For launching an internship program: use Handshake to reach students broadly across colleges; use Parker Dewey to run paid micro-internships and test candidates; use WayUp to recruit paid, diverse interns. Also engage campus career services and consider Indeed, Ed2NC, Starteryou, INROADS, or CUNY Career Launch for targeted audiences or startups.
Use Handshake when you need broad, campus-by-campus reach: colleges use it as a primary portal for posting internships and running career events. Caveat: it’s for broad posting, not short test projects.
69%
2WayUpPick WayUp to find paid internships and entry-level hires with a focus on diverse college students and recent grads. Caveat: it’s targeted to diversity and early-career roles rather than a general hiring marketplace.38%
When launching an internship program, recruiting university students is typically a collaborative effort across multiple roles and departments. Depending on the size of your company, the responsibility is shared among internal teams, external partners, and campus representatives.
University Relations / Campus Recruiters: Dedicated talent acquisition specialists who focus entirely on building pipelines with colleges, attending career fairs, and managing on-campus branding.
Human Resources (HR) Generalists / Talent Acquisition: In smaller organizations without a dedicated campus team, general HR handles job postings, initial resume screening, and onboarding coordination.
Hiring Managers / Department Leads: The actual supervisors within engineering, marketing, finance, or other departments who define project scopes, interview technical/functional candidates, and make final selection decisions.
If you mean who to contact to recruit university students for your new internship program, the main people are:
— usually your first stop. They can post internships, connect you with students, arrange career fairs, information sessions, and sometimes on-campus interviews.
If you’re launching an internship program, the people who typically help you recruit university students are:
University Career Services / Career Centers — usually the best first contact. They can post internships, promote them to students, organize career fairs, and arrange interviews.
— many universities have dedicated staff who work directly with employers and can build a recruiting strategy for you.
University student recruitment is primarily handled by university relations (UR) or early talent recruitment specialists within human resources, in direct partnership with campus career centers. When launching a new program, building a cross-functional team ensures access to the right talent pools, strong employer branding on campus, and a smooth onboarding process.
Key Internal and External Partners
Early talent recruiters / University relations specialists : Dedicated HR or talent acquisition professionals who focus exclusively on building campus pipelines, attending career fairs, and managing entry-level and intern hiring cycles.
University career services offices : The official administrative channels at colleges and universities that help you post jobs on portals (like ), schedule information sessions, and connect directly with department heads or professors.
Google AI Mode· Sep 10, 2026
Launching an internship program requires a team effort across different departments and roles. Depending on your organization's size, the responsibility is typically split between dedicated talent acquisition professionals, internal hiring managers, and university relations teams.
Campus Recruiters / University Relations Managers: Dedicated recruiting professionals who specialize in building pipelines with colleges, attending career fairs, and managing the early-career hiring strategy.
Human Resources (HR) Generalists / Coordinators: Team members who handle the operational side, including onboarding, offer letters, compliance, intern programming, and day-to-day HR support.
Internship Program Managers / Coordinators: Often a dedicated role (or a shared responsibility within HR/Operations) that oversees the intern experience, mentorship matching, performance reviews, and conversion to full-time hires.
Hiring Managers / Department Leads: The actual leaders within technical, marketing, finance, or operations teams who define project needs, interview candidates for their specific roles, and mentor the interns day-to-day.
Executive Sponsors / Leadership: Senior leaders who champion the program, secure budget, and help drive engagement and buy-in across the company.
Campus Ambassadors / Alumni Employees: Recent graduates or alumni working at your company who can spearhead peer-to-peer marketing, student referrals, and virtual info sessions at their alma maters.
Would you like me to help you or for one of these recruiting roles?
For launching an internship program, the people who typically help recruit university students are:
1. University career centers (best starting point)
Career centers have employer-relations teams that connect companies with students, help post internships, organize recruiting events, and coordinate interviews. Many universities use platforms such as for internship postings and employer outreach.
Recruiting university students for an internship program typically involves a collaborative effort across several roles, depending on the size of your organization:
University Recruiters / Campus Recruiters: Dedicated talent acquisition professionals who specialize in early-career hiring, build target school relationships, and manage the end-to-end recruitment cycle.
Campus Recruiting Coordinators: Administrative team members who schedule interviews, manage logistics for career fairs, and handle candidate communication.
