Having recently taken on six new graduates as part of our new graduate recruitment programme, it is noticeable how these new starters have such raw ambition, drive and determination to give to the business, making the investment worthwhile.
Research from the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HESCU) reported last year that unemployment among Britain's graduates is at its highest level for nearly 20 years.
Even though the job market is fiercely competitive for graduates, it can prove both time consuming and risky to try and reach out directly to even the most suitable candidates for an organisation. By using a specialist recruitment company to filter the many hundreds of applicants, as our company did, it is possible to simplify matters and choose from a shortlist of the strongest and best-motivated talent.
From our experience, a formalised graduate recruitment programme is crucial to success. Companies are just playing a numbers game if they expect new starters to go straight into professions such as sales and learn on the job. The most effective route has to be the creation of a rigorous long term training programme which has the support and input from a broad cross-section of the whole company's personnel. In our case, we consciously took the decision not to set targets for the first nine months of the programme because we didn't want to set unreasonable expectations on what the graduates could deliver.
What has been most noticeable is that the graduates have brought a different atmosphere into the workplace - injecting positivity, optimism and energy, and created a greater buzz. It is critical to develop the graduates' sales skills without exerting too much pressure. It's undeniable too, that our recruits' facility with social media has given us additional options on researching and targeting potential market opportunities or particular prospects. It has restored my faith in people - both new recruits and experienced personnel - having seen enhanced commitment to the business generated so quickly.
In our chosen field of IT consultancy for large and mid-range organisations, what has been most noticeable is that the graduates have brought a different atmosphere into the workplace - injecting greater positivity, optimism and energy. More than that it has made existing personnel in different disciplines quietly rethink some of their approaches to daily operations. It has been critical to develop the graduates' sales skills without undue pressure. For example, we have tasked them with carefully researching market sectors with colleagues before developing sales strategies, rather than throwing them in at the deep end. We haven't set expectations beyond what they could realistically achieve so no-one has been disappointed.
The graduate route can be a vital part of a company's continuing growth strategy and by enlisting graduate talent, it can give businesses another approach to help grow and energise their business by bringing new talent to the workplace.
Glyn Heath, MD, Centiq
