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The Pillars of an Award-Winning Program
Textron 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
Textron is passionate about investing in early career talent because the company understands that early talent is the future of innovation. Textron can provide guidance to those just beginning to enter the workforce and is able to show these individuals what the true Textron experience is like. By providing a mutually beneficial experience, Textron delivers opportunities for upward mobility and builds a strong internal candidate pipeline. As such, early career talent is a vital piece of upholding Textron's business endeavors. Awarded one of Fortune's 2022 Most Admired, Textron lives out its employee value proposition — "It Starts with You".
Innovative and Multi-Faceted Approach to University Recruitment
As a Fortune 500 conglomerate, Textron has varying hiring needs across its six business units, and to meet these needs, Textron employs an innovative approach to sourcing and recruiting early career talent. In addition to attending traditional career fairs, Textron engages students on campus in a number of ways, such as via company branded days (Textron Days), DEI panels, classroom guest lectures, coffee chats, student organization meetings, recruiter "ask me anything" sessions, and more. From a virtual recruiting perspective, Textron utilizes several online platforms to expand the candidate reach beyond the on-campus capacity. Once a candidate has entered Textron's pipeline, the candidate experience is top priority. From a streamlined interview process to preparing them to onboard, Textron focuses on ensuring the candidate feels secure in their decision with Textron.
Overarching Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is a top priority within internship, co-op, entry-level, and rotational programs opportunities. In the recruitment space, Textron aspires to have 50% of its on-campus events with DEI related groups. In 2022, some of Textron’s best events were held with SWE, NSBE, PRIDE, SHPE, and CSA, and the company believes in creating relationships with student groups on campus and going beyond just careers. Textron also attends diversity conferences like HBCU CDM, GMiS, SASE, SWE, and SHPE for its employee’s professional development and to source talent. Textron prides itself in its alumni involvement and letting employees go back to campus to share out and get to know them more. Ultimately, every business unit and location has their own culture and initiatives that early career employees can get involved with from day one.
Impactful Internship Program
Textron’s internship program is something that the company takes pride in. It focuses on relationship-building, soft skill development, and technical aptitude, and comes with a thorough orientation period. Between networking opportunities with executives and projects across the enterprise, Textron tries to make the program as powerful as possible. As interns are spread around the businesses working for different brands, Textron offers an exploration series to learn more about its enterprise. Any time an intern expresses interest in another team or brand, Textron makes it a priority to get them connected because it sees Textron as a family. Towards the end of the summer, interns will begin applying for returning roles with Textron as the internship program is a feeder for entry-level roles. Every intern that is recommended for hire will receive a return offer.
Growth and Development of the Next Generation of Talent
There are two main paths to join Textron full-time – the Leadership Development Program (LDP) or through a specific entry-level position at a Business Unit. The Leadership Development Program is a two-year program where participants rotate to two different locations, experiencing different roles within a function. Both LDPs and entry-level hires have plenty of opportunities to grow as a leader. Textron encourages all employees to get involved in Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) based on their interests and alliances to expand their network and get connected. Textron’s talent strategy is to promote from within, meaning that as it builds its entry-level employees up, Textron is looking for ways for those individuals to move into leadership roles. From an online learning platform to improve skills with Textron University, to its tuition reimbursement program, Textron wants to ensure success for all of entry-level hires.