If you're launching an internship program, the people who typically help you recruit university students are:
University career centers / employer-relations teams — usually the best first contact. They can post internships, promote them to students, organize career fairs, information sessions, coffee chats, and sometimes coordinate interviews.
— on your side, these recruiters build relationships with universities, identify candidates, and run the recruiting process.
Launching an internship program is an exciting milestone! Building a successful pipeline of university talent usually requires a collaborative effort across multiple roles, teams, and external partners.
Here is a breakdown of who helps recruit university students and what their specific responsibilities look like:
Sources AI cites
21% of citations to these sources link to brands' own websites.
Faculty, student organizations, and internship coordinators — helpful for reaching targeted student communities.
If you're asking what type of person or recruiting firm you should hire to run this for your company, the job title to look for is University Recruiter / Campus Recruiter / Early Careers Recruiter.
Internship Coordinators / Program Managers: Professionals who oversee the structure of the program itself (mentorship, events, housing, and performance reviews) and often partner closely with recruitment teams during hiring season.
Alumni Employees: Recent graduates or alumni working at your company who can act as brand ambassadors, conduct peer interviews, and refer students from their alma maters.
Career Services Centers: While not recruiters themselves, the staff at university career centers help promote your job postings on portals like Handshake and connect you directly with faculty and student organizations.
Would you like me to outline a step-by-step timeline for when these different roles should jump into the recruitment cycle, or do you need help defining the core responsibilities for an internship program manager?
University Career Centers / Employer Relations teams
College/department internship coordinators — especially useful if you're targeting specific majors such as engineering, business, computer science, nursing, etc. Some universities have separate career centers by school.
Faculty and academic departments — good for reaching students in a particular discipline. NACE specifically identifies meetings with faculty and targeted communication to student populations as career-services recruiting activities.
Handshake / university recruiting platforms — many universities use Handshake to let employers post internships and reach students directly.
Campus career fairs and employer events — useful if you want to recruit a larger cohort rather than just fill one position.
If you're looking to hire someone to run the recruiting
The role is commonly called University Recruiter, Campus Recruiter, University Relations / Campus Recruiting Manager, or Early Careers Recruiter. For a new program, that person would typically build relationships with universities, manage postings and career fairs, coordinate interviews, and develop a student talent pipeline.
If you tell me your industry, target majors, and geographic area, I can identify the specific universities and recruiting contacts/platforms you should approach.
Handshake — a major university recruiting platform where employers can post internships and connect with students at participating schools.
Academic departments and faculty — particularly useful if you're looking for specific majors, such as engineering, computer science, finance, or marketing.
Student organizations and clubs — good for targeted recruiting, especially for specialized or diversity-focused talent pools. Universities explicitly facilitate employer connections with student groups.
Career fairs and campus recruiting events — useful if you want to meet a larger number of candidates quickly. Universities commonly offer career fairs, information sessions, networking events, and on-campus interviews.
If you mean “who should we hire to run this?”
You'd typically look for a Campus Recruiter, University Recruiter, Early Careers Recruiter, or University Talent Acquisition Manager. They can own relationships with universities, build your internship pipeline, coordinate postings/events, and manage candidate selection.
If you tell me your industry, location, number of interns, and the majors you're targeting, I can also identify the best universities and recruiting channels to approach.
Hiring managers and department mentors : Technical or operational leaders within your business units who define project scopes, interview candidates for domain-specific fit, and oversee day-to-day intern work.
Employee resource groups (ERGs) and young alumni : Current early-career employees or alumni from target universities who act as brand ambassadors during campus events and relate well to prospective interns.
Core Strategies for Campus Outreach
Leverage digital campus platforms : Utilize systems like Handshake to target specific universities, post internship descriptions, and register for virtual or in-person career fairs.
Partner with faculty and student organizations : Build relationships with professors in relevant majors or club advisors (such as business, engineering, or marketing societies) for direct student referrals.
Define clear brand messaging : Highlight mentorship opportunities, real project ownership, and conversion rates to full-time roles to attract high-intent candidates.
