GRADUATE RECRUITMENT

Graduate Recruitment



Graduate Recruitment

Introduction

 Graduate recruitment or campus recruitment refers to the process whereby employers undertake an organised program of attracting and hiring students who are about to graduate from schools, colleges and universities. Graduate recruitment programs are widespread in most of the developed world. Employers commonly attend campuses to promote employment vacancies and careers opportunities to students who are considering their options following graduation.

In the United Kingdom, the process of employers visiting a series of universities to promote themselves is called the milk round. Selection methods used by employers include interviews, aptitude tests, role plays, written assessments, group discussions and presentations. Many schools, colleges and universities provide their students with independent advice via a careers advisory service which is staffed by professional careers advisors.

The careers advisory service often organises a careers fair or job fair where a large number of employers visit the campus at once giving students the opportunity to meet a range of potential employers(Greenwood Edge Hodgetts 1987 pp. 30-34) Employers in today's work environment are very demanding in their expectations of applicants for their job vacancies. Graduates are expected to be equipped with relevant skills, abilities and personal qualities in addition to good academic qualifications. Graduates who are able to demonstrate that they have such skills are likely to be successful in a competitive job market (Stewart Knowles 2000a pp. 21-38).

Employer's Expectations

Employers say other skills and abilities help job seekers stand out from the crowd of degree-holders. They want new hires who will fit in with co-workers and into the workplace, and are able to get the job done.Unfortunately—and ironically—the very qualities employers look for are the qualities they find lacking in many new graduates. Employers say new graduates lack face-to-face communication skills, especially writing skills. They say many students tend to lack presentation skills, teamwork skills, and overall interpersonal (gets along well with others) skills.Employers also note that new grads tend to lack a good work ethic. Some say students have trouble with time management and are unable to multitask in order to meet deadlines. Some new hires do not have realistic expectations for their new positions: they are not loyal to the organization and they “have a high sense of urgency and want to climb the ladder overnight.” Other employers say new hires lack professionalism: they lack maturity and knowledge of business etiquette, including how to dress appropriately.

Transferable Skills

It appears to be an interesting finding that when recruiting graduates, employers value transferable skills third highest from a list of nine factors, valuing these skills more highly than academic record and relevant work experience. It can be argued that the reason for the poorer performance of factors such as academic record and work experience may be that they are more valued as a means for evaluating transferable skills. That is, academic record and work experience may only be considered important in so far as they reveal the transferable skills of students and are not intrinsically valued in and of themselves. In addition, one third of the organisations surveyed for this research ...