University Recruiting in a Virtual World

September and October usually bring football games, apple picking, pumpkin patches, and haunted houses. At AFB, like many other organizations, we also spend these months at career fairs across the country searching for the next class of Interns and New Graduates to join our team! But just like everything in 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic has forced us to rethink the way that we recruit early-career talent. This fall, we traded the hustle and bustle of campus visits and career fairs for our living-rooms-turned-offices and connected with students around the country through our computers.

“Transitioning from in-person to virtual career fairs was definitely an interesting change in perspective. Although the interactions were through a computer screen, the connections were just as authentic as any in-person interview I have experienced. I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in the search for early-career talent in a way that kept everyone safe, as safety is the top priority for AFB.” ~ Mason Schneier, AFB Plant and Process Engineer

We are excited to have connected with students from Clarkson University, Missouri University of Science & Technology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Purdue University, University of Missouri-Columbia, and University of Southern California. As we wrap up a successful, but challenging, Fall Recruiting season and begin preparing to welcome our interns and new graduates to AFB, this won’t be the end of virtual recruitment. If anything, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced innovation within the campus recruiting space that makes talent more accessible for employers without the cost and time spent traveling. We’re optimistic that we’ll be back on campus connecting with students soon, but for now we’ll look forward to the 2021 interns and new graduates joining our team in support of our mission to create pet food solutions that enrich the relationships between pets and their people!