How to Accelerate a Successful Mid-Semester Student Employee Onboarding

As an employer, you likely want to bring in college student talent early in the semester. However, this does not always happen as planned. It can be a challenge to bring in a new student worker in the middle of the semester. However, there are things you can do to quickly onboard the employee while still setting them up for success and making them feel welcome.

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Know what they need

You have likely onboarded employees before. Ask around and try to find out what would have helped others during the onboarding process. You may also opt to research articles online. These things will help give you an idea of what is going through the new hire’s mind from their perspective. Ideally, you have done this research as time goes on, so you can continue to adjust your onboarding process. Doing this research early on will help accelerate the onboarding of a hire coming on in the middle of the semester.

Team-building activities

Team-building activities can help everyone in the company get to know each other quickly, and this is even more important when a new hire needs to adjust quickly. Have board games or puzzles in a community area for people to do while they are taking a break. Schedule a dinner or happy hour so your team can welcome the new employee. These activities should be easy and quick to incorporate, but fun enough that people will want to engage with them and help the new hire feel welcome.

Provide training and mentorship

When you bring on a new student hire, it is important that you provide them with the training and mentorship they need to succeed in the role, and this is especially true if their onboarding is accelerated. They need to know what they are doing and have someone they can go to if they have any questions or need to know how to do something. Making sure they have thorough and accurate training will allow them to quickly get up to speed on processes and tasks they have to do as a part of their job. Students have a skill for learning things quickly, and as an employer, you can use this to your advantage when accelerating the onboarding process.

Plan their tasks

When the new employee begins, have a few tasks ready for them to complete. Try to avoid overwhelming them, but give them a few things so they can get a feel for how things work in your company. Have someone walk them through how to do each task and assign them someone who can answer their questions. This person is ideally someone who will be mentoring them. Having tasks set up and ready for them will help you keep things moving as the employee is getting onboarded. When they are officially familiar with the basics of the job, you can add more tasks to their plate. However, adding too much right off the bat will overwhelm them and may hinder how quickly they are learning their role.

Keep communication open

When you are bringing in a new employee with accelerated onboarding, you must remain open to communication. If you fail to see an employee’s question or concern, things may be delayed as the employee has to do things and get paperwork done. They are unable to complete onboarding if they have questions throughout the process or if they end up doing the wrong thing. Make sure your new employee knows the best way to communicate with you so they can reach out and have their questions and concerns answered.

Prepare the other employees

You must communicate with all of your employees throughout the process of hiring, but it is especially important to let them know when the role is filled and when the new person will start. This way, they can plan their tasks as well as get ready to help the new hire. If you want to provide a mentor for the new hire, get started on that process as quickly as possible. Doing so will give the mentor a chance to prepare for helping a new person and aid them in their onboarding.

Encourage employee wellness

When employees start a new job, it is typical that they feel increased stress. They have to get to know new people, new tasks, a new environment, and a new commute. A student employee has to deal with that on top of student stress. Make sure you allow them time to ease into the new position. This includes giving them a reasonable number of tasks so they can learn what they are expected to do. Encourage them to take breaks and to take their lunch break away from their desk.

Onboarding new employees can be a challenge, especially if you are looking to accelerate the onboarding for a student in the middle of the semester. However, there are ways to ensure you and all of your employees are successful in this process.