Today’s Guest Post is by HR Consultant Heather Huhman

Both employers and students/recent graduates often overlook campus career centers as a resource for college recruiting. As a small business, there are many reasons to head to career centers at colleges and universities in your area to start looking for young professionals to work with you:

  • Recruiting assistance. Career centers offer a multitude of assistance for your recruiting needs. Career fairs, interview opportunities on-campus, student databases, networking events, and job boards can give you exposure and help build relationships with students who could be a good fit for your company.
  • Building relationships. Not only can you build relationships with students, but using the career center will allow you to build relationships with its employees—an important relationship to have year after year, as new students come in and seniors graduate. As your relationship grows, career center employees will know the types of personalities and majors you’ve looked for in the past, and can help suggest matches when you come to campus for recruiting and interviewing.
  • Help with pre-screening candidates. Many career centers that have a database of students or resumes can help you find qualified candidates for your position. Their employees will look through the database and present you with ones that meet your qualifications for your opening.
  • Advice for hiring young professionals. Campus career centers specialize in prepping their students and alumni for positions, and they work with a variety of employers trying to match their students with the right fit. Don’t be afraid to approach them for advice on challenges or concerns you may have looking for the right candidate.
  • A gateway to the campus community. Not only will you be able to use the various resources the campus career center has to offer, but you’ll also have the ability connect with the larger campus community. Many career centers can help you set up informational tables on-campus, point you in the direction of student organizations to get to know, and suggest your expertise for on-campus events, lectures and panels.

Do you have a relationship with a local campus career center? What are the some of the benefits?

About Heather R. Huhman

Heather R. Huhman is a career expert and founder & president of Come Recommended, a career and workplace education and consulting firm specializing in young professionals. She is also the author of #ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from Classroom to Cubicle (2010), national entry-level careers columnist for Examiner.com and blogs about career advice at HeatherHuhman.com. Follow her on Twitter at @heatherhuhman.