Graduate recruitment

Most businesses would benefit from recruiting new talent possessing drive, enthusiasm and fresh ideas. Sometimes it can be difficult to acquire these at a cost that is attainable. One option is to employ a recent graduate from University. Traditionally, most graduate recruitment was undertaken by large companies. Recently, businesses of all sizes are seizing the opportunity to employ graduates to help inject a new dimension into their organisations.

graduate-jobs.com is here to help you weigh up the benefits of employing a graduate, define the type of graduate you require, creating a package and offer, recruitment and retention, issues and pitfalls.

Employing graduates:
Graduate Characteristics - Recent graduates have lots of potential, but may be more challenging than other employees.

They are smart and determined.

• They are likely to be very ambitious and willing to work harder in order to prove themselves.
• Most graduates are intelligent and well educated.
• The fact that you have offered them their first career opportunity will acquire you a degree of loyalty.

Graduates starting their first job arrive with no baggage. They have no pre-conceived ideas about what can and cannot be done.

• You will have more scope to train them your way. But they will need basic tutoring on how to operate in the work environment.

Graduates are not a source of cheap labour. They are likely to be high maintenance in many ways.

• They will expect a competitive salary.
• They will want to be given a high degree of responsibility early on.
• Often graduates expect a formal training programme.
• Once they have been trained, they might leave.

The type of graduate you require -
Think about your vacancy and decide what qualifications, skills and experience you would like your graduate to have.

Generalist or a specialist.

• If you require generalist graduates graduate-jobs.com will allow you to target graduates by industry sector. If you require someone more specialist consider recruiting graduates from a range of degree subject areas.
• Create a specification of the ideal candidate. Will they need specific skills, such as languages, IT skills or a driving licence?
• Requiring experience is often requested but not always realistic. Some graduates may have placement experience as part of their degree. Others may be able to demonstrate holiday and part-time work. Often graduates are highly qualified but low on experience.
• Other targeting criteria UCAS point acquired, degree level (1st, 2:1 etc), University and degree course. These can all be targeted by graduate-jobs.com.

The offer and package -
Competition is fierce to attract good graduates. You can make your vacancy more appealing in a number of ways:

• Make a clearly understood job spec so that the graduate knows exactly what they will be doing.
• Formal training is (although not essential) highly valued. Consider added this package you are able to provide.
• Offer a competitive salary. Graduate salaries typically start around £16k. There are regional variations, if you are based in London and the home counties where the cost of living is higher, graduates will expect to start on between £18k and £20k.
• Be realistic about what you can offer, create a package that is an all-rounder - sometimes its not all about the money. Think about benefits that might not be of particular value to you that maybe highly valued to the graduate - gym membership for example?
• Do not underestimate the value of working for a small business (SME). The emphasis should be on:
  • Being able to have a direct influence on the business’s success.
  • In a smaller business it is possible to gain real responsibility early on.
  • You can offer the graduate the prospect of becoming a key team player.
  • The chance to experience how the different aspects of a business work.
  • Working directly with the directors is also a potentially exciting prospect.
  • Often better and more dynamic working environment.
  • There is more chance to get involved in exciting new projects.
• Persistence and planning pays off. Its impossible to predict what will happen but you can improve you chances of success by having a plan that is well thought out and a role that is interesting and presented correctly.

Retaining graduates - Making sure they stay!
Its important to make sure that once you have invested the effort and cost of attracting and recruiting a graduate, you ensure they stay.

• Buddy up! - assign your new graduate with an experienced member of staff who is responsible for guiding the graduate and can assist with training and introductions. Graduates have been in education for the last 20 years it might be a tough to adapt to the new way of life.
• Increase the graduate's salary after, the initial probation period, subject to achieving agreed targets.
• Suggest your new graduate creates new projects, ensure their progress is monitored. Despite their confidence they will need continual monitoring and support.
• Give feedback - give regular performance appraisals, and pile on the praise whenever they produce good work.
• Give responsibility as early as possible. Make sure this responsibility is earned on merit rather than simply provided.
• Finally, and importantly don't forget your other employees. Its easy to create resentment in the workplace make sure they understand the graduates role and remit. Avoid openly demonstrating preferential treatment in favour of your graduate.
• Finally, in order to maintain trust, ensure you keep all the promises you make to your graduate.

Issues and pitfalls -
The internal recruitment process used at your company will be the same for graduates as it is for other employees, however there can be some specific issues related to the graduate field.

• Timing - In reality as a small business there is no slow during the calendar year time to recruit graduates. Graduates are constantly looking for the right vacancy. Availability however may be and issue as graduates final year will end in May / June and they may only become available to work in the following September.
• You may do everything to keep your graduate but for whatever reason they ay simply leave after initial training.
• Sometimes due to the competitive nature of the market you may interview candidates who take jobs elsewhere.
• You may receive many applications from both appropriate and inappropriate graduates for your role.
• There are hundreds of Universities throughout the UK. Expect to receive applications from a broad spectrum of these institutions.
• A filtering process can be implemented to make sure the amount of application administration is minimised. Please talk to graduate-jobs.com with regard to this.