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The Pillars of an Award-Winning Program
FanDuel was selected as a 2024 Campus Forward Award Winner for their unwavering commitment to seeking out and hiring early career talent and investments in nurturing and retaining the next generation of diverse talent. Please see below for the highlights of their approach to early career recruitment.
Multi-Faceted and Thoughtful Approach to University Recruitment
The campus recruiting team at FanDuel has a unique and mixed strategy to source talent for its intern program. This consists of leveraging best practices. FanDuel has a limited list of priority schools but also recognizes that good talent can be found almost anywhere, FanDuel’s campus strategy has a very short list of focus schools that is largely driven by the academic offerings and talent pool of local schools. As part of this strategy the campus team does prioritize candidates they’ve met in person or on-campus but also has an openness to reviewing applicants from any institution, not just priority schools. Their former 2023 intern class represented nearly 30 different institutions. Investing in non-traditional programs is another strategy. Through their investment in these programs, they’ve sought new ways to engage and recruit diverse talent they may have limited exposure to otherwise. This includes partnering with programs like Marcy Lab School and the United Negro College Fund. Since the intern program is relatively small, these programs can make a significant impact in the composition of the intern class. Prioritization of referral candidates from the former intern class is another strategy. Recognizing that former interns already know what FanDuel is looking for, the campus team has encouraged them to spread the word about their intern program. In return they’ve prioritized the review of intern referrals. This has yielded great returns in the past and supports that quality talent is coming from former interns/campus hires. A hybrid recruitment model that allows students to connect with FanDuel both virtually and in person. The FanDuel campus team recognizes that there’s a multitude of ways to engage with students, especially given the ever changing needs of candidates. Taking advantage of in-person and virtual options to connect with students has also allowed for broader outreach to potential applicants.
Overarching Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
The DEI recruitment strategy is embedded into the overarching campus recruitment strategy at FanDuel. The specific ways in which the campus teams seeks to source & recruit diverse candidates includes: Ensuring diverse representation at every step including campus events, the interview process, and as part of the buddy program during the internship itself. Using “diversity of talent” as a consideration factor when selecting focus schools and programs. The team does look at and consider the diversity of the student body at schools it considers prioritizing. A few HBCUs have been added to the target schools list including AUCC and Howard University. Talking about and educating hiring teams on the importance of diversity and what that can look like from a candidate perspective. The campus recruiters spend time helping teams recognize the importance of having students with different backgrounds and experiences to challenge traditional mental models around what a successful individual needs to look or think like. This has helped teams break past barriers to be more open about candidate fit.
Impactful Internship Program
FanDuel polled its summer 2023 interns to gain insight on their experience. From the responses, 2 stats stood out: 100% of the interns said they would recommend the FanDuel intern program to their friends & 87% rated the program as exceptional. In soliciting additional feedback it became evident this was largely attributed to interns being treated similarly to full-time employees. Teams ensured interns received real and meaningful work that added value to the organization. Additionally, they had engagement opportunities not only within their immediate team but across the organization. They were immersed in local office culture, took on a hybrid work approach like the rest of FanDuel employees, and enjoyed perks like PTO over the 4th of July. FanDuel interns did have a program aspect to their 10-weeks which included lunch & learns or coffee chats with senior leaders, local office intern outings, participation in the 1st ever intern hackathon, & consideration for a full-time offer. These combined efforts are what influence the intern program to be impactful for early-career talent.