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What is a campus recruiter and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted expert
Dr. James Lampley

The decision of which college to attend is typically one of the most important decisions in a young's person's life. As a campus recruiter, you'll play a key part in this decision-making process by helping to provide prospective students with information on the educational and recreational benefits of the college you represent. Campus recruiters act as liaisons with colleges and universities to help them recruit student and recent graduates.

If you get a job as a campus recruiter, you'll be expected to attend and host campus recruiting events. You may also be asked to engage with recent graduates and talented students to recruit for internships or junior positions at the college. Some of your other duties will include hosting in-house events and activities for prospective students, attending college fairs, screening resumes and interviewing candidates, and implementing different sourcing strategies, including social recruiting and online job postings.

You'll also likely be asked to report on recruiting metrics after every career event, including the number of candidates interviewed. To do well in this job, you'll need to have great networking skills and should also have a solid knowledge of recruitment practices. If this sounds like a job for you, you'll typically need a Bachelor's degree in human resources or a related field. Familiarity with word processing, spreadsheet, CRM, or customer relationship management, and applicant-tracking programs is also a big plus.

What general advice would you give to a campus recruiter?

Dr. James LampleyDr. James Lampley LinkedIn profile

Professor, East Tennessee State University

Be willing to go where the jobs are. Many of our graduates are "place-bound". Their family obligations or spouses make it difficult to relocate.
ScoreCampus RecruiterUS Average
Salary
4.7

Avg. Salary $60,354

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
8.0

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
6.5
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.63%

Asian 8.68%

Black or African American 11.00%

Hispanic or Latino 15.92%

Unknown 5.27%

White 58.50%

Gender

female 70.86%

male 29.14%

Age - 40
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40
Stress level
8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level
8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance
7.0

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Campus recruiter career paths

Key steps to become a campus recruiter

  1. Explore campus recruiter education requirements

    Most common campus recruiter degrees

    Bachelor's

    81.5 %

    Master's

    13.3 %

    Associate

    3.6 %
  2. Start to develop specific campus recruiter skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Human Resources11.84%
    Reference Checks7.94%
    Background Checks7.02%
    Career Fairs6.38%
    Taleo5.75%
  3. Complete relevant campus recruiter training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New campus recruiters learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a campus recruiter based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real campus recruiter resumes.
  4. Research campus recruiter duties and responsibilities

    • Manage and analyze all recruiting data, including ROI of campus recruiting efforts.
    • Utilize applicant tracking system (Taleo) to manage job applications, resume data and reports.
    • Recruit a team of QA experts to do framework lead solution as a testing bed foundation for quarterly regression testing.
    • Audit internal records to ensure accuracy of ATS database.
  5. Prepare your campus recruiter resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your campus recruiter resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a campus recruiter resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose from 10+ customizable campus recruiter resume templates

    Build a professional campus recruiter resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your campus recruiter resume.
    Campus Recruiter Resume
    Campus Recruiter Resume
    Campus Recruiter Resume
    Campus Recruiter Resume
    Campus Recruiter Resume
    Campus Recruiter Resume
    Campus Recruiter Resume
    Campus Recruiter Resume
    Campus Recruiter Resume
  6. Apply for campus recruiter jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a campus recruiter job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first campus recruiter job

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Average campus recruiter salary

The average campus recruiter salary in the United States is $60,354 per year or $29 per hour. Campus recruiter salaries range between $39,000 and $92,000 per year.

Average campus recruiter salary
$60,354 Yearly
$29.02 hourly

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How do campus recruiters rate their job?

-/5

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Campus recruiter reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019
Pros

I like Bonus and helping people. Sometimes our company cover expanse for networking and meeting. More we do networking more we can earn.

Cons

too much pressure. to hire 1 executive vacancy we have to make connections with 100s of people. We work with people and people are sometimes really hard even we are doing our best. After weeks of hard work right before the placement, some firms reject them without any answers


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019
Cons

I don't have anything I don't like.


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2019
Pros

Learning about the business and candidate journey

Cons

declining under or overqualified candidates


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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