Lack of #8220;Corporate Recruiting#8221; Majors Hinders Colleges and Universities

Lack of 8220Corporate Recruiting8221 Majors Hinders Colleges and Universities It is an industry that garners 1000 milliardens of dollars for its foremost practitioners. Those who thrive in it are armed with a vast array of skills and knowledge about a variety of disciplines, because they have to be in order to be successful from a professional and financial standpoint. And yet it is a distinctive career track that is not offered as an area of concentrated study at the collegiate level.That business is the staffing industry, and the career track is corporate recruiting, in which, according to Staffing Industry Analysts, revenues will jump to $134.4 billion at the conclusion of 2013. That number represents a vast fortune, one derived from areas as diverse as transportation, workforce management, IT, healthcare, governmental contracting, finance and accounting, to name just six of a plethora of doze ns.When you think about it, the skills recruiters and account executives in the staffing industry must have in order to achieve success could easily be taught as part of a stand-alone concentration for someone pursuing a baccalaureate degree within the framework of liberal arts/business education.Below are eight1. Sales skills2. An ability to build a strong network of personal and professional relationships3. A dogged determination and unwillingness to take no for an answer4. A competitive spirit5. Strong analytical skills6. A willingness to embrace technology and technological change, particularly as it relates to how people use technology in their day to day lives7. Effective communication skills8. An ability to discern the psychology of the candidateWhile there are over 260 Human Resources-related undergraduate programs in the country, the courses offered that are specific to corporate recruiting are limited. At most, students enrolled in HR for a major will take courses called A ttraction, Selection and Development, and/or Talent Management.And that is where the academic introduction into corporate recruiting generally concludes. That preliminary exposure does not constitute a major in corporate recruiting.For example, lets say students were interested in learning all they could to become recruiters in the field of life sciences.What a college or university would have to do would be to define what that term means, and how it would go about providing a foundational background in that area to its students who wanted to become recruiters in that space.The general definition for life sciences is that it consists of the fields of science that involve the scientific study of living organisms such as plants, animals, and human beings, as well as related considerations like bioethics. And while biology remains the centerpiece of the life sciences, advances in molecular biology and biotechnology have led to an increase of specializations and interdisciplinary fields .Some of which are biomedical science, biochemistry, biocomputers, immunology, medical devices, computational neuroscience, genetics, genomics, medical imaging, computational neuroscience, environmental science and biomechanics, to name just 12 potential areas for study within the discipline.What would an HR majors schedule look like though? Well, a college could do is have its students take a quarter of their courses within the life sciences discipline. The courses selected, obviously, would depend on what the university offered within the life sciences field of study.A second quarter of the students course load would be devoted to communication skills. The students would take a variety of writing classes to enhance their communication abilities. They would also take those classes that would help them become expert in the use of the different platforms that define social media.The third quarter of classes recruiting majors would take would be business related, so they would graduat e with an understanding of how corporations work. Classes taken in this fraktion would focus in the areas of finance, accounting and statistics.The last quarter of classes would be the core requirements all colleges and universities require for graduation with a baccalaureate degree.The hypothetical scenario we just sketched for college students interested in earning an undergraduate degree in recruiting, with a specialization in life sciences, holds for any other academic concentration.Colleges and universities, which are after all businesses, could reap a sizable financial windfall if they offered corporate recruiting as a standalone major.More importantly, however, they would be contributing to a vital sector of the economy that impacts every facet of the world of work.

