While rumour has it that all the \u2018best\u2019 graduates were snapped up for graduate programs many months ago, that\u2019s not exactly true. Firstly, businesses are unique and so what\u2019s \u2018best\u2019 for you won\u2019t be the same as what\u2019s \u2018best\u2019 for other companies and secondly, many students will have had such a steadfast focus on their university work that they won\u2019t have had the opportunity to have a proper search around for jobs yet. And some will not yet know what they want to do (which is absolutely fine by the way).<\/p>\n
Only 14% of new graduates want to work for large corporations or businesses (Accenture, 2016) <\/strong><\/p>\n So let\u2019s dispel that myth and start thinking about what needs to happen to get your graduate recruitment moving! Nervousness starts to creep in around this time of year, whether that\u2019s from companies who have not yet started graduate recruitment and wanted to or companies who have, but haven\u2019t managed to fill all of their vacancies.<\/p>\n While it\u2019s not too late yet, it may be if you hang around at this point\u2026<\/p>\n The Role<\/strong><\/p>\n It sounds like a simple starting point, but one which is so frequently overlooked. It is really important that you outline the role(s) clearly, visualising what the graduate will be doing on a day-to-day basis. What will they be accountable for? What are their KPI\u2019s? What initial training will be needed? What sort of person do you see doing this role? Asking these questions will clarify exactly what the role entails and provide an indication of the types of behaviors you are looking for in the individuals. Identifying what \u2018good\u2019 looks like for your organization is key to attracting your<\/em> \u2018best\u2019 \u2013 graduates that are the right cultural fit for you.<\/p>\n The Development<\/strong><\/p>\n Something that cannot be overlooked when recruiting today\u2019s millennial graduates is development.<\/strong> Millennials are known for being hungry to learn and keen to add more strings to their bow. And this is a huge pro for businesses. We are dealing with willing-to-learn individuals and providing the right development can accelerate the return on your hiring investment<\/strong>. Not only that, they are likely to settle in quickly, get to grips with your business straight away and start enhancing the skills that you need them to have.<\/p>\n The skills that graduates are most likely to need to improve when entering the workplace for the first time are:<\/strong><\/p>\n Graduate development can come in many forms and it\u2019s important to consider what you will incorporate; on-the-job training, role-specific skills training, commercial awareness development, managerial training. The three topics above may provide a good starting point and a way to start building your graduates\u2019 skillsets.<\/p>\n The Action (process)<\/strong><\/p>\n Once you have a clear idea of the role the graduate will do and the support you are going to give them to excel in it, it\u2019s time to think about the approach you\u2019ll take to attracting, assessing and selecting them. This is often the part that companies outsource elements of so they can learn best practice ways of selecting graduates for their business.<\/p>\n 39% of employers outsource at least one component of their recruitment campaigns (AGR, 2016)<\/strong><\/p>\n Think about the behaviors and skills you are looking for and how you can encourage candidates to exhibit these throughout the assessment process. How will you give candidates insight into life at your offices\/site? Who would it be useful for them to meet at final interview or assessment center stage? These are all questions that you need to ask before you embark on the process to ensure you recruit the right people.<\/p>\n\n