By Luisa De Jesus, CHRP, CHRL

Engaging student employees is an important part of ensuring a successful placement. The Founder and President of LD Human Resources, Luisa De Jesus, sat down with Nancy Sammon, Business Relationship Manager at the Smith School of Business at Queen's University, to discuss. Some of the topics covered in this interview include: how companies can engage students and encourage them to do their best work, the top requirements students are looking for in the companies they choose to work with upon graduation, and what to know about Gen-Z and their working style.

Q&A with Nancy Sammon: How to Engage Student Employees

It’s that time of year where student placements are top of mind for employers. There are many questions surrounding this topic including: “How should an employer know when they are ready to take on a student? What are ways to maximize the success of the student placement?” 

To help answer these questions and more, our Founder and President, Luisa De Jesus, sat down with Nancy Sammon, Business Relationship Manager at Smith School of Business at Queen's University. Nancy is an experienced business development professional with over 30 years of experience in university campus relations. It’s Nancy’s passion to support students in their school to work transition.

1.     You are a Relationships Manager who liaises with hundreds of businesses a year. What do you believe is the key to fostering successful relationships in business?

“When I work with our businesses on their diverse student engagement, I’m almost like a consultant. Using my experience as a past campus recruiter, I am able to share with them ideas and thoughts on how to engage students. Students want to ensure that their voices are being heard. At Smith, in our Career Advancement Center, we held a diversity fair. We had a virtual fair where we invited our corporate partners to come in to meet our diversity student clubs. Our companies listened to our students deliver a 2–3-minute pitch where they showcased what their club or association is about. After that, we had networking lounges to connect our companies directly with the student groups. This was an example of companies allowing student voices to be heard. Genuine connections were made, and our companies were able to listen to the students about ways that they want to be engaged.”

2.     You are working with talented young people preparing to get their career started. What are some of the top requirements students are looking for in the companies they choose to work with upon graduation?

“I rely heavily on Brainstorm Strategy Group. They conduct a survey every year, one for employers and one for students. The results indicate our students are looking for three things: social responsibility, mentoring and meaningful work.

• Social Responsibility: Students want to work for companies that have showcased their social responsibility. This can be through information sessions, their website or alumni engagement.

• Mentoring: They’re also looking for companies that have some type of mentoring program. They want opportunities, even before joining a company, to have those one-on-one coffee chats and learn more about what it’s like to work at that company.

• Meaningful Work: Students are also looking for meaningful work. With COVID-19, many of our companies have had to pivot to working from home. Students still want to ensure that they were making meaningful and relevant contributions and were supported throughout that virtual experience.”

3.     What are employers looking for in new grads?

“Brainstorm Strategy Group surveyed over 140 companies from November to this past January. The three main skills sought out by employers are: adaptability or resilience, communication (verbal and written), and creative thinking. We can also look at a survey conducted by Aspire in late 2020 with the financial services sector. The top two skills that financial services are looking for students to be successful in are communication and critical thinking.”

4.     Studies have called Gen-Z the “loneliest generation.” One of the suggested reasons is because they’re the first generation who cannot remember life before technology. I think there’s also a growing fear for employees that this tech-savvy generation may be more anti-social and lack important communication skills that are needed for success. As someone who works close with these students, what is your response to that statement? 

“The research that’s been done for Gen-Z is that they are very loyal. They want to be in a role for longer than the previous generation, so they are looking for a mentorship aspect in their employment. They are looking for an opportunity to perform valued work and have a supervisor who’s managing them. To dispel the myth that they’re going to have poor communication by writing “LOL” and other acronyms in emails, they’re just not. Companies are looking for that written communication style, and students know this.

Smith, and other schools, spend time educating students on the employer expectations, and how to be present, especially on these virtual interactions. Companies aren't coming on campus right now, and they’re not holding in-person information sessions—everything is virtual. Whichever online platform, this is the way for students to be visible, and for our companies to see talent. Gen-Z is being educated on how to be effective communicators across various environments, whether that be in a physical office or in a virtual workplace.”

5. Where can viewers connect with you?

You can find Smith School of Business on social media @SmithBusiness. And here is a link to access some of our Employer Resources: https://smith.queensu.ca/recruiting/employer-resources.php

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About the Author

As the Founder and President of LD Human Resources, Luisa is a highly motivated and results-driven human resources professional with over 20 years’ experience in HR. Luisa is a Certified Human Resources Professional and holds a BA from the University of Toronto. She also graduated with honours, obtaining her Human Resources Management certificate in 2010.

Luisa’s expertise spans professional and financial services, construction, travel and tourism, IT, not-for profit and retail. Her key strengths include: strategic consulting; performance management, succession planning; recruitment and employee relations; organizational development and learning; and, compensation and benefits. Luisa is committed to high professional standards that link HR best practices to business objectives, delivering results within changing environments. She is a proud mother of two strong-minded young girls, and an advocate for mental health and wellness.