Recruiting Strategies
To help employer representatives foster meaningful, productive, and lasting relationships with the UT Austin campus, Texas Career Engagement created the Hook Talent EDU campus recruiting development program. Through this program, we develop program curricula, resources, and tools that build engagement, community, shared ideas, and innovation in our profession.
Hook Talent EDU Educational Sessions
Hook Talent EDU offers a series of educational sessions to help employers maximize recruiting efforts at UT Austin and to learn and share best practices. Join us to learn:
- Best practices to increase your organization’s brand awareness
- Early career engagement ideas to build long-term talent pipelines
- How to develop a successful internship program, and how to supervise and mentor interns
- How to connect with students of diversity whose values match your organization’s inclusive mission
- Success strategies that expand your reach across our 17 colleges and schools
- How to connect to the visible and hidden pockets of talent within interdisciplinary programs
View upcoming Hook Talent EDUs and Career Fairs
Hook Talent EDU Recruiting Strategies
Texas Career Engagement provides a number of services, programs, and best practices to help employers develop recruiting strategies tailored to the large and diverse pool of UT Austin talent.
Custom Recruiting Events (in-person and virtual)
Host workshops, networking sessions, panels, organization treks/site visits, information sessions, and custom events to connect with a wide range of students, both in-person and virtually. Requests to host an event can be made by contacting the Texas Career Engagement team. You can also share a scheduled event in HireUTexas.
Virtual Branding
In order to prepare UT Austin students for virtual interviews and get them excited about practicing, we’re calling for employer question sets and advice to be shared via Big Interview, the video interviewing practice platform available to all UT Austin students. Learn more and submit your mock interview question set via the below survey.
Student Organization Engagement
Make your recruiting pipeline more successful by developing strong relationships with student organizations. UT Austin has more than 1,300 student organizations for educational, recreational, and networking purposes that foster a rich and global campus culture. Please work with a Career Center to connect with the student organization that best fits your needs and to ensure your partnership with student organizations is in compliance with the UT System solicitation policy. Contact us for guidance on how to manage this effort and for help with connections and introductions.
Consultation Services
Contact us for help navigating the university’s decentralized recruiting environment. Texas Career Engagement’s consultation services can be especially useful to employers who want to develop inclusive campus-wide recruitment strategies, connect existing opportunities with underrepresented and historically disadvantaged populations, and learn about campus partners that work with specific student populations. We can also help you build a consistent presence, tap into Longhorn talent by targeting candidates by skills versus major, and meet students where they identify through creating meaningful programming.
Hook Talent EDU Virtual Success Strategies
Learn best practices for pivoting your on-campus recruiting strategies to a virtual format.
Search for Candidates in HireUTexas
Learn how to search candidates utilizing keywords and experiences that meet your qualifications.
Create or Promote a Virtual Event
Work with our team to create and promote your virtual event in HireUTexas. Ideas for virtual engagement include:
- Campus-wide virtual events, such as information sessions, workshops, one-on-one chats, etc.
- Student-focused virtual preparation, such as mock interviews and office hours
- Social media that actively engages students and alumni on the work your organization does and the available opportunities
Offer Virtual Internships and Experiences
Consider converting your internship(s) to a virtual format so that you remain connected to students and to sustain your hiring pipeline.
Best Practices for Virtual Internships Guide
Participate in a Virtual Career Fair
UT Austin regularly hosts career fairs and recruiting events for students and alumni via various platforms, including Handshake, Symplicity, and CareerEco. View our Career Fair calendar to learn about upcoming events and how to register.
Here are a few best practices for participating in a virtual career fair:
- Understand the technology platform being used in advance. There are various virtual career fair platforms that our campus partners use, so be sure you prepare ahead of time. Top platforms currently used include Handshake, CareerEco, and Symplicity.
- If you have individual chat sign ups, monitor these schedules closely as the career fair approaches to ensure your team is prepared.
- Prepare a script for engaging participants who drop into your room when you are mid-conversation. For example, you could say “Hold that thought, Stacy. Hello John! I’m Joey with Company ABC. Welcome. I was just sharing with Stacy some things that our organization does. Feel free to chime in with questions at any point.”
- Know your technology point of contact for technical issues and have their information readily available.
- Know your schedule of events and be mindful of time. Be sure to check individual slot sign-ups in advance if you are utilizing this feature.
- Recognize this is a NEW environment for students as well. Students may choose to have their camera on/off, have bad lighting, or experience disruptions. We encourage you to be as flexible as possible.
Best Practices for Virtual Internships Guide
Hook Talent EDU Newsletter
Stay up to date with upcoming Hook Talent EDU workshops and event opportunities by subscribing to our employer newsletter. Browse a recent copy here.
Previous Hook Talent EDU Sessions
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On-Campus Student Employment
HireUTexas powered by Handshake for on-campus employers.
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Navigating Virtual Recruiting at UT
UT Austin is one of the largest institutions and is decentralized with 15 college and school career centers. This recorded webinar provides an overview of how to best navigate the recruiting landscape at UT, including; career fairs, information sessions, and panels. Discussions involve best practices for posting jobs, scheduling interviews and attending virtual recruiting events that reach the diverse talent campus-wide.
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How to Build an Internship Program
Our goal is to help employers of all sizes to create more opportunities for our students to develop experience to support their transition from college to career. This recorded webinar discusses the logistics of creating an internship program such as necessary resources, job duties and final program evaluations. Both in-person and virtual methods are reviewed in order to best meet the needs of your organization.
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Supervising Interns Effectively
The success of any internship not only depends on the structure of the program, but on the strength of the supervisor. This recorded webinar analyzes methods to effectively manage interns, including tips for onboarding, and project plans. The webinar also discusses practices necessary to keep interns engaged and productive in a virtual world.
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Diversity Recruiting: How to Demonstrate an Authentic Commitment
Diversity and inclusion have always been important values, but employers are now being asked to demonstrate this commitment when building their recruitment strategies at UT. This recorded webinar discusses best practices from 3 perspectives: career services, students, and employers. Additionally, it highlights two partner organizations that are putting these great tips into practice and demonstrates how they have successfully created an environment that encourages diverse recruitment.
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Virtual Career Fair Platforms 101
Explore this workshop slide deck to learn how to navigate the Handshake, Brazen and CareerEco virtual fair platforms and to learn tips for recruiting in the virtual fair space.