November, 2004

Hire Education

10 Steps to Successful College Recruiting

By Craig A. Shutt

With a labor shortage making qualified candidates more difficult to find, some lumber dealers have discovered a tremendous resource through local colleges and universities. Hiring new graduates or offering internships that can lead to a full-time job after school provides options that many dealers are missing.

"There is a lot of potential in this approach that is left untapped,” says Daniel Evans, vice president of human resources at Ply Mart, based in Norcross, Ga. Evans has seen the advantages from both sides, having previously worked in the recruiting office at North Carolina State University and in the recruiting program for Milliken & Co., the Spartanburg, S.C.-based textile and chemical company. To take advantage of that background and the resources available, Evans spearheaded a recruiting program for Ply Mart that kicked off this fall.

Although there are many building-material programs at junior colleges and universities around the country, Ply Mart intends to spread a wider net than that, he notes. "I don’t see why we can’t take advantage of all types of disciplines, just as other companies do when they recruit,” he says. "We have the same technical challenges in lumber, the same distribution-logistics and supply-chain issues, as other fields.”

While some students in construction-technology programs are interested in joining home building firms, many more take a more general approach, says Paul Fisette, director of the Building Materials & Wood Technology program at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (UMass-Amherst). He estimates that about 30% of the program’s graduates are interested in project management positions with home builders, while the other 70% pursue positions focused on distribution logistics and management. The program, he adds, focuses on three core skills: technology, management and marketing, which translate to a variety of positions in a dealer’s operation.

The basic construction knowledge and skills learned in these programs give these job candidates a significant leg up, says Rich Welage, professor of construction technology at Vincennes University in Vincennes, Ind., a community college offering a two-year program. "Suppliers and other companies in the field want people like our construction graduates because they know how things go together,” he says. "They all want people with hands-on experience.”

The program has become so popular that the university recently completed construction on a 29,000-square-foot Construction Technology building. Costing $3.2 million, it features classrooms, framing and finish carpentry labs, masonry lab, electrical lab, cabinet and mill shop and faculty offices. "There’s a great demand for our students,” says Welage. "More and more companies are showing up to talk with them.”

The value in working with local schools goes beyond the high quality of the candidates, Fisette notes. Research had indicated that it costs lumber dealers approximately $5,000 to hire a new employee, when costs for advertising, interviewing time and other expenses are calculated, he says. By working through the schools to hire graduating seniors, those costs are saved, giving the dealer a "rebate” on the new hire immediately. "Dealers don’t always realize the costs involved in hiring.”

Some dealers do know of the advantages—and they’d just as soon keep it to themselves. "We get a lot of our people from local colleges,” says one dealer, who asked not to be identified. "But it took a lot of hard work to develop those connections, so we don’t want to share our secrets. Colleges are a wonderful source of good recruits, but it takes a real commitment. Those who understand the value keep at it, because it does pay off.”

1. Target key schools. Ply Mart’s Evans began his recruiting program by asking local store managers to let him know with which local schools they’d like to work. The possibilities are extensive, he stresses. "We don’t need master’s candidates in textiles, like I did at Milliken, but we do have key technical needs for experience in AutoCAD, drafting, and other specialized areas,” he says. "The advantage is that we can recruit at technical schools as well as universities, so there’s a wider range of options.”

Marie Naughton agrees. "Local technical schools offer great potential,” says Naughton, a partner in Curtis Newton Corp., in Dedham, Mass. She has worked closely with local schools in the past, including Massachusetts Bay Community College in Wellesley, Mass., and Holyoke Community College in Holyoke, Mass. The problem dealers have had with such programs, especially at large universities, she notes, is that "students are so well qualified that manufacturers and large wholesalers ate them up with five-day work weeks and management-track programs.”

Evans expects to work closely with the schools. His program assigns an "owner,” typically the regional sales manager, to work with the targeted school. Evans and the manager give a presentation and explain their plan to the school’s placement officer. "We want to work with them to ensure we have access to the best of the best to present our job offerings.”

2. Give presentations. Most schools offer opportunities for outside speakers to address students on many subjects, including both product- and occupation-related. At Vincennes, freshmen are required to take an introductory course on building materials, which uses outside speakers. Bernie Niehaus, president of Vincennes-based Niehaus Lumber and a graduate of the school, is one of the speakers. He gives presentations to classes of up to 90 students on siding, engineered wood and other products. "These programs are very interested in guests,” he says. "They’re always looking to add new people, especially on new topics.”

Many of the programs also devote days to discussing specific jobs and the skills needed to handle them. Evan Jones, vice president of Cowls Building Supply in Amherst, Mass., takes full advantage of these programs. A graduate of the UMass-Amherst program, he makes a presentation about his business and the opportunities available. "These programs are all over the country, and they use outside speakers frequently.”

Naughton suggests looking even closer to home for opportunities. Presentations to high school students, she says, can plant the seed when students are considering career choices—and overcome any potential image problems. "Talking with students about our environmental concern and how we work with the ecology can be helpful, because that’s been a downside to the industry in recruiting young people,” she says.

3. Give yard tours. Arranging for students to tour your yard to see the operation can expose them to the variety of skills needed and eliminate negative stereotypes. "Many students don’t realize the potential in (the construction supply) industry,” says Vincennes’ Welage. "They picture sales clerks in smocks as the only possibility. They don’t see all the technical support positions that exist.”

