Student Employment Postings Increase Over 200 Percent
Binghamton University students looking for a part-time job are in luck. For the last six months, the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development has focused multiple resources on connecting students to local jobs − and they're not finished yet.
In December 2017, the Fleishman Center formed a University-wide Committee on Student Employment with support from Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Don Nieman and Vice President for Student Affairs, Brian Rose. The committee, including staff members from human resources; financial aid; student affairs; academic affairs and the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, launched an initiative to help students find and successfully apply for part-time positions on and off campus while helping campus departments to centralize recruitment, deepen the impact of student staff and gain connections to fellow student staff supervisors.
By summer 2018, the committee had centralized student employment postings to hireBING powered by Handshake. Erin Cody, chair of the Committee on Student Employment and associate director of enhancing student experience at the Fleishman Center, said the committee prioritized this to make student employment more accessible.
"Knowing there is one place to find part-time jobs while balancing educational expectations has greatly improved things greatly for students from an equal access standpoint," Cody said. "It is really significant that we can support students in using the same system, hireBING, which they will use to find internships and full-time, post-graduation employment."
As a result of the committee's work, overall student job postings on hireBING increased by 204 percent when compared to postings from the prior year. On-campus postings have increased by 132 percent, and off-campus positions by 675 percent.
"Seeing the major increase in job postings and the increased ability for students to find jobs on campus has been really rewarding," Cody said.
The Fleishman Center has assigned two graduate assistants to conduct outreach to hiring departments on how to use hireBING as well as to provide trainings to students to assist them in becoming more competitive for open positions. Student employment has social media pages to engage these communities as well, including Facebook and Instagram.
In addition to centralizing job postings for students, the committee produced a student employment website containing resources such as free access to LinkedIn Learning via the New York Public Library for all Binghamton students and campus staff to maximize student employment, and is providing ongoing trainings for staff and student employees.
Patti Donahue, committee member and director of financial aid operations at the University, has already seen the benefits for her staff.
"We have always referred students to hireBING for on-campus employment, but we knew there were other avenues for students to find jobs – many of which were not posted in hireBING and based on staff recommendations or hearsay," Donahue said. "Now, we not only have a centralized location for job postings but also a comprehensive student employment website as a resource."
Another committee member, Jessica Larson, who is manager of student employment for human resources at Binghamton University, said she is proud of the committee's adherence to improving the overall student employment experience.
"This group of people is extremely dedicated to redefining not only how to find and apply to student jobs on campus, but how those jobs can shape the students future," Larson said.
The committee's work is ongoing. It will host the first-ever Student Employment and Summer Opportunities Fair on Thursday, March 7, to encourage networking between students seeking employment and local employers. Hiring departments that wish to recruit undergraduate and graduate students at this event can RSVP for the fair in hireBING.
"We are thrilled to have a University-wide philosophy that supports a cohesive and streamlined student employment approach. We are already seeing the positive servicing benefits for both students and staff recruiters," Donahue said. "We couldn't be happier about it."
