You know how important it is to fill staffing gaps when your employees go on summer vacation. Deciding on your hiring strategy for summer can be difficult, however, since you need to be able to fill those gaps without burning through your resources. Above all, your business must prioritize flexible summer hiring solutions.
One solution you might not have considered is hiring college students for seasonal positions. Not only is this strategy great for managing your business resources, but it’s a strategy that could help you prepare ahead for the end of summer vacation as well. Here’s why it’s a smart idea.
1. Highly Skilled Workers
When you hire college students, you get the advantage of filling your staffing gaps with candidates who have a good mix of hard skills and soft skills. Millennial candidates, according to a recent Intuit report, are changing the landscape of work due to their digital knowledge. Dedicated college students have learned a lot about time management and team building as well.
2. Highly Engaged Workers
It’s a general misconception that college students are going to be less focused on the job than veteran professionals. The myth is easily debunked when you consider that many college students want summer jobs to save some extra cash for their tuition and test out different career paths that utilize the skills they’re working so hard to master in school. This brings us to our next reason for hiring college students…
3. Build a Network of Potential Hires
When you hire college students as seasonal staff, you can evaluate them for cultural fit in your work environment. If these candidates are great employees, you can keep them on file after they return to their studies. When these candidates graduate, you can reach out to them and offer them positions at your company, knowing that they’ve already been trained and passed their extended probationary period with flying colours. Some college students could even be hired on as part time workers after their summer placement ends if their schedule permits.
4. No Long Term Commitment
Although college students do make great candidates to consider for future roles, there’s also no commitment to hire them after their seasonal positions end. In most instances, this will suit both parties involved, as full-time college students usually want to devote themselves to their studies in the fall.
5. Hire Locally
Depending on the location of your business, you can engage a local temporary staffing agency to hire college students. This is ideal for businesses that need to scale up quickly once the summer hits.
6. College Students Seek Intangible as Much as Tangible Benefits
College students are also good for your bottom line. While you’ll want to ensure seasonal positions are fairly compensated (as per new regulations regarding equal pay for equal work), not all candidates are looking to just make extra cash.
College students take on summer jobs to gain practical experience, as well as to grow their tuition savings.
7. You Can Outsource Hiring
Staffing agencies, like Liberty Staffing, can provide a variety of candidates for your summer positions, including local college students. When you outsource your seasonal hiring process to such an agency, you don’t have to worry about payroll administration or Canadian compliance issues. You can streamline your hiring process and be well prepared for the vacation season knowing that the agency will find and hire the right people for your business.
Consider hiring college students this summer! Get in touch with Liberty Staffing today.
