure to align your message and media with your business goals, and build interest the old fashioned way- with honest information about your company’s culture, goals, vision and business strategy.

A brand gets built one buzz at a time.