.png){kind=icon}
.png){kind=logo}
The Pillars of an Award-Winning Program
Navy 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
Navy Federal Credit Union believes that investing in early career talent is crucial to building future leaders. During its internship, interns are to express their creativity and apply their course-based knowledge to their work. As a mission-based organization, Navy Federal acknowledges that its teams serve and support t=its member base every day — and are at the core of every member interaction, allowing interns to experience company culture and values first hand. Navy Federal recognizes that internship opportunities open up valuable dialogue throughout the organization by promoting interns to solve business challenges and develop their network across the organization. Interns are a strategic talent pipeline propelling the enterprise forward.
Innovative and Multi-Faceted Approach to University Recruitment
Navy Federal is going through a tech transformation driven by a cloud-first, data-driven approach to improve its application and infrastructure of the enterprise. To support the transformation, the internship program is a channel to complement dynamic teams and to ensure an innovative workforce with skills for the future. This shift supports new ways of working and collaborating. The company expanded its recruitment approach to a nationwide search, utilizing tools like Handshake to attract talent from all areas of the country. Navy Federal leverages early career hires to serve as brand ambassadors for campus and virtual events as part of its overall strategy. It also hosts STEM-focused events in partnership with different student organizations, higher education institutions, and partnerships such as SHPE. Lastly, its School Partnership Program thrives out of the Pensacola and Winchester communities — preparing tomorrow’s workforce and enriching student’s outcomes through mentorship and beyond.
Overarching Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
The past two years, Navy Federal has immensely evolved its D&I efforts with a dedicated D&I team to focus on creating enterprise-wide trainings, the development of ERGs, and hiring new roles to focus specifically on D&I. The Early Career Program Team focuses on building strategic partnerships with HBCUs, HSIs, diversity student groups, first-generation student communities, and professional associations. It hosts events with STEM-focused student organizations and institutions, such as ASCEND (Pan-Asian Leaders), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), and Society of Hispanic Engineers (SHPE). For the first time, Navy Federal served as a platinum sponsor at SHPE’s 2022 National Convention — developing an engagement strategy to strengthen its recruitment practices and hosting workshops for the development of talent in attendance. Lastly, the team works with Circa, a diversity job board, to highlight early careers roles.
Impactful Internship Program
Navy Federal has four types of career internship programs — a Summer Internship, Year-Round Internship, Summer Associate, and Year Up Program. Each program participates in a variety of experiences, including hearing from leaders across the organization during welcome events, career development opportunities including resume, branding, and interview workshops, professional communication, and mentorships. The goal of the programs is to create a pipeline of early career talent — converting top-performers to full-time roles. Interns are eligible for employee perks, including discounts on events, products, and services. Navy Federal has state-of-the-art facilities where interns have access to a gym, dietitians, and a cafeteria. Lastly, based on feedback, the company launched its first-ever innovation contest to listen to interns' perspectives and stay current on industry trends.
Growth and Development of the Next Generation of Talent
Navy Federal has invested in early career talent through its internship programs. As the programs have evolved, it has tailored the opportunities to ensure that students find value — no matter their business unit or location — through educational opportunities, including panel discussions, interview workshops, talent acquisition career discussions, mentorship, and more. For example, the Summer Associate Program gives interns the opportunity to present virtually about the strategic projects throughout their internship. By having this virtual event, Navy Federal’s executive team and managers understand the benefits of hiring interns and the impact of their work. Since the pandemic, Navy Federal has expanded its recruitment approach from hiring only at core institutions to a nationwide search. This has diversified its talent pool and program participants, allowing for more diverse thoughts and experiences. Navy Federal’s conversion to full-time employment through the program has continually grown— 50% in 2019, 85% in 2020, and 79% in 2021.