Career Resource Center : The final guide


Kickstarting Your College and MBA Recruiting Program

- by Sherrie Gong Taguchi *

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Part - IV

  • Pre-recruitment: build visibility and presence on campus; know your customers; make use of what the school already offers; host an employer information session and focused events; target candidates.

  • Interviews: choose your teams; prepare them so they are synched; conduct preliminary interviews; evaluate candidates; and follow up with invitations and rejections.

  • Second rounds and offers: second rounds and a close-up look or day on the job; doing your compensation homework - market, competition, school-specific, and internal compensation philosophy; thanks and appreciation to all stakeholders; feedback and improvement; start over and build the momentum.

3. Don't waste your interviews. Chances are you are inundated with candidates who have the experience that you need. Experience is fundamental but other critical qualities are: attitude, fit with the organization, and adaptability. Experience can become dated, and as it is, this is something that can be learned and gained. However, you can't change someone's attitude, their ability to adapt or learn, or their personality type such that they'd fit into your unique organization. Spend time figuring out how to get at and assess these factors during your interviews with candidates.

Behavioral interviewing questions, which rely on the premise that past behavior is the best predictor of future success, and select simulations during second round or your more in-depth interviews can uncover fit and adaptability as well as technical abilities and relevant experience.

Some key to-dos in preparing for interviews include: -

  • Choosing alumni from the specific schools where you are recruiting, experienced interviewers, and/or the managers with whom the new recruits will be working to conduct the interviews.

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* Sherrie Gong Taguchi was the VP of Univ. for Recruiting at Bank of America and director of Corp. HR responsible for staffing, exec. dev., and reorganizations at Dole Packaged Foods and Mervyn's Deptt Stores. She has also served as the asstt dean at the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she headed the Career Mgmt Center and Mgmt Communication Program. Her two popular books - Hiring the Best and Brightest & The Ultimate Guide to Getting the Career You Want and What to Do Once You Have - are helping thousands of job seekers and career changers worldwide - whether just out of school or at the executive level.