The Value of Visiting Campuses

First are job fairs. Job fairs are the traditional, formal way of meeting many students in a short period of time. While they are helpful, you should look for ways to supplement that experience.  Expense budgets are tight, but if your company has already made the investment to bring you and others to campus, then leverage that for the greatest possible exposure.

For instance, consider coming the day before and hosting a "lunch and learn" to give students more information about careers and internships in the insurance industry. For the cost of a few pizzas, employers get to meet student leaders of various student organizations (like Gamma Iota Sigma for insurance students) who coordinate and participate in these kinds of events. These students have great personal skills, are high achievers, and have a good work ethic. In other words, the kind of people you want to hire.

You can also stay on campus after a job fair and interview students you met who seemed promising. As the job market heats up and good students begin to have more than one employer courting them, being the first to ask is an advantage.  

Although it is frowned upon to take up class time to advertise your company, enlightened faculty will often invite professionals to come and present on a particular topic, such as commercial liability underwriting, reinsurance, enterprise risk management, or managing insurance catastrophe claims virtually.

Find out what faculty members need and then put together a few "off the shelf" presentations (preferably with photos and exhibits). Take advantage of these classroom opportunities to find out which students seem engaged and interested in learning. You can give those student business cards and contact them later. Students love the opportunity to hear industry professionals (war stories are actually welcomed) and to network with them.

You can also set up times to help students with resume writing or preparing for interviews and offering improvement suggestions during mock interviews. These are less stressful and often give employers a better chance to get to know students as well as establish their reputation within the student community.

These various opportunities give you a chance to talk to students outside of a structured job fair or interview setting where you may hear the same pat answers and questions. You can really learn more about what students are looking for in an employer if you come back to campus. You will hear questions like:  What is your corporate culture? What is your policy on flex time? In other words, questions that students may not ask during an interview. You may also find hidden talent in students who are quite gifted and have professional skills but haven't figured out how to market themselves as well as their colleagues have through an online job format. 

If you are a young alumnus, students will love you because they will see themselves in you. If you are an industry expert, students want to hear how you learned your skills. If you are an agent, they will want to ask you about how to shop for insurance and what it's like to live on commissions. If you are in management, students will love to know your career path and what recommendations you may have for them.

Students crave information about careers and what they can do once they finish their studies. They will definitely use online resources to find this out, but even in today's world, there is not a substitute for meeting the professional in-person. So get back on campus and have fun!