For Graduates, What Will Employers Do For You

For too long the graduate-recruiter relationship has been viewed as a one-way conversation with graduates competing for the attention of recruiters but the tables are turning and recruiters are investing more time and money to attract the best graduates in the war for talent.

Getting Your Attention

According to a 2007 survey, recruiters were predicting a median spend of £68,000 on the graduate recruitment market. In terms of where this money is spent, there is an increasing focus online with more than three quarters of employers planning to use online promotions to contact candidates this year.

What does this Mean for Graduates?

The shift to online methods of reaching out to graduates has meant that recruiters are using more technologies to contact graduates. With blogs, podcasts and RSS feeds all becoming an essential part of the process, recruiters are increasingly focused on impressing graduates by offering an inside view of what it is really like to work for them. When faced with a number of different companies, graduates are going to be more interested in the company who has invested more time and effort into their website than those who haven’t.

All of these new technologies can allow graduates to gain a clearer picture of what a particular company is like. Use them wisely and they could become some of the best careers research you ever do.

Golden Hellos

The war for talent doesn’t end at the application stage. Once an employment offer has been made, a number of recruiters also offer generous sign-on bonuses as an additional incentive to sign on the dotted line. Research shows that over 35% of employers were planning to offer a lump-sum payment in exchange for committing to work for them. These sorts of offers are often limited to City employers but with the median payment expected to be around £2,000, if they are available it could be a valuable way to clear some student debts before you start work.

Corporate Social Responsibility

With research revealing that graduates are interested in the ethics of potential employers, choosing an organisation who ethical principles match your own could be one way to take something back.

With more and more employers developing corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects that allow graduates trainees to get involved in everything from environmental projects to after school reading clubs, it is worth taking a look at what is on offer.

With the increasing importance of corporate social responsibility, joining big business doesn’t necessarily mean checking your ethics at the door. By choosing an employer committed to CSR you could take more than just a pay cheque from your new career.