Lester Arnold took over the position of director of college recruiting for Lowe's Companies, Inc early in 2006. Since then his focus has been on redesigning and centralizing the college recruiting process and strategy for full-time undergraduate, MBA and internship opportunities. His approach includes a diversity recruiting strategy.
Corporate diversity leadership teams (DLTs) and corporate diversity structures are already in place at Lowe's. "Each DLT has an executive sponsor and a project manager. I'm project manager for the college recruiting team. We're there to make sure that all of our efforts are viewed through a diversity lens."
The team is already seeing some success. During his first year with Lowe's, Arnold received a New Corporate Client award from the Inroads minority internship program.
"Many people recognize Lowe's as their neighborhood home improvement store," says Arnold, "But we're actually the world's second largest home improvement retailer and one of the Fortune top fifty."
Lowe's operates more than 1,375 stores in forty-nine states. Last year the company opened 155 new stores, and will expand into Canada this year and Mexico in 2008.
That means a lot of opportunities for college students and recent graduates in IT and IE. IT hires are primarily based at the Lowe's Mooresville, NC headquarters, located twenty miles from Charlotte, and in Wilkesboro, NC. IEs work at Lowe's distribution centers, usually two to three in each center.
Lowe's college recruitment originally focused on East Coast schools, but beginning in the fall of 2007, Arnold's college recruiting team will attend college fairs at universities nationwide. "We'll examine the college programs, our history with particular universities and, of course, geographic locations. Besides going to career fairs, we'll hold information sessions and conduct first-round interviews on campus."
To ensure recruitment of diverse students Arnold works with organizations like NSBE, SHPE and SWE on both the national and campus levels, and attends the conferences of the National Black MBAs and the National Society for Hispanic MBAs. "We also visit HBCUs, Hispanic-serving institutions and women's universities like Simmons College in Boston, which has a big IT program."
Ten percent of total IT hires last year were new graduates, and in December about fifteen upcoming graduates attend an annual informational program, Arnold reports. "Then they typically attend our intensive program in their senior year to be considered for hire after they finish school."
Lowe's offers an IT rotation program for new grads. The thirteen-week program includes mentoring and on-the-job training with a manager and a coach. "It's intensive training to bring them up to speed with the platforms and languages used by Lowe's."
The company offers ten-week summer internships as well. "In 2006 we had sixty-six interns. For 2007 we anticipate recruiting 100 for all lines of our business, from corporate to distribution. We look for rising sophomores, juniors and seniors," says Arnold. "And we will continue to grow our IE internship program. We plan to include an introduction to the art and science of retail, interactive sessions about the business, exposure to numerous executives and their roles in the company, and specific assignments."
Community service plays an important role at Lowe's. Last year's interns worked with Habitat for Humanity to build a home, a natural extension of the company's core business.
The 2006 conversion rate for interns was 25 percent. Arnold projects better than 50 percent in 2007. "With 150 to 160 new stores expected to open in each of the next two years, Lowe's is experiencing continual growth. Active recruitment of college students and new graduates plays an important role in that growth."
D/C
Lowe's Companies, Inc
www.lowes.com
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Headquarters: |
Mooresville, NC |
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Employees: |
200,000+ employees |
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Revenues: |
$46.9 billion (2006) |
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Business: |
Retail home improvement |
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