Fisette says UMass-Amherst used to conduct tours until class sizes—often 60 students—made it too unwieldy. In that case, Naughton suggests arranging yard tours for professors, to bring them up to date on how the industry has evolved.

"A lot of times we don’t get the best students because the teachers don’t understand the breadth of positions available. They lump them in with retail of all types or carpentry. They won’t realize the variety of specialized talents we need unless we show them.”

4. Provide job listings. An easy way to get started with programs is to provide listings to the school’s job board, says Jones. Both he and Niehaus report good results from this simple approach. Vincennes’ Placement Bureau has expanded with the new facility, Niehaus says. The staff will work with a company to arrange interviews as needed.

5. Attend job fairs. Many of the programs also offer job fairs, where dealers can set up a tabletop exhibit and hand out information. Vincennes holds its program each spring, with as many as 25 employers taking space. The school works closely with the Indiana Lumber & Builders’ Supply Association to alert companies to dates and details. These programs not only provide specifics to interested students but they help keep the company’s name and presence before all of the students, Naughton notes.

6. Interview candidates. "The schools would absolutely love it if we came and interviewed students every semester,” Ply Mart’s Evans acknowledges. But interviewing requires having an available opening, either full-time or as an internship. "We want to be a constant presence on campus, but it has to be a good experience for the student. Word gets around quickly if the position has not provided a good experience.”

UMass-Amherst offers a 13-week "professional development” seminar series each spring, at which guest speakers explain what it takes to work in a specific career and what’s expected. "It’s a good training exercise for the students to hear from people in the field,” says Fisette. During the day of the speaker’s presentation, half-hour interviews are set up with all interested students. This gives the students and recruiter a chance to create a closer relationship.

7. Provide internships. Creating internships for students during their college career allows them to learn about the skills needed and the company—and it allows the company to test out a potential hire. "Our goal is to get the best of the best as interns and offer them jobs as they finish, so they come straight to the company from graduating,” says Ply Mart’s Evans.

UMass-Amherst works with a variety of companies that create internships. "It allows the company to see their work ethic and structure an offer to them,” Fisette says. Such relationships are two-way streets, he stresses. "If they are treated professionally, they’ll be interested in working for the company.”

But if the program isn’t well organized or the student isn’t learning while he’s working, it can turn off the student. "It can be counterproductive if you don’t plan it well,” warns Naughton. "It needs to have clear supervisory standards and goals as to what they will learn.” That can be as basic as learning how to answer a phone or load a truck properly.

Interns often provide more than simply some added labor, notes Evans. "They are interested in learning, and they come in with fresh eyes and ears to the company,” he explains. "It can be amazing what they come up with that can help you.”

8. Offer a mentor program. There are other options if a full-time internship offers a daunting challenge—or local students are too busy with classes and jobs to take on another responsibility. Naughton suggests creating a mentoring program, in which a student works with an executive for one hour per week. This minimizes the supervisory role by the company and the commitment from the student but creates the one-on-one relationship that is critical.

9. Create a presence. Get to know the key professors and placement people and work closely with them. "If you have no on-going relationship with the school or the students, it’s hard to get their attention,” says Evans. "You have to target key schools and create a relationship.” Serving on volunteer committees and finding ways to help out can be significant contributions, Naughton says. "The people who have done best in recruiting on campuses have created a one-on-one relationship rather than going through formalized programs,” she says.

That can include contributing funds to support the program. "Retailers line up in droves to hire our graduates,” says Fisette, "but when we explain we need help to outfit our computer labs so they’ll be up to date, it’s hard to find support. It’s always surprising to me that they don’t see the connection between supporting the education of tomorrow’s workforce” and the quality of that workforce.

10. Be creative. The best approach is to keep thinking up new ways that work for the company and for the students, Naughton stresses. For instance, if one dealer doesn’t have the capability to create an internship program, it may be possible to share one with other dealers. That not only gives the student enough hours to learn details but it also provides some capability for comparison. "Get creative in how you relate and find a way to make it work for you both,” she says.

The key is to make the schools aware of your interest and come to you when they want help. "You need to build relationships,” says Ply Mart’s Evans. "Know the professors, the placement directors and the student organizations.” The goal is to stay flexible so you can find a way to attract and retain the best young people, who will become long-term and valuable employees.

The competition for the best construction-technology graduates can be fierce. Suppliers and home builders both have interest in highly skilled young people—and the interest often is mutual. But in some cases, the lack of interest in retail positions results from being unfamiliar with the potential.

Evan Jones, vice president of Cowls Building Supply, is a former construction graduate who knows who he’s talking with when he gives presentation. He stresses a number of key benefits in his talks. These include the variety of duties, the down-to-earth basics of many of the positions, the challenging new technology and interesting products that change regularly and the potential for career growth.

Stressing a true career path is critical, says Paul Fisette, director of the Building Materials & Wood Technology department at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. "A small, family-owned company makes it more difficult to provide a growth path and other opportunities,” he says.

Explaining the potential for a career in outside sales can be attractive, says Rich Mahaffey, vice president of the lumber division at Ply-Mart, which set up a recruitment program this fall. "The younger we get them and let them go through the system to learn the variety of products before getting them into sales, the better they’ll do,” he says.

Even offering key benefits, including flexible hours and vacation, can help, says Fisette. Big box retailers, for instance, offer little vacation time in the first 18 months. That alone can set a bad tone that turns the students away from the company. "Today’s graduates don’t mind working big hours, but they want time off to enjoy themselves. And they want to see there’s a chance for career growth.”

— C.S.