Recruiting Trends 2018-2019 - Part II - Recruiting Challenges, Tough Positions, Improving Recruiting and Major Hiring Outlook

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jacob

Recruiting Trends 2018-2019, Part II examines the pressures college hiring professionals face when sourcing candidates and filling difficult roles. It uses national labor-market evidence to describe tighter talent conditions, fluctuating applicant volumes, and growth in college labor markets that strains recruiting capacity. Survey results profile the mix of employers and recruiter roles, and quantify challenge severity across competition, candidates’ soft skills, credential and technical gaps, and perceptions of roles, location, and salary competitiveness.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Challenges Facing the College Recruiter

Fall, 2018 Recruiting Trends 2018-2019 48th Edition Part II: Recruiting Challenges, Tough Positions, Improving Recruiting and Major Hiring Outlook Gardner, Phil MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY & COLLEGIATE EMPLOYMNET RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT MSU 1 Recruiting Trends 2018-2019 is published by Michigan State University and the Collegiate Employment Research Institute and copyrighted, ©2018-2019, by Michigan State University. All rights reserved. The electronic version is for individual use only. No part of this electronic report may be reproduced in any form by any electronic and mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without written permission from the Institute. Users are not permitted to mount this file on any network servers or distribute this report by email without written permission from the Institute. Material from this report can be used in classroom and newsletters with proper citation of Michigan State University and the Collegiate Employment Research Institute. Part II: Recruiting Challenges, Tough Positions, Improving Recruiting and Major Hiring Outlook Introduction Evidence from national labor market statistics bear out how tough things are. In 2007 the ratio of unemployed to open positions was 1.9 and soared to 6.6 at the depth of the recession. By mid- 2018 the ration stood at 0.9 (see Bureau of Labor Statistics) . BLS further reports that the pace of hiring just exceeds the rate of employee separation from their organization. While Glassdoor reports about 250 applicants for every corporate position the numbers fluctuate by job function and geographic location. Open nursing positions typically receive 9 to 10 applicants (long haul truck drivers even fewer) while administrative positions receive several hundred, if not more (Department of Labor) . The sustained, often explosive, growth of the college labor market has strained the ability of organization staffing professionals to meet their yearly hiring goals. They face increased competition, lack of qualified candidates, disinterest in the types of positions available or the job’s location. For some positions few applicants are available. In an attempt to engage potential candidates, college recruiting staffs are examining their practices and incorporating more transparency at each step of the process. Part II of the Recruiting Trends 2018-2019 report focuses on the challenges hiring professionals face as they recruit college candidates, the positions proving more difficult to fill, and efforts to improve the recruiting process. Part II will conclude with a look at the hiring prospects for different academic majors. Our employers. This year approximately 3,300 employers attempted the survey with 2.560 providing enough information to be included in our analyses. Seventy-three percent (1859 respondents) are recruiters seeking full-time talent or hiring managers overseeing talent acquisition within their organizations. Other contributors include internship and co-op managers (11%), recruiters seeking experienced talent (10%), and those filling short-term assignments of six months or less (7%). The results presented here focus on the information provided in this and subsequent briefs by full-time recruiters, hiring managers, and internship and co-op managers. The respondents represent the rich diversity of companies and organizations seeking new college talent. Seventy-seven percent represented organizations with fewer than 500 employers: 28% 2 fewer than 49 employees, 12% 50 to 99 employees and 25% 100 to 499 employees. Large organizations comprised 23% of the response: 19% 500 to 3,999 employees, 9% 4,000 to 24,999, and 6% over 25,000 employees. The number of large organizations is down slightly from levels reported the last two years. Every major industrial sector (based on major NAIC codes) provided information for this survey. Sectors providing the highest number of respondents include

FAQs

What does the report’s Part II focus on?

It focuses on recruiting challenges hiring professionals face, which positions are hardest to fill, and efforts to improve the recruiting process, concluding with hiring prospects by academic major.

Which factors are rated as very to extremely challenging?

Competition from other employers, candidates lacking the right soft skills, and a low number of candidates submitting resumes or materials.

How are the survey respondents described in the report?

Respondents include recruiters and hiring managers (about 73%), plus internship/co-op managers (11%), recruiters seeking experienced talent (10%), and those handling short-term assignments (7%).

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jacob