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The Pillars of an Award-Winning Program
PepsiCo 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
PepsiCo sees global early talent hiring as a way to invite thinkers, doers, and change-makers to take what they have learned in school and put it into practice. The company gives early talent around the globe opportunities to make an impact on some of the world’s most iconic brands as new grads take the first steps in their careers. Its commitment to being as diverse as the world's population starts with bringing in future leaders through its early talent programs.
Innovative and Multi-Faceted Approach to University Recruitment
The University Engagement team at PepsiCo leverages a multifaceted approach to source and recruit candidates. The team leverages an in-person approach at core schools to take advantage of high-traffic recruitment events and relationships with key organizations on campus. Handshake and Brazen have been instrumental tools for PepsiCo’s virtual recruitment strategy in building pipelines and recruiting talent at schools PepsiCo would otherwise not have the ability to engage with. PepsiCo doubled down on its digital strategy to include more intern-led content through its Pepfluencer program. While PepsiCo has traditionally leveraged a core-school model, this year the team has expanded the strategy to include a school-agnostic approach to take advantage of organic talent generated through job postings. PepsiCo has also developed several Nurture Programs to focus on bringing diverse talent into pipelines across early talent roles and functions. These combined strategies have allowed PepsiCo to reach and recruit top talent.
Overarching Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
Supporting the progress of PepsiCo’s Racial Equality Journey, the Early Talent Team intentionally nurtures and recruits top, diverse talent. PepsiCo engages in partnerships with organizations such as SHPE, NSBE, MLT, and Consortium, and has developed thoughtful commitments with HBCUs and HSIs.. PepsiCo also nurtures the next generation of leaders through a number of Nurture programs, such as its Kickstart Sophomore Leadership Program — a multi-week professional development experience dedicated to top, diverse talent. Campus to Corporate is designed to give HBCU interns a preparatory and intensive introduction to PepsiCo’s culture and performance expectations to maximize success rates. PEP Mentor Program leverages PepsiCo’s ERGs to connect interns to associates who are members of the same cultural community to help them navigate their summer experience, and PepsiCo Foundation’s S.M.I.L.E. and Uplift scholar Professional Development provides Black & Hispanic community college students PepsiCo mentors, life & career lessons from Executives, and access to financial literacy content.
Impactful Internship Program
The PepsiCo Internship program offers interns an opportunity to work on real-world, hands-on projects, giving them a taste of what it is like to work a PepsiCo full-time. Interns are offered a well-rounded curriculum throughout the 10-12 week program that offers networking, a structured mentorship program, executive speaker series with our C-Suite, former intern panels, and on-the-job training. PepsiCo provides their interns with a competitive compensation package, which includes relocation support. The goal of PepsiCo’s internship program is to convert high-performing summer interns to full-time colleagues ,and the company succeeds in this endeavor by showing the interns the PepsiCo Way from day one.
Growth and Development of the Next Generation of Talent
PepsiCo’s early talent programs offer entry points for folks with 0-3 years of experience (Learn undergraduate programs – 0 years, Develop newly graduated programs – 1+ years, Grow graduate programs – 1-3 years of experience). Each of these programs are anchored in internal support systems to ensure foundational knowledge is obtained, and program lengths vary from 3 months to 18 months, depending on area and level of expertise. New graduates can expect key experiences anchored into business systems. Here their training will include “Day in the Life” simulations under the guidance of leadership and a network of mentors. Many of their mentors and leaders have been promoted from previous early talent roles. ERGs within PepsiCo also include great foundational support systems internally at PepsiCo, and the Connect ERG is solely dedicated to “new in career” folks. Listening sessions play a big part in developing workshops to support PepsiCo’s early talent needs.