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MBA Career Management Center

 

Recruiting Best Practices

From our experience working with hundreds of organizations, we share these best practices for meeting your recruiting objectives. (Select image to enlarge.)

In general, getting results involves being strategic, creative, and consistent, building a relationship and presence over time. Because your business and recruiting needs are unique to you, please call us to advise on your strategy and plan or to hear your ideas and help you refine them.

1. Understand Your Recruiting Needs and Develop a Plan

Review the many options for recruiting our MBA students. Assess your estimated needs: number of openings; kinds of roles/jobs in your organization's departments/ groups; what locations (domestic, international); backgrounds of desired candidates; timing of when you need new hires to join; and thinking ahead-how to develop and keep your new MBA hires.

Understand your current level of commitment to recruiting and note what you would like it to be in the future: Are you just starting your MBA recruiting and testing the waters, or using MBA recruiting increasingly as a key source for new talent? What kinds of resources do you have available, including senior managers, HR officers, and others who will be involved? What are your growth or contraction plans, and how does your MBA recruiting fit into that?

2. Identify Your Positioning

As competition increases for MBA talent, it is important to know how to break through the clutter-to market to students and help them understand your points of difference. In the past, most organizations focused on the competitors in their industry. Those who are most effective at recruiting broaden the definition to include all organizations that may be vying for the same kind of candidates.

3. Build Multiple Relationships within the School

By establishing relationships with multiple groups within the Business School, your firm will create visibility and a presence that distinguishes it from the many organizations competing for student talent. Some suggestions include:

  • Involve your employees, especially Stanford Business School alumni, in CMC-sponsored events, e.g., Career Fairs or Mock Interviews.
  • Initiate targeted events with student clubs.
  • Participate in faculty research initiatives, case development, and classroom presentations
  • Support School-wide student activities and major events.
  • Send your senior managers to Stanford's Executive Education Programs. Not only will they gain firsthand exposure to world-class teaching, but they will become part of Stanford's close-knit alumni.
  • Join the Business School's Corporate Investors Program. These companies provide annual support and enjoy a dynamic relationship with the School in a variety of ways.
  • Keep in touch with former employees who are currently MBA students and enlist their help; they are great ambassadors for your firm and can give you input about recruiting.
4. Use Your Resources Effectively—More Is Not Always Better

Organizations that consistently achieve successful results are extremely selective and efficient in how they use their resources. Suggestions include:

  • Involve employees at different organizational levels of your firm in recruiting. For example, have senior management participate in activities such as interviews and club speaker events while involving mid-level managers in career education events, Recruiter Days, Company Networking nights, career fairs, and possibly heading up the Stanford recruiting team. Also, consider having recent MBA hires serve on panels for CMC workshops.
  • Assign a team captain for recruiting efforts. Create a high level of internal communication and coordination so you can integrate efforts and focus resources.
  • Consider that for many students the people you send are your firm. Our students consistently rate "compatibility with people in the firm" among the top three criteria for job choice. Select employees to participate in recruiting who represent your firm well and who know the firm's overall recruiting strategy. Students particularly enjoy meeting Stanford Business School alumni.
5. Communicate and Follow Up in a Timely Manner

During your on-campus interviews, give students clear information about what and when the next steps in your recruiting process will be, and stay in touch with the targeted students even if your schedule changes.

After an offer is extended, while giving the student time to consider, check in periodically to let the student know you're available to answer questions. Knowing and ensuring that all recruiters within the firm understand the "Time for Offer Consideration" policy is also important in showing support for the student's important decision.

6. Be Mindful of the GSB Culture

Stanford Business School's culture is cooperative and collaborative. Most students are involved in organizations in which they volunteer time and expertise to the larger and local community.

Know the critical OCR Policies & Guidelines and ensure all your interviewers are aware of them. Demonstrated support of these policies includes giving students several choices of flyback dates so that interviews do not conflict with their class schedules; scheduling second-round interviews in the local area if possible; refraining from exploding offers; and giving students adequate time to consider an offer.

7. Ask for Feedback from the CMC & Students

Once you have completed recruiting, talk with a member of the CMC team to debrief on what worked and what could be improved for next season. You may also want to contact students for feedback; this could come from students you interviewed, those you targeted but were unable to interview, and those who declined offers. We also want your feedback about how we can improve.