How to Make Graduates Notice Your Company
With the skills gap in the UK becoming even bigger, graduates are a great solution for businesses looking to expand. Entering the workforce after graduating from university can be quite a daunting experience. It’s the first time many will have left the comfort of education. Generation Z are already well educated in what they want from a job; even if they don’t know what job they actually want! Flexibility and company culture are two things that are extremely highly regarded. Offering these could help you to attract the best talent.
There are lots of different ways to ensure you have the right offering for recent graduates. But the key is to understand what they are looking for. Graduates tend to be highly motivated individuals, so make sure you offer opportunities for career progression – and follow that promise through! Of course the rate of pay is very important for a graduate; but there are lots of other things they look for, which we are going to explore in detail now.
Training & Development
When advertising a new role, you may want to highlight any development opportunities in order to help attract graduates. A study recently carried out showed that information about training & development was the second most important thing graduates wanted to see from an employer before applying to a role. This really goes to show how they are thinking long-term about their future, and are not looking for a temporary role.
Learning and progression are two really important factors for graduates. Be sure to highlight any vocational training that is on offer for them. If you can offer training days, or an allocated budget towards training, mention that in the job description. Remember hands-on experience is just as important as giving graduates access to further studying.
Fast-Track Progression
In the world we live in, speed is important. If you can provide fast development opportunities for graduates, this will be a big bonus. Many graduates look for graduate schemes that not only offer financial security but also will give them the chance to progress their career quickly if they are prepared to put the work in.
Although as a business owner this perk may seem expensive (particularly as there will be regular pay rises), you have to look at it long-term. Think about the financial return you will receive in the end. Young talent always bring with them innovative, creative ideas that can really help to push businesses forward.
Work-Life Balance
Now this isn’t just important for graduates, but actually your whole team. Since the pandemic, everyone has realised the importance of work-life balance. You need to make this the highlight of your job advertisement. Whether you decided to offer a hybrid working model, or allow staff to work from home all the time, you need to be proactively changing your business model to ensure a more even work-life balance for your team.
As well as offering flexible working and holidays, this is also about creating a working environment where your employees are happy and relaxed. They need to work in a positive environment in order to help keep them engaged and motivated. Consider your business culture too, are the rest of your employees happy? You don’t want to bring an excited, hard-working graduate into your business to then be put off by miserable co-workers!
We hope this has helped to give you some ideas on how to attract graduates to your company. Remember you need to make sure both your new and potential employees are at the centre of your business and will be looked after. We would love to hear your tips on how you have attracted talented employees into your company – drop us an email at training@brooksandkirk.co.uk.
