Land Your Dream Job
For many college students, their ultimate goal is to land their dream job after graduation. This can be quite a daunting task since landing any job after graduation depends on many factors such as a well-established resume, letters of recommendation, extracurricular activities, networking, and experience. Internships play a large role in boosting a student’s chances of landing a job; however, many students struggle with landing that entry-level internship which will open several opportunities for them. Many first and second year college students have successfully landed several entry level internship very early in their major, yet many third and fourth year students continue to struggle. Many of those students feel discouraged because they either face rejections after applying or after an interview, feel unprepared during interviews, or feel as though they are not as competent for any entry level position since they do not have the skills or experience. Technology, such as customer relationship management (CRM) software, can help to alleviate this stress by efficiently improving their job and internship search. This paper will define what a CRM is and discuss how the Mike Ilitch School of Business can implement a recruiting CRM software tool to better place students in internships.
What is a CRM?
It is important to first define what a CRM is. A CRM is a model used to manage an organization’s interactions with customers and prospects to increase customer loyalty, retention, and profitability. It allows a business to gain insight on customers’ decisions to establish an exceptional experience and quality of service. Companies that understand consumer needs are more prone to success. The CRM goals do vary depending on the organization but all want to increase sales, communication between departments, reduce operating costs, and streamline business processes.
As a recruitment tool, a CRM is about establishing better student and university relationships with employers. According to Ben Slater, a CRM is also for job seekers and candidates. “A CRM is an ecosystem of all passive and active candidates. It’s a complete talent intelligence hub”. An efficient recruiting CRM should identify what areas a student may lack in and need improvement, such as their interview skills, Excel, or resume preparation. This can be accomplished by having recruiters and interviewers providing notes and feedback as to how the student performed and what areas would make them a better candidate. Further, the university can also keep track of who has been proactive in the job or internship search - it is “set to scan existing records for matching names when a student applies so connections can start to be made”. According to University Business, campus career services departments have a growing interest in CRM for maintaining relationships with both students and employers. Indiana University uses the CRM to coordinate communications between alumni and the departments.
Symplicity provides a career service management software (called CSM), study abroad information, and a metrics to track a student’s progress with landing a job or internship. Symplicity is implemented by many prestigious university’s such as Harvard, University of Michigan, Colombia, and National University of Singapore. A company’s background information is readily accessible in the information and includes alumni who work there. “Since switching to CSM, Northwest Missouri State University’s office of career services has increased students applying to jobs in the system by 164%. Through effective marketing to students, the department also increased student logins by more than 22%, and increased students with resumes in the system by 24%”.
12Twenty’s vision is to change “the way university career centers, students, and employers approach career recruitment.” 12Twenty allows real time data analysis of student’s search process and recruitment while updating on salary basis, relocation, and stock. Since all the information is at hand, it will allow students to easily negotiate and decide on a job offer.
Finding an Internship?
As one of many students at the Mike Ilitch School of Business, finding an internship has been very difficult. After not qualifying for an entry level position, one gets frustrated and starts to lose confidence in their skills. Since entry level internship positions do not expect you to know everything, yet it does become stressful when someone who is starting has had little to no exposure is able to land an entry level internship while another struggles. It is confusing how an entry level internship position wants someone with at least three years of experience given yet chooses someone who has not taken many classes related to the field. Furthermore, many students feel unprepared during interviews – they either forget what to say or do not know how to respond to an interview question, especially when they are asked about skills they have yet to acquire. The Mike Ilitch School of Business Career Planning and Placement (CPP) Services offers assistance in landing an internship, career guidance, evaluating job offers, and interview preparations. Career Planning and Placement Services uses a database to inform students on events, career fairs, and employer meet-and-greets.
HubSpot CRM
Now it is time to use a CRM to organize your job search. You need to efficiently and effectively keep track of all the career opportunities and internship possibilities. Using a free CRM tool, such as HubSpot CRM, makes you productive in your job search. First, go to HubSpot and sign-up for the free CRM (http://hubspot.com/crm). Then start to use the system. But before you do, spend an hour learning how to use the system, earn your certification, and add this to your skill profile (http://certification.hubspot.com/CRM-certification-course). Now, as you find opportunities, add the companies into your CRM. Create a simple deals process to highlight the stages of your career exploration. As you meet individuals for those companies, load their names into your CRM. Make sure you keep notes, copies of your emails, and a list of tasks with dates.
Summary
Customer relationship management (CRM) software is the newest form of inbound technology to place students in internships and jobs. A CRM is a model used to manage an organization’s interactions with customers and prospects to increase customer loyalty, retention, and profitability. It allows a business to gain insight on customers’ decisions to establish an exceptional experience and quality of service. Symplicity and 12Twenty are example of career service management software that are used by prestigious universities and have increased students’ recruitment rate. Such software has also established quick and efficient direct communication from employer to the university career services to provide feedback on how the student performed during an interview and what skill sets they are looking for. The key to landing any position is networking and vital for any organization’s success.
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Work Cited
- “Higher Ed.” Symplicity. Symplicity, 28 April 2017. Web. 18 June 2017 <https://www.symplicity.com/higher-ed>.
- “Intuitive Career Center Software.” 12Twenty. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2017. <https://www.12twenty.com/about-us/>.
- McClure, Ann. “CRM Grows Up.” N.p., 24 Sept. 2012. Web. 18 June 2017. <https://www.universitybusiness.com/article/crm-grows>.
- Slater, Ben. “ATS vs CRM: Why Do You Need a Recruitment CRM?” Beamery Blog. Beamery, 24 May 2017. Web. 18 June 2017. <https://blog.beamery.com/ats-vs-crm/>.
- Jepsen, Kyle. How to Organize Your Job Hunt in HubSpot CRM, 21 June 2017. <https://blog.hubspot.com/customers/job-search-in-hubspot-crm>.
