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The Pillars of an Award-Winning Program
Ferrara 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
Ferrara is passionate about building a generationally diverse workforce and robust talent pipeline to continue being a successful, number one player in the consumer-packaged goods industry. Nurturing and leveraging early-in-career talent is the perfect way to continue accomplishing its robust goals with the next generation. Ferrara’s College Program has grown exponentially, more than quintupling in size since 2019, as it works to provide more opportunities for early-in-career talent and grow as an organization.
Innovative and Multi-Faceted Approach to University Recruitment
Ferrara’s College team works diligently to connect with students through a variety of initiatives. Navigating a hybrid approach to college recruiting the past couple of years, the team shows up big to both virtual and in-person career fairs, workshops, info sessions, networking nights, special events, and even hands-on classroom involvement. While posting internship and leadership development program opportunities virtually at over 1,500 colleges and universities across the United States, Ferrara also puts a large emphasis on recruiting amazing talent right from their backyard. This includes showing commitment to institutions in and around the Chicagoland area and throughout the state of Illinois.
Overarching Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
Ferrara is committed to building and retaining a diverse workforce company-wide. The Ferrara College team is no different as it believes it’s imperative to connect with underrepresented students. The team does so passionately by leveraging important partnerships with organizations like HBCU First, and MLT to get involved with a variety of events throughout the year such as career development workshops, career expo events, and more. Ferrara’s newest initiative is launching a college ambassador program at a selected HBCU to bring the Ferrara brand to campus and connect with underrepresented students within yet another capacity. With formal mentorship programs and business resource groups, Ferrara offers an inclusive culture to foster diversity and empower everyone including early-in-career employees to be authentic, share ideas, and grow!
Impactful Internship Program
Ferrara’s team is passionate about building a well-rounded internship program. Students can learn and grow exponentially in a short amount of time with Ferrara’s fast-paced, agile environment, while working on impactful business projects in an autonomous manner. Ferrara’s internship program includes mentorship, networking, professional development, and social events. One example of many events that makes Ferrara’s internship program stand out is ‘Breakfast with the CEO’ — where interns can speak directly with the CEO to ask questions and learn about the business. Ferrara interns have the opportunity to share out about all they accomplished throughout the program with final presentations presented to business leaders. These components are part of Ferrara’s significant investment in building a robust internship program leading to an 80% intern to full-time offer acceptance rate in 2022.
Growth and Development of the Next Generation of Talent
As a company with big brands but a small-knit feel, Ferrara strives to ensure its early-in-career talent feels like a part of the Ferrara Family from day one. Entry-level, new hires at Ferrara are set up for success through a dynamic onboarding and orientation process. Those within Leadership Development Programs are provided with ample support during this process as it’s completed in cohorts. Ferrara provides formal mentorship and buddy programs to make getting acclimated to life at Ferrara a quicker and easier process. Rotational Programs, Career Mapping, and consistent check-ins with managers also contribute to new-hire success and an empowering environment for early-in-career talent to continue to thrive at Ferrara.