Commercial construction always had first dibs on on-campus talent. But home building's new Wall Street profile and quantum leap trajectory has the pendulum swinging toward residential.

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Builders could also be more active in identifying and building relationships with potential recruits. In some respects, their recruitment practices may still be far behind those of other corporate recruiters.

“Oftentimes, companies come to the campus recruiting and interviewing a large number of students, and then the students go weeks and months before they hear back from the company,” says Blaylock. “Most of the good students have several job offers by the time they graduate, and many of them have committed by the time they hear back from these companies. Also, it says something to the students about a company's organization, culture, and professionalism when they are slow to respond.”

Becoming more refined in recruitment techniques may be imperative. Commercial builders still have a leg up on their residential counterparts, and part of that has to do with history. Many programs, note professors, were started with funding from the commercial side; moreover, faculty members have historically come from that area. Thus, curriculums, internships, and recruitment in the past have centered on commercial building.

To effect change and recruit students successfully, Dr. Richard Boser, Construction Management program coordinator at Illinois State, stresses the importance of building “relationships with the [Construction Management] program by attending career days, sponsoring field trips and guest speakers, and participating on the advisory board. They don't need to do all of this, but they need to get their name and face in front of students.”

Commercial construction firms aren't the only ones vying for each year's crop of candidates, either. It's important that home builders don't underestimate the competition coming from the trades, which also have the infrastructure to lure graduates away. In fact, big builders may be able to learn something from the trades.

The Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA), for one, is actively working to interest construction management students. Through its 28 student chapters, the MCAA works to link up students with industry professionals.

“There is huge industry backing from mechanical and heating companies and the mechanical industry in general,” says 21-year-old Matt Klingler, chapter president at Colorado State University. With that support, the organization's student chapters can be a publicity vehicle, educating other construction students about the many career options available in the field. One method used by various student chapters is to bring in home building industry executives for football tailgate parties so that students have a chance to network with potential employers.

While BIG BUILDER limited its survey to four-year programs, many home builders find that potentially strong candidates are often hidden in less obvious places. Penn State in State College, Pa., does not offer a four-year program in housing—but, says Eric Burnett, Bernard and Henrietta Hankin Chair of Residential Construction, its engineering school trains students in a variety of related areas. “What we do on the main campus through the engineering faculty is offer a means to support students who are interested in housing,” says Burnett, explaining that students can get a Housing Certificate by doing four housing-related courses for 12 credits.

“We can prepare engineers—not trades—for the housing business,” says Burnett. “We also train more than 3,000 trades, municipal inspectors, code officials, and home inspectors per year via workshops and seminars,” he says. As such, we are one of the more influential trainers of persons for the building industry. We try to offer a full-service program for engineers; our students are snapped up, and many are with the larger companies.”

As the laws of supply and demand apply, the mere fact that big builders are swooping up students as fast as possible may accelerate growth in home building-focused university programs—and create a greater supply of home building talent.