Careers

The time really is now for graduate recruiters and in universities all over the UK the drive is on to pick up the top talent. However, unless you’ve been really hot off the mark, you’re almost certain to find that someone else has got there before you! The push for applications has been bigger than ever before, and getting maximum exposure for your graduate scheme can be tough, particularly when compared to some of the big budgets of the top law and accounting firms.

However, getting exposure doesn’t just have to be about turning up to careers fairs and bombarding the mailing list; here are a few creative ways firms are getting exposure on campus…

Book Your Own Time

Student time is surprisingly precious and getting a group to give up an hour of their day (particularly if it’s before 11am) can be tough. However, rather than battle with the masses at careers fairs, why not ask if you can book your own slot for a presentation and request attendees sign up to come along?

This works particularly well for luxury brands or schemes with only few places to fill as it gives you a chance to really sell your business. Imposing a booking system also gives you their air of exclusivity but most universities will also have some form of incentive scheme to encourage good attendance.

Team Sponsorship

Sponsorship of a student society or sports team is more than just getting your names on the shirts; it gives you a direct relationship with a number of the central members and actually gives quite a lot of negotiating power if you’re looking to host events.

The key to getting sponsorship right is to ensure that your money is being well used. Don’t be tempted just to hand over a pot at the start of the year; hold an agreement to host or sponsor a number of recruitment events. Target big law societies or academic groups if you can.

Make it Personal

Most graduates are signed up to a variety of email mailing lists but round-robin emails just tend to get ignored. If you can personally target inboxes of students you’re particularly interested in, you’re much more likely to get a response.

You don’t need to know names; but think which sort of modules, groups or classes would be particularly interested in your offer. Target third year, core modules if you can; you should easily be able to find details of the appropriate administrators online.

Do Something Wild

Students become quite accustomed to seeing odd things on campus and societies host bizarre events all the time. If you can think of it, it’s probably been done before, but why not have your team spend the day doing something unusual or, better still, get the students to join in.

Recruiters have used oxygen bars, sponsored stationery-bike rides, improv shows, tennis games…the list is endless. Whatever it is, make sure it gets people’s attention for just a day and make sure you have a few spare staff to hand out flyers.

The key is to remember that however imaginative, exciting and creative your plans for getting noticed are, everyone else will have just the same ideas! It’s not just the graduates that have to be competitive these days, it’s the recruiters too.

There’s no reason not to be embracing all the potential that social media tools like Skype, LinkedIn and Twitter offer those in recruitment and they are immensely useful not just for generating interest in a recruitment process, but actually delivering it too. True to form, we’re seeing more and more social media being slipped into the interview process as well and now almost all Top 100 recruiters are incorporating some kind of remote interview – whether it’s Skype, Facetime, Twitter or even just a good old phone call – as a part of their recruitment process.

There are obvious cost saving benefits to conducting an interview remotely; it cuts down on travel costs and their environmental impacts and it also eases the pressure on booking out client rooms, but can it really stand in place of a good old-fashioned face-to-face interview? Here are five things you probably didn’t think about when conducting your last remote interview…

It’s less intimidating online…

We all know and probably have an online persona that isn’t quite like us and, in most cases, it’s a slightly improved version of ourselves! However, some of us react the opposite way and video calls and even typed online interviews are very often more intimidating than meeting face to face.

So much of our communication methods are non-verbal and the difference between an answer (or a question) being taken as a joke or being taken seriously can be just a wry smile. If your connection is lagging you can expect that to be totally lost and this plays in the subconscious of many interviewees.

It’s all off-the-cuff…

The one great drawback of the Skype interview is that it’s completely possible to be looking up information while you’re being asked a question. Sure, you can hear the keystrokes, but a bright interviewee will have several windows of good notes open and will be more than prepared to flick between them as you’re questioning them.

