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The Pillars of an Award-Winning Program
Belden Inc. was selected as a 2023 Campus Forward Award Winner for their unwavering commitment to seeking out and hiring early career talent, their emphasis on diversity & inclusion, and investments in nurturing and retaining the next generation of talent. Please see below for the highlights of their approach to early career recruitment.
Demonstrated Investment in Early Career Hiring
Belden's Early Career Leadership Program (ECLP) is a cohort-based professional development plan for high-achieving college graduates looking to jump-start their careers. This program is designed specifically for recent college grads seeking to be part of a ‘class’ of future business leaders and benefit from connecting with peers while participating in real-world, challenging, interactive, and action-based learning curriculum. With this emerging talent program, participants develop skills to accelerate career growth through three, 12-month rotations across different areas of the company. Participants can focus on a variety of functional areas including Finance & Accounting, Business Management, Engineering, Sales & Marketing, and others.
Innovative and Multi-Faceted Approach to University Recruitment
The early careers team at Belden is focused on continuous improvement while sourcing, recruiting, and engaging early career talent. Most recently, the team completed a thorough review of all partner schools and related recruitment activities to build a strategic and intentional approach. Within this revamped model, the team is focused on building meaningful relationships with each school including student orgs, faculty/staff, and a hybrid (in-person and virtual) event design. The team is working on formulating a strategic, robust diversity recruiting plan to include HBCUs. The early careers team is also dedicated to ensuring a personalized and engaged candidate experience through direct contact at each recruitment stage, to include sharing about the recruitment/interview process and providing regular updates throughout. Once a candidate accepts, the team provides networking opportunities to engage with other recent hires as well.
Overarching Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
Belden is committed to fostering a company culture that seeks diversity, embodies inclusion, and promotes belonging in its core beliefs and practices. With this foundation, opportunities to grow, utilize talents, and actively participate will create equity across the global organization. The early careers team is dedicated to DEI and building this strategy out within Belden by sourcing & recruiting from a diverse pipeline of candidates. This means being intentional with the events, activities, and outreach the team implements at each of the recruitment partner schools to include diverse student groups (such as a local campus SHPE chapter) and associated events, as well as hosting a variety of types of events with various delivery methods.
Impactful Internship Program
Belden provides each intern with opportunities to contribute to real business outcomes and solutions. Belden’s 12-week internship experience launches current college students into a real-world setting to gain hands-on experience and sharpen functional skills through specific, functional projects while building opportunity to forge life-long connections with other interns and professionals across the company. Intern programming includes a full cohort onboarding, networking/casual events, and senior leader events such as an intern-only CEO Meet & Greet session.
Growth and Development of the Next Generation of Talent
Belden's early career entry-level opportunities lie primarily within the Early Career Leadership Program. This 3-year rotation program was created initially — and is continually reviewed — to engage, develop, and retain early career talent. This cohort-based program is structured to enable exploration within a functional area while also providing focused, intentional professional & leadership development training as well as team building & bonding across the program (cross-functionally & across the business globally).