As the summer quickly draws to a close, students will be contemplating their new term at university and what they can expect from their futures. However, in spite of huge financial help, employers are struggling to find graduates that make the grade and students are discovering their first jobs are not all they are cracked up to be.
Dissatisfied Graduates
Often, the promises made to students throughout university lead them to believe that their degrees will solidify their spot in the employment market and can be the key to unlocking the job opportunities they have always dreamed of. However, research demonstrates a deep lack of satisfaction among graduates towards their first jobs.
One in five students are applying for jobs in which they have no interest simply to have something to add to their CV, with a large number planning to leave after the first year.
Students, although aware of the need to get into work quickly after leaving education, are looking for a position which interests and engages them in such a way that they can see themselves growing and developing within that company and building a lifelong career. Taking a job as a stop gap whilst they look for something more inspiring demonstrates a need for employers to reconsider how they attract graduates and perhaps refine their recruitment intiatives to prevent this happening.
Dissatisfied Employers
It is not just the graduates who feel they are getting the short end of the stick. Employers also believe they are not attracting graduates with the appropriate skills and drive to perform at an optimum standard. Attracting graduates who only intend to stay for a year or who have little interest in the job can result in huge financial outlay and low performance.
The way in which positions are advertised must be upgraded to suit a changing generation who search for jobs in entirely new ways.
The Way Forward
Employers must look to more intelligent recruitment models that don’t aim solely to appeal to the masses and fulfil a graduate recruitment quota. Social networking sites, industry specific hashtags and advertising via mobile apps as examples, are a prime way to reach university leavers and educate them – for free – about exactly what the position and a career with them entails.
Engaging the candidate using innovative job adverts and interesting interview regimes will bring more engaging and interesting candidates who will be more likely to stay and grow within your company. The key to attracting the best candidates for your vacant position is innovation (and maybe the help of a low cost recruitment agency).
Castle Hill House