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The Pillars of an Award-Winning Program
Box 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
Box believes in championing everyone’s ideas in a culture that empowers them, and it all starts with early career talent. The Early Career recruiting team ensures every event, hiring process, and interaction is all about bringing and adding value to people earlier or transitioning in their careers. Box is passionate about creating and expanding programs that will bring in more people from underrepresented groups to learn more about tech. It is also committed to offering experiences that are hands-on, including mentorship and guidance for those not only starting their career, but also continuing their career trajectory with Box and beyond. Box recognizes the value in supporting early career programs and the immensely positive impact to all individuals.
Innovative and Multi-Faceted Approach to University Recruitment
The Early Career recruiting team at Box strives for a thoughtful, informative, and positive candidate experience for everyone. It all starts with employment branding and hosting events all about adding and bringing value to students. This year, the team not only partnered with student groups and schools, but it also continued to open up events to anyone and everyone who was interested in learning and growing themselves. The team hosted events all about building soft skills and brought in speakers to discuss why “Mental Health Matters,” and more. The team also invested time in connecting students with ERGs and encouraging the whole business to get involved. As for interview experience, the team is with candidates every step of the way, constantly sending updates and more information on each stage of the interview process to truly set the candidates up for success and be their advocates.
Overarching Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging is at the heart of Box’s recruiting and programming for early career talent. Box has company-wide initiatives for a “diverse tech pipeline” and it all begins with employment branding. This year, Box is partnering with non-profit organizations to proactively build relationships with students from nontraditional backgrounds and hosting workshops to help them prepare for their early career journey. The company also hosts the Box Business Fellowship each year, bringing in students from underrepresented groups to learn about the business side of how a tech company operates. Each year, the team hires fellows either as interns or new grads throughout the business. The team also runs an apprenticeship program for those who have not attended college to learn and grow as engineers within the company. These apprentices, as well as all interns, fellows, and new grads, are treated like full-time Boxers and encouraged to truly make an impact in the company (globally)!
Impactful Internship Program
Interns at Box praise the program for how inclusive and fun it is. Every intern is empowered to own and drive their projects, creating something truly impactful for the company and teams. They also get the opportunity to meet other interns and grow alongside each other throughout the summer. Some of the top intern activities include a boba making workshop, an AMA and luncheon with the CEO, a skills-building session on “how to build your own personal brand”, and a virtual paint night! It’s important that interns receive a holistic experience of Box, from team culture to project work. Even with the changing landscape of where we all work, the team creates both remote-inclusive virtual events, as well as in-person events, to foster the intern community on a global scale. Over 85% of interns return back full-time to continue to hone their skills as full-time Boxers.
Growth and Development of the Next Generation of Talent
Box is a great place to start a career because of the amount of mentorship and ownership it builds out for early career talent. When it comes to retention and success, it’s a long process of making sure the team is always curating a value-add experience. From the beginning, teams have built out a thoughtful onboarding process and encourage all new hires from day one to get involved in the business. Whether they want to join an ERG or take “volunteer time off”, Box cares about the full employee experience. It’s easy to get involved in one of the many Mentorship or Peer Coaching programs through the Talent and Belonging teams or through the Young Professional Network. Especially for people early in their careers, Box ensures talent gets the mentorship, guidance, and direct visibility to various professional opportunities to curate their own learnings and career path.