College graduates can make wonderful employees. They are often incredibly tech savvy, more in touch with what their peers are thinking than you could ever hope to be, and they have seemingly endless supplies of enthusiasm!
The competition to hire the best graduates is fierce, particularly in sectors where there are skills shortages. So how do you not only attract the best quality graduates to your company, but ensure that you are recruiting the graduates who are the best fit for your business?
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Graduates Make Development a Priority
Graduates at the beginning of their careers are invested in building a career that will keep them engaged and learning, as well as earning rewards, throughout their working life. Although salary is of course a factor when a graduate is deciding whether to take a job, they may weigh the opportunity to progress and gain experience in their field over a higher salary in the short term.
Be sure to invest in staff development programs which allow your employees to grow and develop their areas of interest. When detailing these programs to potential new recruits it can be helpful to show them case studies of graduates who have worked with you in the past and gone on to achieve their career goals. Being able to contextualize what you are saying against the life of a real person like them will get your graduates to really believe in what you are saying.
Look Beyond Garduates Degree Result
A good degree result is important, but perhaps more important or at least equally important, are the other skills that your candidate developed while they were at college.
For example, recipients of ASM Scholarships prove that they are capable of motivating themselves and multi-tasking, as these are skills they will have had to develop to allow them to achieve their academic results while pursuing a sporting career simultaneously. You could also check your graduates’ work experience: did they do any part-time work that might have given them skills that will be useful to you or that display an enthusiasm for the field?
Build a Relationship with Universities
Having a good working relationship with universities is a great way to ensure that good students know that you exist and also that you can get a little insider information on the temperaments of the students who apply to work with you.
Don’t just befriend the careers service though; it can be highly valuable to build a relationship with the professors of subjects that apply to your field as they are likely to have a more personal relationship with students and therefore a better insight into how they will perform in a workplace. Additionally, they will be able to give you an honest appraisal of their grasp of the subject matter.
Placements and Internships For Graduates
Offering short-term placements and internships is not only a great way for graduates to gain some work experience, it’s a great way for you to audition your potential recruits in the workplace to see which ones are the best fit.
