Alumni associations are great organizations for HR professionals to work with long term for a multitude of reasons. Below are just a few ways HR professionals can, and should, work with these associations to remain efficient and effective.
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Recruit Specialized Talent
If you’re an HR professional, you can, and should, rely on alumni associations at schools with highly specialized programs to fill your talent pipelines. For example, you could work to hire recent graduates from technical programs, computer coding and developer programs, MBA programs, etc.
Once you learn more about each school’s programs and curricula and work with it on an ongoing basis, you’ll know exactly what skills and specialties each alumnus will have upon graduating. This will also make it easier for you to fill vacant positions that need those specific skill sets.
Solicit Referrals
You can, and should, encourage your current employees, managers, and leaders to tap into their own alumni networks to find individuals they know or want to work with or hire.
And you can contact different alumni networks to discover who has demonstrated talent in their field, received certain awards or accolades, etc. Always reach out to alumni associations and networks and solicit referrals for individuals who believe in your organization’s work, mission, and culture.
Explore Options for Benefits
Tap into different alumni association networks to discover what newer graduates want and expect from an employer once they graduate, especially because this can change over time.
Do they want or require certain benefits, such as tuition reimbursement or flexible work options, for example? You can leverage this information to make sure you are able to develop one of the most competitive compensation and benefits packages in your industry.
Network
Connect with different alumni associations on social media, and stay connected to different alumni associations for networking purposes. Talk to various people to see who is looking for work, what other organizations are offering new college grads, what trends in your industry are changing, etc.
Focus on Your Own Career Development
As an HR professional, you should stay in touch with different alumni associations so you can keep your own skills up to date. Leverage alumni associations to learn more about continued learning opportunities, trends in HR and recruiting, and changes in specialized programs, as well as learn more about what students are learning and prepared for once they graduate and are looking for work. Alumni associations are essentially a great way to ensure your own career development doesn’t stagnate.
As detailed above, alumni associations offer great ways to ensure HR professionals remain connected, efficient, effective, and well prepared to recruit and hire new graduates.