In today’s competitive hiring environment, employers are realizing that waiting until career fair season to recruit may already be too late.
Employers don’t simply need resumes; they need prepared, self-aware, adaptable talent capable of contributing from day one.
But how do you find today’s interns who will be tomorrow’s leaders?
For one Tampa Bay area Fortune 100 company, finding early talent is a competitive advantage that is reflected by their investment in building a strategic partnership with USF. So says Ryan McNulty, talent acquisition manager for TD SYNNEX, a leading global IT distributor that was recognized as one of Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies in 2026.
"Instead of evaluating students at a single recruiting moment," McNulty said, "universities
must prepare students intentionally and establish a system where highpotential candidates
are identified earlier, way before that first impression at a career fair."
After working with students on a daily basis, my advice to those looking for early
talent is:
Partner with universities
Engaging with professional development programs allows companies to influence the skillsets students are building long before recruiting season begins.
Bring industry insight into the learning process.
Sharing real-world expectations helps universities align student preparation with evolving workforce needs.
Create strategic engagement moments
Workshops and micro-networking events give students direct access to industry perspectives while helping employers connect with promising talent early.
It’s the difference between transactional career fair ecruiting and intentional talent pipeline design.
This creates a powerful feedback loop: employer voice
shapes preparation; preparation elevates engagement; engagement drives stronger internship
performance; internships convert to full-time hires.
For higher education, the takeaway is bold: integrating an employer’s voice directly into structured professional development produces measurable hiring outcomes.
When preparation, partnership, and purpose converge, internships become launchpads, and talent pipelines become sustainable engines of growth.
Doug Meyn, M.Ed., is the program director for the Bellini Center for Talent Development at the University of South Florida.