Equally, unlike a face-to-face interview where you can see if your interviewee is taking notes or paying attention, it’s a little harder online. Make sure your interviewee is listening and answers the questions you asks, not just issues a prepared speech.

Everyone uses Skype these days…

Most of your interviewees will use Skype and perhaps it’s even an indicator of their good IT skills, but don’t expect your interviewees to be forthcoming in arranging a way to get in touch. If you want to hold a remote interview, you need to prepare the software and make sure your interviewee is happy with the connection.

Unfortunately, a bad connection can really spoil what someone is trying to say. Even if it’s clear for you, an echo at their end can really be off-putting. Don’t let this spoil a good candidate’s day, just pick up the phone instead.

They’ll have done this before…

Though we hear a lot in the press about how many interviews graduates are having to go to before getting a job, it’s not true that everyone will be extremely experienced in online interviews. You shouldn’t let this fact get in the way of what could otherwise be a very productive interview.

We’ve all been on that call when someone has mistakenly walked into the room or the cat jumps on the camera. This isn’t always bad preparation, sometimes it’s just bad luck so you can afford to forgive these errors.

They’ll open up straight away

A remote interview is usually still used as a pre-cursor to a face-to-face interview and candidates know this. They might not know, however, that you won’t be conducting the face-to-face interview and therefore they might be reluctant to give away all their good information at once for fear of having nothing left in person.

The best way to counteract this is to have a section of web capital devoted to the interview process. Be clear about the protocol, let them know if you’re looking for competencies or key values and just check they know the process before you bombard them with questions. Treat the remote interview as if it were final.

We’re sure to see remote interviews taking more precedence over the next few years and as they get more common our techniques should become more refined. Until then, forgive the technical errors, do your best with bad connections and slow typing and make sure your put your (probably very nervous) interviewee at ease.

The job application is something that becomes pretty familiar to most final-year students and the volume of forms the average graduate completes is quite outstanding. Given that the average form requires around seven questions to be answered in four or five hundred words and that students could write ten forms, the application form can quickly become more of a burden than a dissertation! In fact, a bad application form will usually just result in a potentially very interested applicant closing the browser and going elsewhere.

So how should you navigate the minefield that is the application form?

Make It Simple

Most interview processes are pretty gruelling as it is and time-pushed applicants won’t respond well to complicated, multi-part questions that require hours of technical research. Ask questions that are easily answerable and personal; simple questions like “why did you study your chosen degree subjects?” or “what are you passionate about?” can tell you plenty about a candidate without burdening their time.

Equally, it’s so common for an application form to be hidden away in the bottom corner of a UK-specific website, on a page only accessible if you’ve clicked through the ‘Contact Us’ link. Make it really, really simple to find a form with plenty of cross-links or, be assured, your applicants will give up!

Leave Room for Creativity

So many application forms really stifle the applicants personality and asking questions like “were you a member of any sports teams?” or “detail your work experience below” is both ambiguous and leaves no room for the imagination. In this market, almost every graduate has a wealth of extra-curricular activities to talk about and most will have some work experience.

On the other hand, if your questions are rivalling an Oxbridge entrance interview for abstractness, you need to be prepared for abstract and, possibly, obscure answers. Something like “detail your most rewarding experience at University” will help you glean plenty of concrete information but allows candidates to be a little selective with what they tell you.

Set Out the Parameters

Lots of application forms are ultra-interactive and rely on an embedded system, but there are just as many that are a simple A4 form. Whatever format you chose to use, make sure what you expect is clear. If you leave HTML forms unrestricted and infinitely long, expect 1000 word answers. If you don’t state you want bullet points or a .pdf file of your CV, you won’t get it! Be absolutely clear about these aspects of your form.

Also be very clear on time and deadlines. Set out an absolute final deadline—candidates will work to this—and remember to date everything with the year. Search engines are miraculously good at bringing up old .pdfs and you could find a mixture of prior years documents in your inbox if you’re not careful.

