Five Innovative Ways to Use Social Media for College Recruiting

No offense, but many college-recruiting programs are typically a mess. Company representatives and recruiters show up for an event with no plan, other than to talk to as many potential candidates as possible. While this is happening, students walk around dazed and confused or head to the tables with the best looking promotional material. I speak from experience.

What’s missing from many college-recruiting programs is a connection. There is zero connection; therefore, students do not feel engaged with any one company. Sure, students may be excited to talk to a big brand company that is attending, but how can your organization stick out and actually connect with students before and after a campus-recruiting event? Introduce a little innovation through social media with these five strategies.

1 | HOST A TWITTER CHAT BEFORE A CAMPUS EVENT

A Twitter chat for college recruiting is a perfect way to engage with students before a campus-recruiting event. Your company should make sure that anyone attending on campus should also be a part of the Twitter chat.

Questions can focus on two areas: how to get a job after college and what it’s like to work at your company. The event should be no longer than an hour.

There are two ways that I see this working.

1. One large Twitter chat for students around the country
2. Individual Twitter chats for each school that your organization plans to visit

2 | LIVE TWEET FROM CAMPUS EVENTS

Designate a company representative to manage live tweeting while at an event. Tweet out pictures of a crowded room, your company booth or even the food you eat while there. Set up a hash tag and then connect with students live while there.

When you meet and chat with a student, ask them to write down their Twitter username if they have one. Once the student leaves, toss up a quick tweet to thank them for stopping by. A tweet like this will continue to develop the relationship and engage with students beyond the event.

3 | BLOG BEFORE THE ON-CAMPUS EVENT

Blogging is one of the easiest and most effective ways to get the word out about your company. What to include in your blog post:

• Why your organization is excited to attend and meet students from each individual school
• Who from your company will be attending. Include a picture and bio for each person. If students feel like they know someone, then they’ll be comfortable approaching.
• Where your booth is located and what students can expect when visiting

Your company can write a blog post for each school or just one mega-post. Once published, the post should be shared out to college career centers, teachers from the areas of study you’re targeting and students that follow you on social channels.

4 | USE A FACEBOOK SWEEPSTAKES WITH A PRIZE

You can use products like North Social or Fans with Benefits to set up a sweepstakes that will run live right on your Facebook page. The goal would be to collect email addresses from students prior to the event, so that an email blast can reach each student a day or two before your company is on campus.

A product like North Social will store all of the emails in their system, so that when the deadline is over for students from the school to sign up, you can just utilize a random number generator to pick the winner. You can ensure that only students are signing up by requesting that they must use their school domain email.

5 | START A MASS FOLLOW CAMPAIGN

Lucky for your company, many students include where they go to college in their twitter bio and in their tweets. You can use an auto-follow tool that can be set up to strategically follow students at the schools you plan to attend.

When students follow you back, send them a personalized tweet and make sure they know that your company is visiting on campus. Now that you have targeted followers from schools your company recruits from, the previous four strategies mentioned above will reach a greater number of students.

About The Author

Esteban Gomez is a marketing consultant with interviewstream. He loves learning and has a passion for traveling, having visited many countries including China, Colombia, Italy, and Peru.