Spotlight for Recruiting Professionals
Employers tend to not only use high-touch branding methods at higher rates, they also find them to be the most effective branding methods, according to results of 2018 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Report.
This preference is not a new development. Consistent with past results, career fairs were the most used branding technique (94.4 percent). Other popular high-touch branding techniques were campus information sessions and building relationships with key faculty. (See Figure 1.)
When employers were asked to identify their single most effective on-campus branding technique, they ranked career/job fairs, campus information sessions, and supporting student organization activities/events highest. Other methods that were among the most used—corporate websites and building relationships with key faculty—were not seen as particularly effective. (See Figure 2.)
Data collection for NACE’s 2018 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Report took place from June 20, 2018, to September 10, 2018; 218 firms participated. The report will be released later this winter.
Figure 1: Use of branding techniques*
Branding Technique |
% used |
Career/job fairs |
94.4% |
Corporate website |
90.7% |
Campus information sessions |
82.6% |
Building relationships with key faculty |
78.9% |
Supporting student organization activities/events |
74.5% |
Social media |
67.7% |
Campus website |
47.2% |
Internet advertising other than your own website |
32.9% |
Search engine optimization |
13.7% |
Advertising job publications aimed at students |
13.0% |
Advertising in general print publications |
8.1% |
DVDs |
0.6% |
Campus radio stations |
0.0% |
Campus TV stations |
0.0% |
Source: 2018 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Report, National Association of Colleges and Employers.
* Percentages will not total 100 percent because respondents were asked to give more than one answer. The percentages reflect the proportion of respondents who endorsed each option.
Figure 2: Branding techniques ranked in first place for effectiveness, by percentage of employers
Branding Technique |
% effective |
Career/job fairs |
44.4% |
Campus information sessions |
19.2% |
Supporting student organization activities/events |
12.6% |
Building relationships with key faculty |
7.9% |
Corporate website |
7.9% |
Social media |
4.6% |
Campus website |
2.0% |
Advertising job publications aimed at students |
0.7% |
Search engine optimization |
0.7% |
Source: 2018 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Report, National Association of Colleges and Employers