Graduates are a breed unto their own and hiring a talented graduate is a great way to inject new blood into your business. These new recruits will often offer a fresh perspective and provide your organization with a much needed boost.
The graduates of today (the Gen Y or millennial grads as they are also commonly known) continue to be the subject of much research and commentary. But along with new and youthful ideas, they also provide a worldview that is essential in preparing timely and future-focused goals for your business. The best thing about hiring these young professionals is that they are idealistic, hungry for experience and new tasks and will not set you back financially as much as more experienced employees might.
But many businesses (wrongly) assume that only large corporates can attract the top grad talent. We’ve see many smaller companies successfully follow these 3 simple approaches to inject graduate talent into their business – with great results.
1. Offer graduate internships or part-time work.
Offering university students some part-time work in your business is the best way to assess their potential. At the same time, they will be given the chance and opportunity to get to know you, your organisation, your leadership style, your systems and procedures all of which would help them hit the ground running should you want to hire them permanently later on.
Graduate internships are a must to get first dibs on the best undergraduates. Finding them early on in the game makes it easier for you and eliminates the need for you to run a full graduate recruitment process.
2. Build your social networks.
By building a company Facebook page or a company Twitter account, you are immediately ensuring you are in touch with your audience – the young professionals market. A large percentage of undergraduates spend a huge amount of their day online. You want make an impression on the top graduates of a university through social networking. Let them know and make it clear that your company is hiring. Send them messages or announce it on Twitter. In order to attract the most talented graduates, you need to do marketing for your business. The best way to do that is through social networks where your target market is.
3. Register at Gradconnection.
This is a popular website that allows recent graduates to connect to internship and employee opportunitites. As an employer, you can register and have your jobs posted online to be searched through by new graduates. There are many features that make this site a winner including forums where graduates can share their experiences and thoughts in the workforce. It is an effective way of finding the right graduate candidate for your job vacancy as candidates are screened thoroughly and only those with matching skills and interest may apply for a certain position.
One thing to remember is that unless you run a business that would require a graduate with a specific degree or skill-set like an accounting or financial planning business, then a graduate from a more generalist degree will still be able to inject new ideas, thoughts and opportunities into your business.
About a year ago, a colleague of mine employed a graduate into her PR business. The graduate had in fact completed a law degree but didn’t want to practise law, and over the last 12 months has done wonders by creating innovative PR and communications strategies for several of my colleague’s clients.
What’s a new grad done for you lately?
Author
Michael Overell
Michael Overell is a seasoned entrepreneur and business leader with a proven track record in building companies, products, and teams in both startup and hyper-growth environments. Currently, he serves as a key executive at ClassDojo, where he is responsible for driving revenue growth and helping children around the world access quality education. Michael is also actively involved in investing and providing support to promising foreign founders looking to break into the US market through his work with Antipodes.
