capturing emerging talent more quickly.

A global automotive and manufacturing leader relies on its internship program to connect with the newest talent to emerge from colleges across the United States. But with a challenging geography and little standardization in its previous processes, the company faced challenges in winning qualified candidates before their competition did. By partnering with Randstad Sourceright through recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), the company re-engineered its internship program to attract, engage and convert the most talented students faster.

fill intern positions faster

The company’s new processes engage talent during the fall recruiting season, to connect with the right candidates before the competition. It also conducts speed-dating-style interviews, so hiring managers can meet several candidates in a shorter amount of time to find right-fit talent more quickly.

convert more interns to hires

With a new internship program managed by Randstad Sourceright, the company benefits from a robust, end-to-end intern hiring and onboarding strategy, complete from initial engagement, through onboarding, training and, ultimately, conversion to new hire.

enhanced candidate experience

An effective change management strategy has helped the company’s HR leaders and hiring managers work closely with the Randstad Sourceright team to better determine which kinds of interns will be needed much sooner. This has resulted in filling more than 92% of summer positions by the spring.

the situation

As a major manufacturer with operations around the globe, the company seeks to hire the best and brightest talent for entry-level program management, software engineering, hardware engineering, marketing and sales positions — before they even graduate from college.

Facing fierce competition in the Detroit metro area, the company’s talent leaders and hiring managers were concerned that their competition was engaging with and converting candidates before they could — especially for hard-to-fill positions.
The former processes often missed the ideal college recruiting season, and hiring managers struggled with the lack of transparency. Recognizing an opportunity to enhance its internship recruiting program, the company sought a new approach, one that captures the best talent when they’re most likely to consider their options and focuses on keeping them engaged beyond their internships.

the solution

Selecting Randstad Sourceright for its ability to connect with talent early on in the process and its in-depth recruiting operations, the company standardized and transformed its intern recruiting and conversion strategy. Program highlights follow:

• comprehensive talent acquisition.
  Rather than just screening resumes and bringing candidates in, the company now attends a full calendar of job fairs at a variety of colleges, sending recruiters and hiring managers alike. Because students tend to make their decisions quickly, the new program also includes speed-dating-style interviews that allow hiring managers to meet with dozens of candidates during a short window of time to evaluate them more objectively. This helps the manufacturing leader engage and extend offers to candidates before their competition does.
   
• a team effort.
  Randstad Sourceright helped the company deliver effective change management and instill a culture of collaboration. With HR and hiring managers working together to forecast intern requirements in advance, the company has a proactive understanding of its talent needs.
   
• more than recruitment.
  Supporting the internship recruiting program is Randstad Sourceright’s employer branding team, which delivers candidate nurturing email campaigns, as well as a text message strategy that further engages talent. Onboarding support includes intern engagement activities to ensure the talent is satisfied with the company and assignment, and will share their positive experiences with classmates.
   
• closing the conversion loop.
  With advanced reporting at the end of each intern assignment, hiring managers fill out a performance appraisal and recommendation for conversion to hire, ensuring that promising interns stay within the organization.
   
• a flexible approach.
  As the internship recruiting program continues to evolve, the manufacturing leader and Randstad Sourceright are also bringing in talent on an ad hoc basis, in addition to the summer internship program. While it is more challenging to find students who are available to work while attending school, this strategy helps the company to recruit and engage talent throughout the year.