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The Pillars of an Award-Winning Program
Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions was selected as a 2024 Campus Forward Award Winner for their unwavering commitment to seeking out and hiring early career talent and investments in nurturing and retaining the next generation of diverse talent. Please see below for the highlights of their approach to early career recruitment.
Multi-Faceted and Thoughtful Approach to University Recruitment
The University Relations Team at Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions is small but mighty. The team started at about 10 interns total in 2021, and have grown to over 40 as the end of 2023 nears. This growth is directly attributed to support from senior leaders, hybrid recruitment efforts and institutional partnerships. The Toshiba team made their presence widely known at surrounding institutions through student mentorship programs, classroom presentations, resume/mock interview boot camps, career fairs, coffee chats (even with Toshiba's President and CEO!) and more. Support from senior leadership team to get heavily involved on campuses has been crucial to growing the company's brand.
Standout Candidate Experience
The University Relations Team heavily prioritizes the candidate experience because they've been there. Everyone knows how challenging and even frustrating an unclear application/interview process can be. Whenever the team meets with great students, they encourage them to join their student listserv to be alerted first of job openings and any open house events held at Toshiba's HQ in Durham, NC. While the team may be interviewing students, they are also interviewing the team. Furthermore, job postings include clear information on when/what/where a position will be. This is crucial because Toshiba offers internships throughout the year (Fall, Spring and Summer cohort starts). From there, when positions go-live, the team immediately begins reviewing applications and move fast. All offers must be out within 5-6 weeks of a job being posted. The team works with their hiring managers to ensure a smooth and timely process for candidates. The interview process is a short, two-step process. First, the team holds an initial phone screening to cover things like expectations and salary (Toshiba doesn't make students wait until the end of the process to know the pay - nobody wants that!). Students who pass the phone screening will then have one virtual interview with the hiring manager (typically about 30-45 minutes). From there, offers are made. The team also provides feedback to candidates who were not selected as to why. This way, they can work to improve something or perhaps gain a missing skill, and try to apply again for a future semester. The most rewarding hire is a hire who didn't get it the first time, but put in the work and got an offer the second time.
Innovative Use of Technology
In an ever-advancing world, the Toshiba team recognizes the importance of staying on top of technology to locate and capture the best candidates. The senior leadership team recognizes this, and really listens and values the needs of the team. For example, the importance of having a strong applicant tracking system. The team recently invested in a new system and has no doubt it will help streamline their processes. The leadership team is also very supportive of the team exploring different tools to help find top talent for different positions. Attracting early career talent is very different from mid-to-senior talent, so having the support to explore new tools like RippleMatch will be crucial as Toshiba continues to build their internship and early career program.