Keeping Ties to Interns and Back-to-School Students

As unemployment numbers edge down and employers struggle to find candidates who meet both technical and soft-skill requirements, it's essential for human resources and hiring managers to stay in touch with previous interns and part-time student workers. Leveraging intern programs to create a network of future employees makes onboarding more efficient, as previous students will already have an understanding of your company's processes. Even if you don't hire future graduates, keeping in touch helps you expand your business network.

In niches where the demand for quality candidates is higher than supply, HR and recruiting staff must make extra efforts to connect with qualified candidates. Anytime you have a previous connection to exploit, you can reduce the overall time and cost of recruiting. Interns already have experience with your company and may be eager to return for full-time work; by creating a database of previous part-time workers and interns, you can reduce the cost of running ads or spending hours scouring networks for viable applicants. College students who worked part time for your organization also have an understanding of your company, so they can get up to speed faster than a completely new hire.

You may see dozens of students pass through intern programs each year. HR departments can use social media to keep in touch with numerous interns through one or two channels. Facebook and Twitter are good ways to communicate information about job openings and company news, but LinkedIn is probably the preferred channel for building professional business networks. One benefit of LinkedIn is that it doubles as a recruiting database. You can search for candidates via keywords, read resumes, and see where your former interns are today. It's important to connect with interns through social media while they are a part of your organization or immediately upon their return to school. Encourage students to connect with your organization by making an invitation part of the exit interview process.

Email and telephone calls are an important way to connect individually with specific candidates, but busy human resource departments aren't going to be able to follow up with every intern or part-time student worker. Encourage leadership to identify promising candidates throughout internship programs. Some professionals may even want to touch base occasionally by having lunch or coffee with previous interns or part-time student workers. Human resource organizations can help leaders develop appropriate relationships by providing some guidelines and training. Interns should never be promised future work, but those in leadership roles may act as advisors or mentors to students.

Building a network of previous interns may seem like a lot of work, but in a competitive hiring market, HR organizations should keep in touch with possible candidates at all times. Staying in touch with interns can reduce hiring costs, improve onboarding procedures, and help build the company's talent pool.

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