Ever wondered why colleges don’t offer a degree in recruiting? With plenty of human resources programs around, it’s always surprised me that there’s no focus on recruiting and talent acquisition.
Typically, folks in recruiting come from programs like Communications, Business Administration/Marketing, Liberal Arts (not known for job prospects), Sports Management, or Human Resources. These degrees open doors to a field where newbie recruiters can earn $40,000 to $50,000 in their first year, and the top ones make six figures.
Imagine a Bachelor’s degree in Recruiting, with classes designed to prepare students for the real deal.
Timmy’s Proposed Bachelor’s in Recruiting Classes:
- Recruiting 101 – History of Recruiting
- Recruiting 102 – Recruiting Processes and Procedures
- Recruiting 103 – Recruiting Communication and Marketing
- Recruiting 104 – Sourcing
- Recruiting 105 – Negotiation, Offers, and Recruiting Finance
- Recruiting 106 – 100 Ways to Connect with People – #1 is the Phone!
- Recruiting 107 – Writing Job Descriptions like a Marketer
- Recruiting 201 – Employment Branding
- Recruiting 202 – Candidate Experience
- Recruiting 203 – Recruiting Technology
- Recruiting 204 – Advanced Sourcing
- Recruiting 205 – Specialty Recruitment
- Recruiting 206 – Recruiting Analytics
- Recruiting 207 – The Law & Candidates
- Recruiting 301 – Senior Project – solving real-life recruiting problems in real-world companies
So, if colleges had a Recruiting degree, would employers hire those grads? Definitely. Employers would dig hiring folks with targeted recruiting skills.
What do you think? Any other cool ones you’d throw in? I think the potential for creating practical content in a Recruiting degree is huge.
I’ve a slightly different take, my friend. And it includes technology in our industry, company trends, and dei considerations…
https://community.cxr.works/blogs/chris-hoyt/2024/01/31/rethinking-a-recruiting-bachelors-degree
Great post.
– Job Analysis
– Intro to Employment Assessments – Science and Best Legal/Ethical Practices
– Something along the lines of Flawless Consulting/Influence without authority
I imagine you are talking about a degree in America, as there are recruiting degrees available in other parts of the world.
The most established is offered by the National College of Ireland, where the BA (Honours) in Recruitment practice has been available for some years.
https://www.ncirl.ie/Courses/NCI-Course-Details/course/BAHRP
The curriculum is not too dissimilar to your proposal (see below) As an aside, my first book on recruitment, “The Savage Truth”, is required reading to complete that degree
Year 1
• Introduction to Recruitment Practice
• ICT Skills for Recruitment
• Career Management Skills
• Sales and Negotiating Skills
• Continuing Professional Development
• Work-Based Learning
Year 2
• Employment Law for Recruitment
• Candidate Strategy
• Finance for Recruitment
• Continuing Professional Development
• Business Development & Customer Relations
• Work-Based Learning
Year 3
• Management and Behaviour in Organisations
• Equality & Ethics
• Contemporary Issues in Recruitment
• Continuing Professional Development
• Talent Planning
• Work-Based Learning
Also, an Australian university has launched such a degree recently.
https://www.deakin.edu.au/courses/major/recruitment-and-talent-acquisition-bachelor-business
This is a great idea Tim and I think you’ve captured the key topics that will provide a strong foundation. A suggestion to enhance the Recruiting 301 project: A required internship/work study, call it what you want, but the individual should have to spend 2-6 months recruiting on projects and shadow experienced recruiters.
I spent the first 14 years of my career (1995-2009) recruiting for sales and sales management in the IT field. (Yes, I started before we had the Internet….can you imagine?!) The experience gained by observing human behavior during that time has proven to be invaluable not only during the recruiting process, but also for identifying existing employee patterns that lead to having conversations that contribute to increased employee satisfaction and tenure, or a faster exit if necessary.
Bottom line is there’s no better education than real life experience.
Love your outlook and insights!
What are your thoughts on the SHRM TA credential? Personally, I enjoyed and learned a lot from the seminar and webinar but struggled with the testing. I was very dissapointed the lack of pre-testing or a way to show what answers got right vs. wrong.
Love, love, love Tim. Can you make this happen for all of us? Let me know how to help.