How Boston Can Actually Keep Talented Students

It seems that a big question of this past year for growing companies in Boston was “How do we attract the the top graduates from schools in our own backyard?”

This town has some really good things for attracting great students from places like MIT, Harvard, Northeastern, BU, and BC, like:

A resilient economy
Tons of resources for young professionals
Lots of things to do on weekends

However, I have a feeling this particular conversation is going to stick around for a while, because over the last few months, I’ve unfortunately seen what’s happening first hand.

I really like the city of Boston a lot, but of the people I know personally that are graduating this year with somewhat concrete plans, most of them are getting out of the city. They’re heading down to New York, or out west to California, Texas, Colorado, etc. In fact, I can only think of one person (outside healthcare, education, and finance) that has definite plans for Boston.

So what’s going on, and what can you do about it as a company?

First of all, think about the average 22-year-old’s life when they graduate from one of the dozens of schools up here. For at least four years, they’ve been simultaneously paying a huge tuition bill and living expenses in one of the most expensive cities in the country. That’s stressful and emotionally exhausting for anyone, let alone someone that doesn’t have their feet planted firmly underneath them yet. And these days, chances are that they’re stuck with a 5- or 6-digit student loan in their name.

As a student here - even if parents have helped out - you don’t go 4 years in a Boston college without a conversation like this with some other friend who went to school elsewhere:

Friend: “I just got an off campus apartment for the next year. It’s a little expensive though - $1,200.”

Poor Boston student: “Oh cool, that’s about the same as what I pay per month.”

Friend: “Dude, I was talking about $1,200 for the semester.”

Poor Boston student: …sobs silently on the inside as a single tear drips down his cheek…

Beyond the cost, of course, is the borderline ridiculous winter. Lots of people simply can’t/won’t do the cold. Some people can tolerate the weather, but dislike the colder New England vibe.

Put that stuff together, and it’s a challenging list of things Boston companies can’t do much of anything about:

It’s expensive for young people to live here.
Cold/Windy/Snowy days are at times demoralizing.
The general perception that Bostonians have less open attitudes than people elsewhere.

Take these two situations from a couple of sharp Northeastern students graduating this year:

One said frankly that he’s tired of the cold attitude of people here. The cost of living pushed him over the top, but it’s really important for him to be able to have friendly conversations with strangers everyday, and he couldn’t seem to find it in Boston.

Another took a trip out west and was amazed at how open people were to meeting with him, no matter how far apart their titles or resumes. He described that they would not only want to meet, but seriously go out of their way to be helpful and show that they genuinely cared - even for someone brand new to town. Again, he’s not finding that in Boston.

So as a CEO or manager at a Boston-based company that really wants to hire local graduating talent, you have a lot on your plate. It’s a challenge, but not impossible to overcome by any means. You have to create an offer that makes staying in Boston worth it - and it transcends the compensation package.

These are four of the best strategies I’ve come across (from both companies and graduating students):

Swap out your internship program with an apprenticeship program

There was just a article in Bostinno about apprenticeship for software engineers, and I think it’s a fantastic model that can be applied to any field with very strong mutual benefits. Boston has lots of masters at their respective crafts, but students rarely get to learn alongside them.

When a student or recent graduate gets into an internship, the thinking is usually along the lines of getting a feel for the company’s culture, learning some more about the industry, getting a bunch of busy work done, and adding a name to the resume for my career. When someone commits to an apprenticeship, they are planting roots with intentions of becoming a master, right now (it’s much less wishy-washy).

Provide a solid, well-publicized student loan assistance plan

The whole student debt bubble isn’t going away, so it’s going to be something we all have to deal with, however it hits us. We’re experiencing a wave of people that are moving out of Boston right after college for the sole purpose of saving money and paying off student loans. When you’re trying to recruit this generation (whether you’re Fortune 500 or a startup), you need to take this unprecedented issue into account.

These kinds of programs can be a risk, because you don’t want to invest heavily in a person that is not going to stick around and invest heavily in the company. But if you can make it well-known on campuses that you take care of people that are committed to delivering lasting value to the company by helping with their student loans, just watch the inbound interest spike.

Go Beyond the Career Fair

Or really, just skip it altogether. This is where companies in Boston have a huge geographic advantage.

Reach out to students in places where you can have real conversations. It will be a much better, more focused field for you to pinpoint some A-candidates, and they will tend to see you as a real, authentic person rather than a suit and job flyer.

The professionals in this city who I have the best relationships with were the ones that - after I introduced myself the first time in person or through email - actually invited me to grab some coffee or lunch, and just talk about stuff. Out of seemingly small acts of openness like that, I’ve had life-shaping experiences and formed strong friendships that are golden to me. They also could have never occurred without an unconventional meeting.

You’ll find awesome, hungry people at club meetings, college startup competitions, and at all sorts of diverse public activities on campuses around Boston.

Be disarmingly honest about your company and the job

This is perhaps the most important thing I can say about employing this generation. We are oversold a lot of things, and thus, feel compelled to oversell ourselves.

When a new hire emerges from an overhyped job description and embellished accomplishments, it’s just a ticking time bomb. That relationship won’t work, because it’s not built on trust.

If you are real with a talented college student you’re talking to, they will be real with you. That means explaining that sometimes the sales team is at odds with development, some days require staying until 8pm, the coffee could be better, but you’ll be solving real problems and building something awesome. Revealing shortcomings strips away that pressure to be “the one”, job candidates tend to feel which leads to impossibly perfect self-description.

These are just a few strategies, but I think success in attracting students in Boston ultimately comes down to being creative, accommodating, and real. And there’s one qualifier for every successful strategy you think of:

It won’t happen in your conference room.