Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for University Recruiter

🎯 Role Definition

The University Recruiter is a talent acquisition professional dedicated to designing and executing campus and early-career hiring strategies that attract, assess, and convert high-potential college graduates and interns into full-time employees. This role owns employer branding on campus, builds long-term relationships with university partners, operates and optimizes campus outreach and events, manages candidate pipelines via ATS/CRM systems, and partners with hiring managers to deliver quality early-career talent aligned with organizational needs and DEI goals.

Keywords: university recruiter, campus recruiting, early-career hiring, internship programs, employer branding, campus events, talent pipeline, diversity recruiting, ATS, sourcing strategies.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Recruiting Coordinator or Talent Acquisition Coordinator transitioning to campus-focused hiring.
College Relations Intern / Campus Ambassador with event and outreach experience.
Early Career Program Specialist or HR Generalist with interest in talent acquisition.

Advancement To:

Senior University Recruiter / Campus Recruiting Lead
Talent Acquisition Manager — Early Career and Campus Programs
Early Career Programs Manager or Head of University Relations

Lateral Moves:

Diversity & Inclusion Recruiter or Programs Manager
Employer Brand Manager or Campus Marketing Lead
Recruiting Operations Analyst or Candidate Experience Lead

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop and execute a strategic campus recruiting plan that aligns with annual hiring goals, diversity objectives, and business unit workforce needs to build a sustainable pipeline of interns, co-ops, and entry-level hires.
Build and maintain long-term relationships with university career centers, faculty advisors, student organizations, and faculty to increase brand awareness, secure priority recruiting access, and create on-campus partnership programs.
Plan, coordinate, and represent the company at career fairs, information sessions, panel events, hackathons, and on-campus interviews, including logistics, marketing materials, and follow-up candidate engagement to maximize conversion rates.
Source, screen, and assess undergraduate and graduate candidates through phone screens, virtual interviews, and assessment tools, using behavioral and competency-based interview techniques to evaluate fit and potential.
Manage end-to-end candidate experience for campus hires, including application screening, interview scheduling, offer negotiation, and onboarding handoffs to ensure a positive and consistent employer brand impression.
Partner with hiring managers and business leaders to define role requirements, create targeted job descriptions, and calibrate selection criteria for early-career roles and rotational programs.
Use ATS/CRM platforms (e.g., Greenhouse, Workday, Lever) to track candidate pipelines, create candidate pools for future needs, and maintain accurate recruiting metrics and compliance records.
Design and implement targeted sourcing strategies, including Boolean searches, social media outreach (LinkedIn, Handshake, other campus platforms), student ambassador programs, and alumni networks to attract diverse talent.
Lead or support the development of internship and co-op program structures, onboarding curricula, mentorship programs, and program evaluations to improve retention from internship to full-time hire.
Collaborate with employer brand, marketing, and communications teams to develop campus-specific recruitment content, promotional campaigns, student-facing collateral, and social media strategies that resonate with college audiences.
Design diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)-focused outreach initiatives and partnerships (e.g., HBCUs, HSIs, professional student organizations) to increase the diversity of student pipelines and reduce bias in early-career selection processes.
Track and report key campus recruiting metrics (time-to-fill, conversion rates, source-of-hire, offer acceptance rate, diversity metrics) and use data-driven insights to optimize programs and resource allocation.
Manage campus recruiting budgets, vendor relationships, and travel logistics, ensuring cost-effective participation in events and efficient use of recruitment resources.
Coordinate on-site or virtual interview days, including panel scheduling, candidate assessment rubrics, interviewer training, and post-interview debriefs to streamline hiring decisions.
Serve as an internal consultant to hiring managers on market trends for campus talent, salary benchmarks for entry-level roles, and best practices for assessing student potential and growth indicators.
Develop and maintain a robust talent pipeline for high-turnover and high-growth early-career roles by proactively creating candidate pools and nurturing passive candidates through regular communication and engagement.
Implement candidate engagement strategies such as campus newsletters, pre-event webinars, interview prep resources, and personalized follow-ups to keep talent engaged through the recruiting lifecycle.
Facilitate campus-based experiential programs (case competitions, workshops, externships, project-based hiring events) to provide meaningful interactions between students and hiring teams and to evaluate candidate skills in realistic contexts.
Conduct recruiter-led training for hiring managers and interview teams on structured interview techniques, unconscious bias mitigation, consistent evaluation criteria, and effective candidate feedback.
Maintain knowledge of employment law and university recruiting compliance requirements, ensuring all campus hiring activities follow internal policies and legal standards, including recordkeeping and privacy protections.
Coordinate conversion efforts from intern/co-op to full-time employment, including performance reviews, retention strategies, offer development, and retention analytics to improve conversion rates year-over-year.
Evaluate third-party campus recruiting vendors, platforms, and technology solutions, provide recommendations, and manage vendor relationships to expand reach and improve recruiting efficiencies.
Create and execute post-hire follow-up programs to monitor early-career hire satisfaction, mentorship effectiveness, and onboarding outcomes, and relay insights to stakeholders for continuous improvement.
Lead regular debriefs and strategic reviews with campus partners and internal stakeholders to measure program ROI, iterate on outreach tactics, and refine candidate personas for future recruiting cycles.

