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16 best hiring practices every employer brand should do to attract top graduate talent

Sam Wong

Team Prosple
Attracting top graduate talent has never been more challenging. How has the pandemic affected recruitment and what are the best hiring practices every company should employ?

There has been a downward trend of graduates from Australia and New Zealand in the past two years. The number of overseas students has specifically taken a huge hit, with a whopping 22% decrease and 4% of graduates from both Australia and New Zealand respectively. 

These numbers are not great given that more employers are hiring graduates than ever before. In this year alone, the number of companies that are actively hiring graduates have more than doubled since 2019

In light of these findings, top employers Xero, EY, Optiver, and Ashurst share how they elevated their employer brand over recent years to help them snap up top graduate talent.

  1. Gathering data on student expectations

Before any graduate recruitment process, make sure everything you do is backed up by data. If resources permit, gather as much information you can on students and their career expectations. This can be done by conducting focus group discussions or surveys. Understanding what is important to them will supercharge your talent acquisition process.

  1. Engaging with students from early on

Don’t limit yourself to interacting with senior university students or recent graduates. There is value in building trust and loyalty with students early on. Top employers recommend reaching out to first year and second year students to establish employer brand awareness.

  1. Improving messaging for a targeted approach 

Use the data gathered and apply these to your messaging strategy. Clearly communicate who you want to hire and what kind of skills and values you are looking for in a candidate.

By improving the quality and visibility of your messaging, your company creates a targeted approach towards graduate talents that perfectly fit the bill. With this information, you can choose which universities or student societies are worth reaching out to.

  1. Translating company values into campaign

Consistency is key and should be prevalent in every move your company makes. Your company values should translate throughout your campaign. For instance, if an employer’s company values include authenticity, their messaging and internal processes should also uphold honesty.

  1. Promoting transparency and empathy in graduate recruitment

Graduate talents today expect more from employers. Top employers found that the more transparent they were about their screening and hiring processes, the more invested these candidates were in their job openings.

Making graduate talents feel special can also go a long way. Employer empathy is one of the many things applicants strongly consider during their job search.

  1.  Writing detailed job descriptions

With the advent of technology, graduate talents today expect easy access to information. They are more likely to be curious and investigative. 

These talents highly appreciate job openings with detailed job descriptions. It eliminates any room for doubt, allowing them to manage expectations when applying for jobs. They are more likely to follow-through on an application provided that they are well-informed on the job description. 

  1. Disclosing authentic reviews and stories

It’s not enough that employers disclose company perks and benefits. Students want to know honest opinions from employees, anything from company culture to work-life integration. Disclosing authentic reviews—like featuring this type of day-in-the-life content—can really make or break a talent’s perception of an employer.

  1. Providing opportunities for personal growth and development

Graduate talents today aren’t just looking for profitable job opportunities; they are searching for value-adding work experience that can help them grow as individuals. 

By providing training programs and mentorship sessions, you can continuously grow a new hire’s technical knowledge while alleviating any anxieties they may have.

  1. Treating rejected candidates with respect

Any hiring process entails rejection. There is no nice way to tell a candidate that they did not land the job, no matter how hard you try.

What you can do is treat them with the proper respect. Let them know if they did not get the job in a timely manner. How your company handles rejected candidates can build strong employer brand equity via word of mouth, and encourage many other graduates to apply for your job openings. 

  1. Seeking as much feedback as you can

After any hiring process, it is crucial to obtain all the feedback that you can—this includes accepted applicants, rejected candidates, and fellow peers. 

The more feedback you gather from all parties, the more improvements you can implement into your future graduate recruitment strategies.

  1. Organising value-adding virtual experiences

More often than not, students and graduates prefer employers and companies that are truly concerned about what they need. 

Instead of hard-selling a fantastic feature of your product or service, provide them with value-adding, virtual experiences like this that will make your company memorable. Whether it’s a resume workshop or tips to navigate a hiring process, make sure they are relevant to what students want and need. 

  1.  Attending virtual career fairs 

Attending virtual career fairs is a no-brainer. You can easily tap a wide cohort of students from different universities, from regions you would not normally be able to reach. It saves employers valuable time they would have used to travel to different regions. 

Student data can easily be collected and collated for the employer’s perusal. Overall, its scalable aspect cannot be rivaled with face-to-face career fairs. 

  1. Having the right people represent you at events

Make sure you have the right people attending events on the behalf of your company. They should embody your company values and be able to clearly articulate the value of working for your company.

Most of the time, graduate talents prefer hearing stories and anecdotes from fresh graduates. Younger company representatives can easily relate to younger audiences.

  1. Connecting with students in much smaller groups

Although it is easy to have a Zoom call filled with hundreds of students nowadays, efforts should still be made to interact with students directly. 

People are craving interaction; losing 1-on-1 interaction can be difficult. Having options for students to easily schedule private sessions can really make graduates feel more comfortable.

  1. Opening internship opportunities

Internship openings at your company can kill two birds with one stone—you are providing value-adding work experience to students, while giving them genuine experiences of what it’s like working there.

Having positions for interns is also a good way to get the employer brand out there among young job seekers.

  1. Collaborating with experienced graduate recruiters

If you have no idea where to start with your graduate recruitment strategy, top employers highly recommend collaborating with experienced graduate recruiters. They can give you valuable tips and information on attracting the graduate talent your company is specifically looking for.

Conclusion

Finding the right graduate recruitment process all boils down to how well you know your company and what you are looking for. Whichever strategies you implement, make sure that they are value-adding to students, that they align with your company values, and that they promote overall honesty and transparency.

Interested in attracting the
right graduate talent? Get in touch with us.