As an HR professional, you must be wondering why it’s even a good idea to hire students instead of skilled and experienced professionals. The answer might not be very obvious, but students can make a perfect workforce due to a number of reasons. First of all, they are very adaptable and easy to teach. Since they don’t have any (or have very little) practical experience, they can learn how to work effectively, specifically in your company, and they will learn it quickly. On top of that, student employees bring more diversity and fresh perspectives to companies. And they are digital natives, which means that they understand technology better than many established professionals.

Although there are many tangible benefits, we have to admit that recruiting and retaining young talent can be a real challenge. As an HR, you should understand that the process of finding and hiring a student workforce is much different from that you use to hire older professionals. So how can you staff your company with such workers? Read on, and we will give you a few working tactics to make this real!

student employees
Image by aleksandarlittlewolf on Freepik

Use Global Freelance Platforms

For students, working full-time or even part-time is always a major challenge because combining this with full-time studies isn’t easy. Although today young people can pay to write a paper with professional writers, many of them prefer online jobs that are easier to balance with school. That’s why one of the easiest ways to connect with potential young employers is using freelance sites.

There are plenty of options to tap into. Some of the biggest platforms include Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer, and similar. On these platforms, you should be able to find young talents with the experiences you’re looking for.

This approach will also offer a number of extra benefits for your company. First of all, freelance sites unlock your access to the global pool of talent. That is, you can hire employees from nearly anywhere in the world. And secondly, these sites will also help you pick candidates with rates that match your company’s budget best.

Offer Internships and Apprenticeships

The second obvious way to drive the student workforce to your company is to create internship and apprenticeship opportunities. Even though young people have nearly 100% of their time busy with lectures and homework, they often are up for such opportunities. For them, internships and apprenticeships are the chance to gain hands-on experience. This can help them gain an edge over competitors and increase their marketability in the future. Due to these reasons, many young talents are willing to take on an internship or apprenticeships. Moreover, they are willing to research such opportunities on their own.

By creating an internship or apprenticeship opportunity and posting it on the web, you can drive a huge number of applications from ambitious and motivated candidates. That is, in most cases, you won’t even have to look for them yourself.

For your company, this will also give a number of benefits. Namely, such positions can help you fill in existing skill gaps and develop young professionals to fill future roles. However, it’s worth noting that retaining students after their internships can be rather hard. Still, if done wisely, such programs can offer you a lot of perks.

Leverage LinkedIn

Being busy in college, many students won’t spend much time on job search sites, which is the primary reason why finding and hiring them can be somewhat challenging for HRs. However, they do use LinkedIn instead. So you can use this as another opportunity to recruit them.

For new generations, social networks are irreplaceable parts of their lives. Since this demographic group is also the most engaged and the fastest growing on any media platform it’s safe to say that HRs need to play on their field. According to a study by The Harris Poll, 71% of surveyed hiring heads believe the screening process must be conducted using social networks. 

What this means, in reality, is that HRs should hop on LinkedIn and get active there to attract the new generation of workers with ease. Create a professional profile if you don’t have one already. Make job postings and other publications. And actively network with target candidates to recruit the right talents for your company.

Try Direct Advertising

Earlier, we mentioned that the process of finding and hiring new-gen employees is much different. That’s true in most cases. However, it doesn’t mean that conventional hiring tactics don’t work with students at all.

Indeed, most young people won’t spend much of their time on job boards and career sites. That is, you will likely never reach them through making job postings and advertising them. Still, there is a small percentage of students who will notice your advertising.

There is no secret that college students often operate on a tight budget. That’s why some of them prefer to support their studies with professional writing services and free time for a full-time job. But still, not all graduates have a chance to get invited to work for a firm directly. 

This basically means that there is a chance to recruit student employees through direct job listings and advertising. Thus, you should never disregard this option completely. Just be sure to write job descriptions that would attract new-gen employees, and this method should bring you the desired results!

The Bottom Line

Being proactive, ambitious, easy-trained, and well-versed in technology, students can indeed become the perfect workers for your company. They can help you fill in the gaps and significantly expand your business’s perspectives. And, as you now know, finding and recruiting them is different. But it really isn’t as hard as it seems.

Now you have everything you need to succeed! Use the pieces of advice from this article to attract young talents to your company with ease.