Secondary Functions

Support employer brand initiatives by contributing student testimonials, success stories, and campus content for the careers site and social channels.
Assist in the development and maintenance of a campus recruiting playbook that documents processes, templates, event checklists, and scoring rubrics to standardize practices across regions.
Provide ad-hoc market research on university program strengths, campus hiring cycles, and competitor campus strategies to inform annual recruiting calendars.
Mentor junior recruiters, recruiting coordinators, and campus ambassadors on sourcing techniques, interview best practices, and candidate engagement strategies.
Partner with HR operations and onboarding teams to ensure a seamless new-hire experience, including paperwork completion, orientation scheduling, and early performance check-ins.
Participate in internal cross-functional projects that improve student recruiting tools, candidate communications, or measurement frameworks.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Proven experience using Applicant Tracking Systems and candidate relationship management tools (e.g., Greenhouse, Lever, Workday, iCIMS, Handshake) to manage high-volume campus pipelines.
Advanced sourcing techniques including Boolean search, LinkedIn Recruiter, social media sourcing, and university-specific platforms to find passive and active student talent.
Event planning and logistics management for career fairs, on-campus presentations, information sessions, and hiring events, including vendor coordination and budget oversight.
Data-driven recruiting: ability to define, collect, and analyze recruiting KPIs (time-to-fill, conversion rate, source effectiveness) and produce insight-driven recommendations.
Strong interviewing skills including behavioral interviewing, competency modeling, and structured assessment methods to predict early-career success.
Experience designing and administering internship/co-op programs, rotational programs, or early-career pipelines with measurable outcomes.
Familiarity with diversity recruiting strategies and partnerships, including targeted outreach to minority-serving institutions and student organizations.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office or Google Workspace for reporting, presentation creation, and stakeholder communications.
Knowledge of employment law basics and data privacy regulations impacting candidate communications and recordkeeping.
Candidate relationship management, including CRM segmentation, nurturing campaigns, and personalized outreach workflows.

Soft Skills

Excellent verbal and written communication skills tailored to university audiences, students, faculty, and business stakeholders.
Strong relationship-building and stakeholder management capabilities to influence hiring managers and secure campus partnerships.
Highly organized with exceptional project management skills to coordinate multiple recruiting events and campaigns simultaneously.
Persuasive presentation and public speaking skills for on-campus talks, workshops, and panel moderation.
Empathy and candidate-centric mindset to deliver consistent, respectful, and inclusive candidate experiences.
Adaptability and resilience to operate in fast-paced hiring cycles and adjust strategies by campus seasonality.
Strong problem-solving and analytical thinking to iterate on recruiting programs and resolve scheduling or sourcing challenges.
Coaching and mentoring skills to train interviewers, recruiting coordinators, and campus ambassadors on best practices.
Attention to detail for accurate ATS data entry, interview evaluation scoring, and compliance documentation.
Negotiation skills for offer development, salary conversations, and closing top student talent.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Communications, Psychology, Education, or a related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Human Resources, Organizational Psychology, Business Administration (MBA), or a related discipline.
Professional HR or recruiting certifications (e.g., SHRM-CP, PHR, AIRS sourcing certification).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Human Resources Management
Business Administration
Organizational Psychology
Communications
Education / Student Affairs

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 2–5 years of recruiting experience, with at least 1–2 years focused on campus, university relations, early-career programs, or high-volume entry-level hiring.

Preferred:

3–7 years of progressive experience in campus recruiting or early-career talent acquisition with demonstrable success running internship or co-op programs.
Experience partnering with diverse universities (HBCUs, HSIs, R1 institutions), managing campus events at scale, and using ATS/CRM tools to sustain candidate pipelines.
Proven track record of metrics-driven recruiting, improving intern-to-hire conversion, and developing employer branding content for student audiences.