When Recruiting on Campus Is Too Costly

Everyone's tightening belts these days, and HR budgets are by no means exempt from the cost-cutting efforts. Even during lean times, many companies are hiring, but they are trying to pick the best people while trying to keep expenses down. For some companies, that includes thinking twice about flying or driving to college campuses to interview prospective employees. That doesn't mean recruiters have stopped communicating with students. In more and more cases, it does mean the conversation may take place over a distance, using state-of-the-art technology. The interview setup can be as simple as two laptops loaded with Skype software, which allows phone calls and webcam images to be transmitted over the Internet. Or it may involve thousands of dollars' worth of videoconferencing equipment for a more natural approach. At Liberty Mutual Group, recruiting director Ann Nowak visits a few schools where the company has strong relationships and has found a good pool of talent. But she says, "Sometimes I get inquiries from very strong candidates in the top 10 percent of their class" at other schools, and she doesn't want them to slip away. Although theinsurance company is growing and hiring sales representatives, Nowak can't afford to fly across the country for a handful of interviews, so she has set up an online recruiting and selection system. Students at distant schools can view online presentations about the kinds of positions the company has available. And when an interested prospect seems like he or she might be a good match, Nowak can use Web-based interviewing to narrow her choices. The company invites those who survive the cut to fly to headquarters for an interview. Anheuser-Busch InBev is another company that recruits on college campuses. Elatia Abate, the company's global director of recruitment and strategy, picked a few schools she deemed worthy of visits. Career counselors at other schools wanted her to interview their students as well, but there wasn't room in the budget. Lean operations have been a hallmark of the brewing company since Belgium's In Bev acquired St. Louis-based Anheuser- Busch. However, for candidates whose background looks interesting, Abate will conduct video interviews. One way schools avoid getting passed by is to subscribe to a service called Interview Stream. For a few thousand dollars a year, the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, company sets up a system that allows recruiters to conduct live interviews online. Or they can develop an automated process in which the Interview Stream system delivers each candidate a series of questions and records a video of the candidate's responses. To conduct this method, the company sends the job candidate an e-mail message inviting him or her to click on a link to a Web site that plays a video of the interviewer asking prerecorded questions. The company using the Interview Stream service chooses which questions will be asked and whether to give candidates the option to review and edit their responses. A webcam on the candidate's computer records the interview, which is then made available for the company's hiring people to review whenever they like. SOURCES: Diana Middleton, "Non-Campus Recruiting," Wall Street Journal, February 23, 2010, http://onliune.wsj.com ; Jeremiah McWilliams, "Drastic Changes, No Apologies," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 15, 2009, Business & Company Resource Center, http://galenet.galegroup.com ; "Liberty Mutual Adds Reps, Offices in Massachusetts," Professional Services Close-Up, April 3, 2009,.

Questions

1. Under what conditions would it be practical for a company to send recruiters to college campuses to interview prospective employees, and when would it be impractical? What kinds of companies would you expect to see on your college campus? What kinds would you not expect to see?

2. Compare in-person interviewing with video or online interviewing in terms of the effectiveness criteria (reliability, validity, ability to generalize results, utility, and legality). Which method is superior? Why?

3. Why do you think Liberty Mutual adds a face-to-face interview of candidates who did well in their online interview? Do you think it's worthwhile to fly a candidate across the country before making a selection decision? Why or why not? What additional information, if any, could be gained from the effort?