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The Pillars of an Award-Winning Program
Michigan State University Federal Credit Union 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
MSUFCU believes that in order to maximize talent, it must focus on investing in its employee’s professional development to help them establish long careers within the organization. This includes opportunities to promote from within, and the potential for employees to transition into new roles in various departments. This strategy strengthens the continuity within the organization as a whole, as well as individual departments. MSUFCU’s internship program began as a way to build partnerships with universities, but it also provides another benefit. One of the company’s membership audiences is university students, and it uses the perspectives and feedback of interns and recent college graduate employees to inform its offerings and innovation strategies for this group.
Innovative and Multi-Faceted Approach to University Recruitment
MSUFCU’s approach to recruiting talent begins on campus. The MSUFCU Financial Education team hosts regular presentations on campus, and virtually speaks with students about a variety of financial wellness topics, not necessarily focusing on recruitment. But, as the company creates partnerships and builds trust with students, it sees a larger pool of candidates who are interested in internships as a result. The students know MSUFCU and trust that the group has their best interests at heart. MSUFCU also works with university career services to hold on-campus meetings in classrooms or with student groups to highlight job opportunities and internships. The company attends both in-person and virtual job fairs, and usse Handshake to post jobs online for university students across the state.
Overarching Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
When recruiting, MSUFCU prioritizes reaching students who are not normally encouraged to apply for internships. For example, MSUFCU has one of the few internships that target first- and second-year students. The company also builds relationships with student groups, organizations such as Women in Business, multicultural business groups, and university divisions, such as the MSU Office of Cultural and Academic Transitions, to supply information to students and candidates who may not know how to seek out these opportunities. The company attends both in-person and virtual job fairs to ensure no one is excluded by transportation or physical limitations, and actively removes the typical barriers in place for selecting a candidate, such as restrictions on job experience or professional skills. MSUFCU looks for candidates with an interest in learning and exploring career paths.
Impactful Internship Program
MSUFCU’s internship is built around the concept of continual growth, and focuses on helping interns identify their passion and skillset and finding them a position in the Credit Union that matches their career goals and skills. The company engages interns in shadow opportunities their first semester and trains them on a variety of skills, including customer service, answering calls, financial literacy, outbound/sales skills, and relationship-building. MSUFCU hosts professional development speaker series and other events each semester to allow interns to interact with Credit Union executives and community partners so they can get professional advice and practice networking. Second semester interns are provided additional training to continue developing their skills, including a semester project where they partner with a department working alongside full-time employees on one or several projects from beginning to end. As a result, the intern to full-time position conversion rate is 19%.
Growth and Development of the Next Generation of Talent
The name ‘Campus 2 Career’ was intentionally chosen for MSUFCU’s internship program, as its primary focus is always to get the intern to the next step and into a full-time position. Every decision the company makes is to help them develop the skills to work at the Credit Union in a full-time capacity, not just to only gain resume experience and move on. The training provided is directly applicable to full-time positions in the organization. As such, the company has expedited interview processes for former interns and a smoother conversion experience to front-line departments once hired. To promote retention within the internship program, returning second semester interns are offered a compensation increase based on performance. Once hired into full-time positions, MSUFCU maintains bi-weekly check-ins to continue to foster progress and help them navigate their career. Additionally, all new employees are given extensive 2-week training before entering their respective departments.