Mondays with Rick: Business Showcase is a great recruiting tool

Editor’s Note:
We’ve all heard ad nauseum how hard it is to hire and retain good employees at our CSRA companies. What if there was a way to develop a relationship and recruit someone BEFORE you were ready to hire? Think of it like a pipeline. Think of having your company be part of the “Business Showcase” or “Business Connections” program at AU’s Hull College of Business.  They’ve had as many as 50-80 students participate depending if it is on campus or on-line.

ABD: How does Hull’s Business Showcase/Connections programs work?

Rick: It takes place approximately once per month during both the Fall and Spring Semesters.   A local company comes to present information about the company services, competitors, culture, etc.

They discuss internship and career opportunities during a one-hour program.  The company usually sends at least 3 people: a more senior manager, a more junior employee (someone with a position one of our students might be able to have in the near future), and a Human Resources person who focuses on the internship/career opportunities. Following the one-hour program, there is 30 minutes of networking time for the students and the company personnel. We do Business Showcases in person, but during the pandemic, we did them virtually.  Since the virtual ones went so well, we have added a virtual version, called “Business Connections”, which are offered also once a month, cover the same information without the networking.

ABD: Who are some of the unique companies who participate?

Rick: The FBI did a Business Connection program in which a few people from Augusta regional office as on-line with folks from their Atlanta office. It allows us to do multiple locations.

T-Mobile was the first company since the pandemic to come on campus and they shared the types of management jobs available at their Augusta customer service center. Our students appreciated their enthusiasm.

We’ve had ADP, John Deere, Queensborough National Bank & Trust, TaxSlayer and others. TaxSlayer brought 8 people from their company and we also invited students from our school of Computer Science to participate. It was really great to dedicate that many people and it left a good impression on our students.

ABD: Why are these programs important for your undergraduate students?

Rick:  We want our students to experience internships and identify career goals. It’s very easy to only think about classes or working at their bill paying job and forget the need to think about their career job.

Students really like what we are trying to do.

We try and target companies that align with our curriculum and are topical.

This Wednesday we will have our first supply chain logistics company in person, RBW Logistics.