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Hiring Trends Shaping the Early-Career STEM Market

Fee: FREE (member); $89 (nonmember);

Audience: All

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The market for early-career STEM talent is shifting rapidly. Economic uncertainty, AI-driven changes to entry-level roles, and evolving student priorities are reshaping how students launch their careers and how organizations recruit them. In this session, Dr. Chelsea Schein, VP Research Strategy at Veris Insights will share the latest data on early talent hiring trends and what they mean for both employers and career services professionals supporting STEM students as they navigate an increasingly complex job market.

Summary
The early-career hiring landscape for STEM talent is undergoing a significant shift. While demand for technical skills remains strong, hiring volatility in the tech sector, the rise of AI, and policy changes affecting international talent are reshaping the pathways from campus to career. At the same time, students’ expectations of employers are evolving, with growing emphasis on job stability, meaningful work, and long-term career growth.

These changes are creating new challenges, and opportunities, for both employers recruiting STEM students and career services professionals preparing students to enter the workforce. Organizations are navigating increased competition for specialized talent, rising renege rates, and new complexities in evaluating candidates in the age of AI. Meanwhile, career services leaders are helping students interpret a more uncertain labor market while advising them on how to position themselves for emerging roles.

Drawing on recent employer benchmarking and student research from Veris Insights, this session will examine the key forces shaping the market for early-career STEM talent and what they mean for campus recruiting and student career preparation. Participants will leave with practical insights into current hiring trends, evolving student priorities, and strategies that can help both employers and universities better support successful early-career outcomes.

Following this program, you will be able to:
- Analyze key trends shaping the early-career STEM hiring market, including the impact of AI, economic shifts, and changes in entry-level hiring patterns.
- Understand how STEM students’ priorities and perceptions of employers are evolving, and how these changes affect recruiting strategies and student career decision-making.
- Identify strategies employers and career services professionals can use to better support early-career STEM outcomes, from strengthening employer engagement and branding to preparing students for emerging roles in an AI-influenced labor market.
Presenters

Chelsea Schein, Director, Research, Veris Insights
Chelsea Schein is the VP of research strategy at Veris Insights, a market research consultancy firm dedicated to helping University Recruiting and Talent Acquisition leaders attract, engage, and recruit top talent. She has a deep passion for training the next generation of business leaders and in addition to her work at Veris Insights, she is an award winning instructor of Negotiations and Business Ethics at the Wharton School of Business.

Jim Saulsbury, Early Talent Lead - North America, ABB

Sara Concini, Director, Corporate Relations & Career Services, North Carolina State University

Bryan Quick, Director, Talent Acquisition, Global Early Careers, Abbott
Bryan Quick is the head of early careers at Abbott, where he is responsible for a global team accountable for the design and delivery of the enterprise strategy to attract and recruit next-generation talent. Prior to working at Abbott, Bryan held several positions in parks and resorts and talent acquisition at the Walt Disney Company for more than 12 years. It was at Disney where he was recognized with the Partners in Excellence Award, which is awarded to the top 5% of company employees. Bryan later transitioned to a role in the nonprofit space by becoming the director for training and development at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, where he led the learning and development strategy for the entire zoo for four years. Bryan started at Abbott by leading operations recruitment, where he provided leadership on several projects with a global impact. Most recently, he assumed the leadership role managing talent programs supporting the entire globe. This includes leadership of all recruitment strategies, building and strengthening early career recruiting partnerships with the business and universities, managing intern engagement, and leading a best-in-class university relations team. Bryan is a first-generation college graduate and holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Francis Marion University. He has been highly engaged with the NACE organization for almost two decades, serving as chair for several committees, facilitating conference presentations, and supporting key initiatives in STEM and skills-based hiring practices important to the membership.

Elizabeth Diley, Director, Emerging Talent and Careers, Medtronic
Elizabeth is the Director, Emerging Talent & Careers at Medtronic. Most recently, she led campus recruiting and talent brand at General Mills. Over her 16-year tenure at General Mills, she has held recruiting and internal staffing roles. Elizabeth has a strong commitment to attracting and retaining, as well as developing, top talent. She is dedicated to diversity and inclusion efforts inside the company and out. In her past role, she was responsible for all campus recruiting activity in North America. She set enterprise-wide hiring strategies and designed and implemented their award-winning summer internship program. Elizabeth is a people leader and loves coaching and mentoring teams to achieve top results and create space to experiment. Elizabeth is active in the university relations and emerging talent community. She can be found sharing best practices on webinars, panels, and national conferences. Elizabeth was named a Ripplematch Exceptional Leader nominee for the past four years and has led General Mills to the Forbes #1 spot for best employer for new grads in 2023. As a first-generation college student, Elizabeth is always looking for ways to help students who need access to resources and employers the most. Elizabeth holds a bachelor’s degree in Management from the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University. Outside of work, Elizabeth spends her time outdoors skiing and fishing, perfecting her old-fashioned recipe, and spending time with her family.

Sally Perez-Ramos, Associate Director, Market Readiness & Employment, Wake Forest University - Employer Relations