Q&A With Deloittes Chief Inclusion Officer

Q&A With Deloittes Chief Inclusion OfficerQ&A With Deloittes Chief Inclusion OfficerLast year, Deb DeHaas, an 11-year veteran of Deloitte, was named the firms chief inclusion officer. Since then, DeHaas has been overlandseeing Deloittes expansion of its inclusion programming framework in addition to a deep focus on gender and race/ethnicity, Deloitte is now also investing significant time and resurces on inclusion areas such as sexual orientation, military veterans, disabilities, cross-culture, generations, well-being, and flexibility.Recently, DeHaas took time out of her busy schedule to speak to Vault. Below are excerpts from that interview.Whats the largest obstacle that professional services organizations currently face when it comes to hiring and retaining qualified diversity candidates (women, minorities, LGBT individuals, and disabled individuals)?People are the greatest assets of any professional services business. We dont sell products we sell the capabilities of ur people. So its absolutely critical for any professional services firm to have a workforce that is diverse in thought, experience, race, and other differentiators to ensure we can provide well thought-out solutions to clients complex issues.To stay competitive, professional service organizations- or any organization for that matter- need to put significant focus on the retention aspect and foster an environment where all their people thrive. This means providing programs, benefits, and policies that support an inclusive workforce and their diverse and ever-changing needs.By 2060, according to the 2012 U.S. Census, 57 percent of the population will come from groups currently defined as minorities. To keep up with changing demographics and expectations, diversity and inclusion needs to go well beyond considerations of gender and race. Its about rethinking the definition of work- the way it gets done, when, where, and by whom.What advice do you have for diverse candidates when seeking jobs? Wha t should they look for when considering a company?You can learn a lot about an organization not only through its website and what it says about a companys culture and values, but also through how theyre viewed in the marketplace in regards to diversity.During your interviews at organizations, you can also ask questions to get a better understanding of the value they place on diversity and what programs and benefits they have to support it. Do they see diversity as a business imperative to help fuel the companys growth? Are there development programs focused on diverse professionals and women? Do they have employee resource groups where diverse professionals can build their networks and participate in developmental workshops? Do they have flexible work arrangements? Do they focus on the well-being of their people? Is there equity in benefits provided to professionals regardless of sexual orientation or other differentiators? What benefits and support do they provide to working parent s or veterans? Do they have a leadership team to oversee areas of diversity, inclusion, gender, and work-life issues- and does this leadership team report to or have a dotted line to the CEO? Do they have a diverse board or executive team? Talk with employees, too- do they feel like they are valued for who they are as much as what they contribute? Do they feel a sense of belonging and are they free to live and work openly? Do they support the communities in which they work? Are they green?These are just some of the questions to ask. Think about whats important to you and then do the research to find out whether the company is in alignment with your values and needs and provides enriching, meaningful work and opportunities for growth.How important are mentors to helping advance ones career?We can never underestimate the value of mentors and sponsors in helping navigate our careers. Ask any leader how they got where they are today, and most will tell you that they didnt do it alone. M ost can point to a sponsor who took a vested interest in them and advocated on their behalf.A mentor is typically someone you seek out for advice at various points in your career. It is typically someone who you admire for some specific specialty and who can provide advice and act as a sounding board. A sponsor, on the other hand, is usually a senior leader who helps you gain visibility and helps you better position yourself for the right assignments to shine. That leader is willing to take a chance on you, and hold him or herself accountable for helping you be successful.Although true sponsor relationships tend to happen naturally, research shows us that some individuals are less likely to take advantage of informal networks and would benefit from a structured program. Thats why at Deloitte we offer a variety of sponsorship opportunities by embedding them into existing programs.For example, in our Emerging Leaders Development Program, we connect high-performing and high-potential m inority professionals with senior leaders to provide them with career sponsors. These sponsors are responsible for showing their protgs how to own and drive their careers as well as to illuminate the nuances of navigating our organization.How do you manage to have a successful career and still make time for your family and personal passions?Since I enjoy needlepoint, a weaving analogy resonates with me to describe my career-life fit. As I think about my life, it comprises several important and unique threads in the form of family, career, and community.As a wife, a mother of three amazing boys, a client service professional, an inclusion leader, and a community activist, I try to maintain each thread in its individual texture and color while pulling them together to create a pattern that is unique to me. And, for me, what works best, is to weave all of it together- where I integrate work and life seamlessly, and outside the traditional 8-to-5 day.I have many interests and I also lov e to interact and connect with others. In fact, if you are familiar with the Myers-Briggs personality types, Im an off-the-chart E (extrovert). I seek to connect people and things all the time. So I make it a priority to carve out time to do the things I really enjoy, including managing my sons soccer team, teaching Sunday School at my church, co-founding a charter school with a group of family and friends, and serving boards such as the Immediate Past chair and nominating committee chair of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, a trustee at Northwestern University, and the vice chair of the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago.It doesnt happen overnight, and it evolves over time but at the end of it, my lifes tapestry is very beautiful in my eyes.This post was sponsored by Deloitte.Read MoreDeloitte LLP Careers (deloitte.com)Deborah L. DeHaas Bio (deloitte.com)