What do Weyerhaeuser, General Electric, Universum, Booz Allen Hamilton, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ford Motor Co. have in common? A zest for hiring new college graduates with the potential and drive to accomplish great things in the workplace. These employers know how to build relations and keep the communication lines to campus open.

Kathy Sims, director of UCLA’s Career Center in Los Angles, believes the recession of the 90’s showed companies how foolish it was to abandon colleges when they weren’t hiring. A case in point is when Weyerhaeuser Co. pulled back its campus presence a few years ago. Rose Dashchuk, team leader for recruiting, staffing and diversity with Weyerhaeuser, says, "We lost credibility and momentum and it took us from two to five years to build back up."

UCLA’s Sims suggests that companies, who need to cut down on travel, work with university career centers. "Try to get special publicity from them, like links on their websites or inclusion in special publications. Work with student organizations, especially those with a career focus. "Merrill Lynch recently conducted an online chat with a senior executive at the company, in which 40 to 50 schools participated."

Weyerhaeuser looks at where the company has a physical presence and which nearby universities have the skills and disciplines that particular business needs. Booz Allen Hamilton assigns recruiters functional areas. They have brought their interview-to-offer ratio down from 5:1 to 2:1 through this strategy. This also saves time for hiring managers because they need to do fewer interviews. General Electric stresses internships and co-op programs. About 65% of the 1,400 students they typically hire into full-time positions have had an internship or co-op experience at G.E.

PricewaterhouseCoopers focuses its efforts in four main areas: early identification, team involvement, ongoing activities and internships. Ford Motor Co. uses its campus recruiters and an interactive website assessment program to identify and invite 200 to 300 candidates to a weekend leadership conference each recruiting season.

In a 2001 study, Universum asked MBA students about various recruiting techniques they experienced. They say companies don’t often differentiate themselves enough and presentations run too long. Students are impressed when senior people or alumni attend fairs and are tuned off by recruiters who aren’t knowledgeable about the positions they are recruiting for.

Source: Carla Joinson, Employment Management Today, (Employment Management Association), Winter 2002 Issue

The report tracks turnover among all employees, and turnover in specific occupational groups — nursing, radiology technicians, pharmacists, medical technicians, and coder/ abstractors. The report also tracks vacancy rates in each category. Health care employers can input turnover and vacancy data, and compare their rates against other health care employers statewide, by geographical region, by peer group, or by number of employees.

The report is available to all health care employers — in Michigan and outside of Michigan. Comprehensive participation will ensure an accurate and thorough database.

Access to this report is available by contacting Sandra Munson via e-mail [smunson@lans.mha.org]. Ms. Munson will issue user names and passwords. The Turnover and Vacancy Rate Report is a free service to all UCP members. Individual health care employers that are not members of the UCP can access the report for an annual fee of $500 [special prices are available for multiple facility health care systems].

Please contact Neil MacVicar if you have any questions or need more information. Dial Neil direct at 517/886-8331 or e-mail address at nmacvicar@lans.mha.org. 

Source: "Success in Recruiting and Retaining", March 2002 issue

Organization’s Internet job postings

Internship program 4.28* on campus Web site 3.60

Employee Referrals 4.25 Student organizations/clubs 3.50

Career/job fairs 4.20 Request resumes (career centers) 3.40

On-campus recruiting 3.95 Job posting at career offices 3.40

Internet job postings Internet resume databases 3.15

on company website 3.92 Recruitment advertising (print) 3.10

Co-op programs 3.90 Newspaper ads (campus or local) 2.73

Internet job postings Career/job fairs (virtual) 2.65

on career Web site 3.65 Internet banners 2.42

Faculty contacts 3.63 Video banners 1.68

*Based on a 5-point scale: 1 = not effective; 5 = extremely effective.

Source: Job Outlook 2002, National Association of Colleges and Employers.