Would you like help outlining a timeline for the campus recruiting cycle or writing a job description template for your interns?
outline a hiring timeline
draft a job description
Handshake
Ask for:
Employer Relations Manager
Campus Recruiting Manager
Career Services Director
Internship/Experiential Learning Coordinator
2. University department and faculty contacts
For specialized interns, contact:
Department chairs
Faculty advisors
Program directors
Student success/career coordinators
Examples:
Engineering → engineering career office
Business → business school career center
Computer science → CS department and tech clubs
Design → design school career office
Many universities have separate school-based career centers that can target specific majors.
3. Student organizations
Professional clubs can be strong recruiting channels:
Engineering societies
Business clubs
Entrepreneurship groups
Diversity and affinity organizations
Graduate student associations
4. Internship and early-career recruiting platforms
Common channels include:
University job boards
Handshake
LinkedIn student recruiting tools
Industry-specific associations
Universities often use Handshake to allow employers to post internships, host events, and connect with students.
5. Third-party campus recruiting partners
If you do not have an internal recruiting team, you can work with:
Campus recruiting agencies
Early-career talent firms
Internship program consultants
Staffing firms specializing in college talent
6. Alumni networks
University alumni offices and employee-alumni groups can help identify students through:
Alumni referrals
Mentorship programs
Career panels
Campus ambassadors
Suggested launch approach
For a first internship cohort:
Pick 10–20 target universities.
Contact each career center’s employer relations team.
Host one virtual info session and one interview day.
Build relationships with faculty and student organizations for future cohorts.
If you mean who to hire internally to run the program, the typical role is an University Recruiting Manager / Early Career Talent Manager supported by HR and hiring managers.
Hiring Managers & Department Leads: The technical or business leaders who define project scopes, interview candidates, and ultimately select the interns for their teams.
Employee / Alumni Ambassadors: Recent graduates or current employees from specific target universities who conduct tech talks, employee referrals, and informational sessions to build rapport.
University Career Services Offices: The on-campus departments at colleges that help publicize your postings, host career fairs, and facilitate connections through platforms like Handshake.
If you'd like, let me know:
The scale and industry of your program
Whether you are targeting on-campus events or virtual channels
I can help you outline a step-by-step recruitment strategy or draft job descriptions for your recruiting roles.
Internship program coordinators — many universities have staff specifically responsible for connecting employers with internship opportunities.
Academic departments and faculty — particularly useful when you need students with specific majors or technical skills.
Student organizations and clubs — business, engineering, computer science, finance, marketing, etc. can give you access to highly targeted student populations.
Career platforms such as Handshake — universities commonly use them to distribute internship postings and facilitate employer-student recruiting.
Who should you hire internally?
If you're asking “What job title should I look for to hire someone to recruit university students for us?”, the most relevant titles are:
University Recruiter, Campus Recruiter, Early Careers Recruiter, University Talent Acquisition Specialist, or Campus Recruiting Manager.
For a new internship program, I'd generally look for an Early Careers/University Recruiter who can both build university partnerships and manage the student recruiting pipeline.
If you tell me your industry, company size, and where the interns will be located, I can also suggest exactly what type of person/team to hire and where to find them.
University Relations / Campus Recruiters: Dedicated specialists who own the strategy, build relationships with target schools, attend career fairs, and manage the end-to-end recruitment lifecycle for interns.
Hiring Managers & Department Leads: The technical and business owners who define project scopes, interview candidates, and ultimately decide which students join their specific teams.
HR Generalists & Talent Operations : Handle onboarding logistics, compliance, background checks, internship program structures, and compensation benchmarking.
Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) & Alumni Employees : Employees who graduated from target universities or share specific backgrounds, often serving as brand ambassadors during info sessions and networking events.
Executive Sponsors : Leadership figures who champion the program internally, secure budgets, and often speak at intern welcome events to boost visibility.
External Partners & Platforms
University Career Centers : The primary bridge to students. Staff at these offices help post jobs on internal portals (like Handshake), coordinate on-campus info sessions, and promote your program directly to relevant professors and student groups.
Student Organizations: Partnering directly with clubs (e.g., Women in CS, Finance Societies, Engineering Councils) for targeted workshops, hackathons, or resume reviews.
Campus Recruitment Platforms : Tools like Handshake or Symplicity that allow you to post roles and connect with millions of university students across hundreds of campuses.
If you'd like, I can:
Help you design a timeline for campus recruitment Share tips on how to pitch to university career centers Outline an internship onboarding and engagement structure
