Corporate Recruiting In the 21st Century

Minority-serving institutions have long been recognized as great sources of talent in the search for diverse and qualified candidates.

By Ronald Roach

Recruiting for diverse talent is a major priority in corporate America. At a time when employee recruiting is being transformed by the Internet and other technologies, corporate recruiters and campus career services professionals share the belief that college and university campuses represent the most important source for diverse talent. Within the literature on diversity recruiting, as well as what conventional wisdom prescribes, colleges and universities are touted for their diverse populations.

“The very nature of universities is that they are a diverse pool of people. Universities are the best source for diverse candidates,” says Bill Craib, a senior director at the Human Capital Institute, an educational and consulting organization that provides advice to companies and their recruiting professionals on attracting and managing talent. 

Those in the corporate recruiting community say minority-serving institutions, such as historically Black colleges and universities and Hispanic-Serving Institutions, are highly valued because they are perceived as quality sources of minority talent. Those urban public universities with significant minority numbers, whether Asian American, Black or Hispanic, also rank high with recruiters.

“It’s well understood that minority-serving schools are excellent places to find diverse talent. Informed recruiters are attuned to what these institutions have to offer,” Craib says. 

Students at Howard University, a private historically Black university in Washington D.C., benefit considerably from the corporate push for diverse talent. Prior to 2001, the university’s career services office used to host one job fair, which attracted about 130 organizations. Now, the university hosts fairs in the fall and the spring, drawing 170 and 140 organizations, respectively, says director Kim R. Wells.