Identifying Engineering Leadership Potential During the On-Campus Recruiting Process

Recruiters’ perspectives are important in determining how students should best convey their leadership skills during the recruitment process. Recruiters are responsible for evaluating and identifying talent appropriate for today’s dynamic global environment. This study aims to understand, from the recruiters’ perspective, the important engineering leadership behaviors an engineering student needs to communicate during the on-campus recruiting process. Additionally, the study identifies what undergraduate activities or programs recruiters’ value in demonstrating important engineering leadership behaviors. The study uses a qualitative interview approach to generate themes of engineering leadership behaviors that recruiters seek to understand during the on-campus recruiting process as well as strategies recruiters use to identify engineering leadership potential. Recruiters were asked to complete a qualitative interview questionnaire during their participation in the 2015-2016 recruiting activities at a large public institution. Interview questions explored the strategies recruiters use to identify engineering leaders, what engineering leadership behaviors are important for students to communicate, and student experiences that alert a recruiter of engineering leadership potential. A list of themes was generated using the constant comparative method. Triangulation of data was achieved through an independent focus group consisting of experienced engineering recruiters to verify the themes identified in the qualitative questionnaire. Utilizing these steps provides a structure for precise and complete analysis of the data with validation through the triangulation process. Results from this study inform engineering leadership educators on how recruiters perceive students’ leadership potential in the early-stages of their careers relevant to the engineering industry. Results of this study also inform engineering undergraduate students on how best to convey engineering leadership competencies during the recruiting process. Findings can be added to the growing literature aimed at developing and assessing the engineering leadership competencies required by industry.