Catching the small fish Best practices for engaging SMBs on your campus

May 18, 2011

DVCP Presentation

I-35 Corridor

7 Higher Ed programs in Austin totaling 110k students

Texas State in San Marcos with 30k students

Over 20 Higher Ed programs in San Antonio with a total of 100k students

There are 21 Chambers of Commerce in Austin

There are 2 Chambers in San Marcos

There are 16 Chambers in San Antonio

Universities can source more jobs by targeting small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) rather than focusing on large national employers.

The Claimed Current Environment The Proposed Optimal Environment

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Our Hypothesis

Large Employer

Students SMBs Large Employer

Students

SMBs

Large Employer

SMBs

Students

Large Employer

SMBsStudents

We believe that with limited effort and using existing resources you can catch the small fish in your pond.

While we are still early in the study, we do have some data and best practices that can support our hypothesis and want your input:

•Sizing the situation•Feedback and survey results•A new resource for career centers and the community•Key takeaways for your career center•Discussion

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Agenda

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Current Situation

Universities:

• 4,352 Higher Ed Programs

• 13% degrees issued for Engineering or Business, 50% for Liberal Arts

• Many Universities require students have an internship

• Placement rates are not a factor for most undergrad school ranking

Students:

• 19M students, 3.2M grads

• 78% of students hold a part-time job while in college

• Avg. student with part-time job works 30 hrs/wk

• 25% of 2010 grads had a job at graduation – up 6% from 2009 and these numbers may up 13% for 2011 grads

Companies:

• 26.9M firms (25.4M SMBs)

• 115M employees (65M SMBs)

• 40%+ target Engineer and Business majors, 6% Liberal Arts (firms that recruit on campus)

• <5% have qualifying internship programs

• < 1% of firms recruit on campus ($386k/yr budget)

Sources http://campus2careers.com/Sources.aspx

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What has Changed

Universities/Career Centers:

• Budgets have declined or remained flat

• Less financial support from large businesses

• Staff not grown proportionate to student count

• Increased requirement for internships to graduate

• Endless amount of content for students to access

Students:

• Want to interact in more ways than ever before

• Have greater interest in alternative career paths

• Increased # of non-traditional and online students

• Increased #of former students/ alumni looking for help

• More graduate students using career centers

Companies:

• Large employers more impacted by the economy

• Small employers more impacted by boomers retiring

• A burgeoning # of non-profits and start-ups

• Smaller organizations need students/recent grads for new techs

• Increase in # of contract/ temp positions/needs

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SMB Marketplace

We believe the biggest market for jobs is with smaller organizations.

Small and mid-sized organizations are big business and the best opportunity for students and career centers to find jobs because:

•Firms with <250 employees do 70% of the hiring in America (on average)•Start-ups accounted for 14% of hiring from ‘93 – ’08•98k jobs were added to the economy in Dec 2010, all but 2k were at companies with less than 250 employees•Small businesses employee half of America and create two out of every three net new jobs in the U.S. economy•Growth may only increase in the next few years due to new SBA lending•SMBs are twice as likely to recruit a liberal arts major over a large firm

Sources http://campus2careers.com/Sources.aspx

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SMB Feedback

SMBs are more interested in recruiting student talent

One of the biggest challenges in the SMB space is the lack of a single voice. However, there are common themes we have identified. SMBs:

•Don’t have the resources/time to recruit on campus during the day•Don’t want to compete with large employers•Don’t know process, legalities, or have access to the career centers•Don’t have the need for more than 1 or 2 positions at a given time

But, SMBs:•See value in recruiting college students, especially for internships•Would be interested in developing a relationship with a local University•Can provide a unique work/learning environment for students

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Campus Feedback

Working for a large corporation was ranked just slightly higher than a Government position.

A multi-campus survey confirmed that Millennials are more interested in working for a SMB because of the following Gen Y characteristics:

•Wanting direct interaction with management and higher-ups•Wanting to make a difference Day 1 and stand-out•Being proficient in multi-tasking•Being socially conscious and aware•Being more resourceful and technology savvy•Less interested in big brands and less impressed by big offices

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Career Center Feedback

Feedback from the multi-campus survey and discussions with Directors and staff has provided the following findings about career centers:

•Student needs have changed•Economy has changed where the jobs are and how career centers operate•Demands on the career centers change how they do business – requiring career centers be more efficient•There is a market of hidden opportunities but it has not been economical to reach them previously•There are many channels to reach this market but it will require being proactive vs. reactive to building relationships•There are online resources that can help

Career Centers will benefit from additional ways to connect with the employers in their community.

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Local Organizations/Channels

All cities and communities have many of these local organizations that can connect you to employers and their hidden opportunities

•Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) and Other Local Programs•Start-up Incubators and Programs•Non-profit Associations•Chambers of Commerce•Co-op programs (e.g. MAXI award for Outlet Mall)•Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Program•Rotary Clubs/Civic Clubs•Municipal Governments

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Develop relationships with the organizations in your community that are most accessible.

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campus2careers

We are interested in working with the career center to connect with students whenever we roll-out to a new market

campus2careers is a new source for college students/recent grads to connect with small and mid-sized businesses, start-ups and nonprofits

• New job search site exclusively for college students/recent grads and SMBs:– All positions are entry level and with local employers– Candidates are matched with opportunities based on interest and skills– Candidates can create a rich digital profile or virtual resume– A free resource for career centers and college students– Designed and priced specifically for SMBs

• Our goal is to build the relationships with the local organizations to give your students access to the hidden opportunities available at SMBs

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InternInAustin

We anticipate keeping 150 students in Austin via the InternInAustin program which amounts to over 1M in revenue

for the city

InternInAustin is a citywide initiative to help keep students in Austin and interning with a local small business or nonprofit this summer

• The program includes resources and events to help SMBs:– Build an effective, ALL YEAR round internship program– Recruit interns via a citywide internship fair for SMBs exclusively– Connect with career centers

• The key learnings from the program include:– Community stakeholders were willing to participate if there was no work– Most local schools supported the program and marketed the fair– The SMB, nonprofit, and start-up community were key drivers of the program

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Summary of Results

•Due to the large number of retiring boomers, municipalities and other government agencies are an increasing market for new hires•Fast growing companies 50-500 have the greatest need for new hires but little to no expertise to recruit on campus•Employers 500-5000 are looking to expand the number of schools where they recruit and are interested in knowing about fairs and other tools

Survey results, site observations, and discussions with SMBs led to the following findings in Central TX that could apply elsewhere:

•Small businesses, nonprofits and start-ups are largely interested in interns to get access to new expertise and marketing resources•The start-up and nonprofit community are well organized and will be the biggest drivers for any “small business” initiatives

A huge opportunity to bridge the campus and local business communities

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Key Takeaways

Based on our original hypothesis and initial findings, we believe the below items are keys to success:

Expand your network and focus on local businesses or organizationsDevelop partnerships or perform activities with local business/civic clubsReduce your dependency on larger employers for jobs, dollars, and trendsPromote students get off campus and into the communityMake it easier for students to get credit for internshipsPartner with online tools like campus2careers to connect with SMBsConnect to the start-up scene in your communityGet local business and community leaders on campus

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Where to Begin

While we are still early in the journey, we think the following first steps will get you the farthest:

Start thinking differentlySelect an internal/career center owner and sponsorIdentify the most likely local business channelsDevelop PR and media packets to drive awarenessCapture metrics and success stories/testimonialsShare the value of working for a smaller business with your studentsProvide students with a calendar of off campus activities

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Questions and Discussion