It’s not only back to school for the fall semester for students, but for companies, too. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), more than 99 percent of organizations are participating in on-campus recruiting this autumn. Just like college students are preparing for their classes, you should forecast your company’s return on investment (ROI) for acquiring top talent.

Here’s how you can better evaluate your fall early-career recruitment strategy. 

Key Performance Indicators That Help Measure ROI

You should keep track of your team’s key performance indicators (KPIs) throughout the fall semester. This will help you make any adjustments you need before the end of the year—and inform major course corrections for the spring (if necessary). Here are two KPIs to monitor:

• ‍Number of Candidates Per School- How many top candidates are your core recruiting universities actually delivering? If you have historical data, you can compare this fall to previous ones and see if any trends emerge.

• ‍Number of Diverse Candidates Per School- Do you target an institution to hit diversity hiring goals? Here’s your opportunity to see if that tactic is yielding the results you need.

Besides these two KPIs, you also should do an informal audit of this year’s early-career class. Talk to your organization’s program managers to learn more about the results your strategy is producing. Were there any areas of concern last year’s class had that need to be addressed? Did those employees come from similar schools—or the same university? If so, you need to reconsider which institutions you’re targeting.

Being proactive can lead to a positive ROI and a strong early-career recruitment strategy.

How Do On-Campus Candidates Compare To Your Digital Ones?

Another critically important aspect of your early-career recruitment strategy: How do on-campus candidates compare to digital ones? Granted, this question is predicated on the fact that all people considered for the position—regardless of where they’re sourced from—are treated equally.

Let’s assume that all your talent is on a level playing field. According to NACE, the average cost-per-hire for companies that do on-campus recruiting is $6,275. For organizations that don’t, their cost-per-hire is $2,027—a drastic decrease.  Apart from cost, digital recruitment can help you attract and engage candidates you otherwise would have never met. But it takes more than just engagement—you need to facilitate those relationships and ensure they have a positive candidate experience once they’re submitted their application.

Not only can a digital job sourcing strategy improve your ROI, it can expand your candidate network. If, for instance, your core schools aren’t producing enough diverse talent, you can reach other institutions—like historically black colleges and universities (HCBUs)—through job sourcing platforms (like WayUp!).

Your organization can be at the top of the fall early-career recruiting class. You need to monitor KPIs that help measure your ROI and have a sound digital job sourcing strategy to complement your on-campus efforts to get there.