We recently joined forces with Bright Network for the launch of their 2019 research report, What do graduates want? Insights from tomorrow’s workforce.
he research polled over 5,000 Bright Network members to gain insights into their thoughts, needs and concerns around starting their careers.
The research is packed full of interesting data and we’d suggest you read our other article that summarises the research findings or download the report in full.
Here we’ve assembled three core takeaways for graduate recruiters that we’ve gleaned from the research report and we hope that it helps to inject some fresh thinking into how graduates want to be approached and engaged with.
Communication
Coming across loud and clear in the research is the point that candidates want an insider view and human interaction throughout the recruitment process.
Take away: Provide the chance for your candidates to have a conversation with a real person; give them human interaction in-between assessment stages; offer an opportunity to ask questions of insiders.
This kind of communication is all highly significant to today’s graduates and may ultimately be the thing that gives your organisation the edge when candidates come to choose between job offers.
Confidence
Female candidates feel much less confident than male candidates when it comes to competing for jobs.
This gap is even more marked in the case of LGBT+ candidates. The lack of confidence begins at the apply stage, evolves into a lack of confidence about being able to do the job, continues into under-confidence about negotiating salary and also affects future salary expectations.
Take away: Build up the messaging to your female and LGBT+ candidates that you want them in your organisation and that they will have a clear career path with you.
Provide opportunities for reassurance and for them to develop confidence during the application process, by creating opportunities for interaction with female and LGBT+ employees in your organisation.Check out our our case study to see more about our work with Diageo and how they used innovative technology to better build candidate confidence.
Culture
Graduates are extremely concerned about your culture. They want to know how flexible you are, what you believe in and what your company really stands for.
Candidates are constantly evaluating their options based on the steady stream of new information available.
Take away: Make a priority of communicating insights about your culture throughout the recruitment process.
Your candidates will be far more likely to care about your business, accept your offer at decision time and ultimately be a successful hire.
At Meet & Engage we support our clients with our Candidate Experience Technology consisting on Live Chat and Candidate Experience Chatbots.
If you’d like to find out how we can support you with your graduate recruitment challenges, feel free to request a demo or drop us an email at kathy.johnson@meetandengage.com.
