Recruit the best graduate
Getting the right person for the job is critical for success.
Follow our tips to attract – and keep - the best graduate for your organisation...
What are graduates looking for?
The UK Graduate Careers Survey 2006 (High Fliers Research) concluded that the four most important factors for finalists when deciding which employers to apply to are:
- Starting salary
- Content of work
- Quality of training and development programme
- Location of jobs
Make these explicit in your job advert and see getting started for our top tips to attract the best graduates.
What salary?
Of recent graduate vacancies advertised on Gradsouthwest, 70% offered a starting salary over £15K per annum. The overall range has been from £11K to £30K.
Graduate Prospects quotes an average of £18,197 offered by recruiters advertising in their ‘search job vacancies section’ in the year to January 2006.
Your local careers service can offer more guidance on graduate starting salaries.
When to advertise?
Most graduates become available for work in May – July, but there are also those seeking work all year round.
We recommend that you think as far ahead as possible, and aim to recruit a graduate in the summer months, possibly advertising the vacancy much earlier in the year.
However, if your vacancy doesn’t coincide with these timescales, you should be able to recruit from the pool of graduates seeking work throughout the year.
Graduate retention – will they stay?
Employers are sometimes concerned that graduates won’t stay long enough to make a return on the investment.
This is not borne out by research.
The Institute of Employment Studies (IES) research Measuring Up: Benchmarking Graduate Retention concluded that retention rates are high at 86% on average after three years. Check out the research for a quick summary of why graduates leave and how employers keep the best.
We offer a Graduate Recruitment Toolkit for employers and The Association of Graduate Recruiters offers information, advice and resources.
