Use student ambassadors to hire more diverse college students for internships and recent grads for entry-level jobs

In business, as in most things related to life, there are a few leaders and a whole lot of followers. The followers do their best to mimic the actions of the leaders in the hope that they’ll stay safe and even prosper. But the sad reality is that those who follow rarely prosper to the same degree as those who lead.

I see the same in the world of recruiting, including in how employers are trying to hire more diverse students for internships and recent graduates for entry-level jobs. You have a small number of employees who are innovative and those innovative programs often lead to outsized successes. But you also have a lot of employers who are more cautious, wait to see those successes by others, and then try to copy them. Those employers may not make as many mistakes and so take a safer path, but they also rarely see the same level of success.

I’ve been having a lot of conversations recently with career experts about how employers can hire more diverse students for internships and recent graduates for entry-level jobs. A lot of the ideas are the same, but not all. Case in point is some advice that I just received from Jason Rife, the executive director of the Cox Career Management Center and Graduate Admissions at the Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University (SMU Cox) in Dallas.

I liked Jason’s first and third recommendations, in part because I know that they work but also because he did a nice job of explaining them. But it was his second idea that stood out, as none of my conversations to-date have included it.

1. Start Early. More and more companies are recognizing the value of diversity in their organizations so the competition for top-tier diverse students can be fierce.  Numerous firms have started engaging students very early in their academic cycles, within the freshman or sophomore year for undergrads and prior to matriculation for MBAs.  This can be accomplished via company-specific events such as a mini-internship or “immersion week” or through multi-company conferences and events such as Forté, the Consortium, or JumpStart.  The best students have often been off the market for a while by the time they are close to graduating.

2. Utilize Student Ambassadors. Strong word-of-mouth from a student who just spent the summer interning with your company can often carry more weight than any firm-hosted information session or networking event.  The formal (e.g., clubs) and informal networks among diverse students can be very strong on campus, and the authenticity that comes from hearing the positive personal experiences of another student with a background similar to their own is hard to replicate.  When diverse students perform well in internships, pull them into the recruiting process for the next cycle.  Empower them to speak at your recruiting events and make recommendations about other students you should interview.  Do NOT wait until your interns have accepted their offer to do this because you may miss out on some early talent and also because just showing the interns that you trust them to be a part of the process will often increase their buy-in to your organization and lead them to accept.

3. Engage University Career Centers. Reach out directly to the career center(s) within your network of schools.  They will be able to tell you how to plug into Diversity & Inclusion clubs and events and should provide specific insights into how your firm can be competitive.  Be sure to talk with each of the career centers that support the types of students you want to recruit.  Many campuses have not only a centralized career office that supports the whole campus but also specialized career teams that serve business, law, engineering, etc.