The business of hiring as graduation time approaches

Commencement at Southeast Missouri State University, similar to other area institutions of higher learning, is Saturday, May 13 — less than six weeks from now. Graduates need jobs and companies need workers — and for those doing the hiring, it's a more competitive environment.

Those who play the hiring game best, said two area workforce leaders, have a game plan for onboarding employees that starts long before students cross a stage to receive their diplomas.

Dan Presson

Dan Presson

"A lot of graduates, whether out of high school, community college or university, start looking fairly early before commencement. Businesses need to identify their business needs eight months or nine months before students toss their tassels," said Dan Presson, a man who wears two hats at SEMO: director of career services and interim executive vice president of economic and workforce development. "We live in a time where the (available) workforce is shrinking, the number of high school graduates is declining and regional populations are stagnating."

Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce's president/CEO Rob Gilligan concurs.

Rob Gilligan

Rob Gilligan

"We know well in advance when the (graduation) transition is going to occur for them. Thinking backwards of when that audience will be getting more active and engaged in the hiring process is critical," Gilligan said.

"When we have conversations about retaining young talent in Southeast Missouri rather than going to larger communities, one thing a St. Louis or a Memphis does better (than us) right now — and I think this is indicative of larger communities across the board — is they tend to recruit ahead of time to bring people in," said Gilligan, who relocated to Cape Girardeau from Emporia, Kansas, to take the chamber position in April 2022.

"Some students graduating from SEMO are going to be taking jobs in cities like St. Louis, (and) I would bet 60% to 70% of them have already had conversations and possibly have job offers or have accepted a position by the time they finish here," he added.

Too late

Presson suggested employers who don't plan ahead may end up holding an empty bag when they begin to seek out graduates.

"Since graduates are consumers, we need to make sure people doing the hiring don't start searching for entry-level positions a month or more after commencement. It'll be the middle of July and I'll get phone calls from local companies looking to connect with a graduate who got a degree two months earlier. They're not just sitting around in a pot waiting," he said, adding some firms are quite proactive in hiring.

"We've got companies, for instance, who are hiring our accounting students while they're still in their junior year of college," Presson said.

Gilligan added, "We need, in Cape Girardeau, to be more proactive and do what larger businesses in a city like St. Louis are already doing. Students want to know there's an opportunity waiting by the time they finish college. Big employers, large employers, in terms of the sheer size of the number of personnel, can't afford not to start early because they're in a constant state of recruiting and hiring just because of their economy of scale."

Rethinking work in 2023

"Graduates coming out of SEMO this year are the very first to have the full gamut of experiences," Gilligan said.

"Those who started college in 2019 began with the classic college experience of getting up and going to a physical classroom. Then we had full pandemic mode starting in March 2020, where everybody learned remotely for a couple of semesters. In their last year or two at SEMO, students saw a return to normalcy. Because students had those experiences — in-class education, learning remotely and now some on-campus and some hybrid options — students have seen what they enjoyed and what they didn't like about learning. Companies who are flexible and can offer a variety of work opportunities seem poised for success. There is less turnover and more may stick with a company without a one-size-fits-all approach to working," he added.

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