Campus Recruiting

Campus Recruiting

Business schools do some things very well. They are just not comprehensive and what they miss are things like culture and creativity and a certain kind of pattern recognition that comes easily to people trained in the liberal arts. – Grant David McCracken

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What is Campus Recruiting?

Campus Recruiting refers to employers that regularly hire college students each year for summer internships and entry-level jobs – mainly in corporate/business fields. Recruiting occurs throughout the year, with fall (September/October) and spring (February/March) the peak times for opportunities. Employers will generally expect students to intern or start employment in the upcoming summer. See recruiting timelines below.

Formal, posted J-term internships are uncommon. The best strategy to secure an internship during January is to develop your own by connecting with people in your network – e.g. personal/family, community, alumni – to ask if they have the ability to host you as an intern.

Not all employers specifically recruit students for jobs, however are very willing to consider seniors for open entry-level roles. Generally, these employers seek to hire for immediate start following the interview and offer period. This means seniors will need to wait until 4-8 weeks prior to graduation to apply and be considered for these roles. Applying earlier than this increases the chances that employers will not respond to your application since you would not be able to start early enough.

Identifying campus recruiting opportunity for students.

Employers will usually indicate somewhere in the title or posting that students are the target audience for a position. Examples include:

Expected start date/season included in title (e.g. ‘2025 BNY Summer Internship Program’ or ‘Finance Intern – Summer 2025’, ‘Associate, Client Service, San Francisco, 2025’ )
The job is framed around a leadership or rotational program (e.g. ”2025 Human Resources Development Program – Early Careers’)
The terms ‘early careers’, ‘campus/college/university recruiting’, ‘student programs’ are used in the job description.
The position is listed under a special campus/college/university recruiting careers page.: a new tab)

Information for Employers

Fall (August – early November)

Larger employers recruit for a relatively narrow band of business roles, including: business analysis, data analysis, management consulting, general finance/banking, actuarial science, technology, certain healthcare analyst roles, and a few other miscellaneous positions. Employers are typically corporate organizations who are able to consistently predict their hiring needs far in advance.

Opportunities generally post in August with deadlines starting in very early September through the end of October.
Opportunities during this time will favor juniors and seniors. Sophomores are strongly encouraged to participate to explore roles, build early relationships with employers, and apply for eligible internships.

Mid Academic Year (late November – January)

Campus recruiting generally takes a pause during this time. While a few opportunities may appear, this is a period of relative quiet for recruiting.

Spring Semester (February – early May)

Spring semester is a recruiting period when most students begin to see a wider band of business opportunities post. If the fall roles don’t seem relevant to you or if you were not able to secure an opportunity in the fall – this is a great time to engage.

Smaller to medium-sized firms recruit for a wider range of roles across all functional areas in business.
Opportunities during this time will be available for seniors, juniors, and sophomores.
Larger corporate firms may have a small number of roles still available or have “one off” positions open.
Investment banks recruit during this period for the following summer (i.e. 14-16 months ahead of the summer internship period.

Summer (Late May – August)

Summer is a relatively quiet period of time for recruiting. This is a great time to engage in internships, summer jobs, networking, and skill building.

Management consulting firms recruit during this period for the following summer (i.e. 11-23 months prior to the summer internship period). Students interested in management consulting should begin to engage with employers early in the spring semester to prepare for summer recruiting.

Students interested in other industries (e.g. nonprofit, government, research, law) should review other recruiting timelines via the links below.

Campus Recruiting Collections – Handshake

St. Olaf Collections

Access here or directly in Handshake. (Navigation: Jobs –> St. Olaf Collections)

(Note: Collections update daily through an overnight sync.)

Employers Who Regularly Hire Oles — Opportunities in this collection have a direct connection to employers that often hire St. Olaf students. Check often – opportunities change in real time.

National Employers with Campus Recruiting Programs — See everything! Opportunities in this collection are with employers (generally larger) who regularly recruit students for jobs/internships. They may or may not have a regular recruiting relationship with St. Olaf. Use keyword to narrow down results.

Events Hosted by Employers Who Hire Oles (Handshake) — Engaging with employers before you apply can help you learn and explore but, importantly, it can help you stand out when you apply. Check here for events associated with employers who regularly hire Oles. Use keyword (e.g. employer name) to narrow results.

Fall Recruiting Showcase
Monday, September 23, 2024

Employer pitches and alumni/student networking event to prepare students for campus recruiting and the fall recruiting fair.

Great Lakes Colleges Association Virtual Career Fair
Tuesday, October 7, 2025

This fair brings together students from St. Olaf with employers throughout the greater Midwest region, including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Registration will open in early September.

MN Private Colleges’ Job & Internship Fair
Wednesday, February 19, 2024

Minnesota Private Colleges’ Job & Internship Fair includes recruiter representatives from over 250+ organizations from business/industry and from the non-profit sector.