It was always predicted amongst the tech world that brands like Facebook and Twitter would take off and they have rapidly become essential tools for recruiters. However, the success of these brands has spurred a variety of offshoots and we’re at an interesting phase in the development of social media where, along with the big players in the market, there are many smaller platforms all trying to grow their networks.

For recruiters, deciding which bandwagons to jump on and which to let go past isn’t easy and the key is to generate a balance between genuine social media presence, boosting your brand’s status, your networks and your SEO objectives; just giving the pretence of connectedness could, ultimately, be damaging to your marketing plans.

Picking New Networks

If you’re in technology, you should have heard of Pinterest, Manta and Google+. What about Yammer, Zooppa or Dubbler? There are a hundred lesser known networks which could be utilised to make new connections, but the question is deciding which ones to go for.

Obviously the projected size of the network you could access matters: it’s well known that connections on Google+ are far fewer than elsewhere. In itself, though, a small network isn’t a bad thing, it just needs to be more specifically targeted. Bright Network, for example, is teeming with talented graduates looking to make connections. Small, maybe, but undoubtedly useful.

Community Associations

Instagram is just for hipsters, right? Well, not quite; the connotations are, of course, false but it’s worth thinking about the type of network you’re signing your brand into. Most social media networks come with some sort of association that isn’t necessarily aligned with your objectives.

Instagram is massive, no doubt, but if there’s no direct need for clever photography or artistic imagery in your recruitment campaigns then leave it out. It’s a fantastic place to showcase true creativity but trying to make use of networks just for the sake of it could easily be construed as pretence.

Judging Quality and Quantity

Marketing initiatives have a finite lifespan and marketeers have finite efforts, so making sure your social media presence is high quality is far better than spreading your work thinly over many networks. The odd applicant might find your YouTube channel useful, but or most graduate recruiters developing quality connections through a few networks is the right formula.

Networking is about breadth and but given the slim demographic that most graduate recruiters are looking to tap into, a well maintained Facebook page, a selection of strong LinkedIn profiles and a professional Twitter feed will beat presence across hundreds of platforms.

It’s tough to walk through any university campus without spotting at least some flyer, poster or even a live event demonstrating how competitive the graduate job market is at the moment. Though this isn’t ideal for the student population, it’s great news for companies; selecting top talent is obviously much easier if you’ve got a large pool to choose from and there’s definitely a self-perpetuating atmosphere of stiff competition surrounding the big recruiters.

However, until the recruitment process actually starts, the stories are little more than hearsay for students. Gauging how tough getting that job really is only starts to happen when students start to attend recruitment events and to really get a feel for the market. So, if you want to generate a competitive buzz around your business, your events need to be filled to the brim with top students…

Use Every Channel to Advertise

Even in our electronic world, the effect of a cleverly designed poster is still massive, but it’s easily forgotten. You need to back up what’s already been seem with emails, bulletins and your own social media. The Facebook event is quite possibly the most powerful reminder out there and will trigger wavering attendees into action.

Do be careful not to over-advertise, however; it’s a fine line between making your event publicised and becoming a nuisance. Constantly driving for attendees via University bulletins or through societies could also seem like you’re struggling to make the numbers.

Go Exclusive

Though most events do have some limitations on numbers, presentations, dinners and lectures are usually a case of the more; the merrier. However, a free-for-all approach won’t necessarily guarantee you good numbers; an exclusive system can work much better.

Limiting your event to ticket holders only is a good way of ensuring numbers are high. You don’t even need to operate a formal, paper ticket system. A guest list which requires an online-sign in needs little more than an iPad on the night, but remember it’s worth keeping some guest spaces available.

Exploiting Word-of-Mouth

It’s an old marketeers cliche that the ‘word-of-mouth’ is still the best tool out there, but it’s wrong to assume people will talk by themselves; give them something to shout about! Encouraging guests to bring along talented friends or incentivising Facebook attendees to invite others is a good start if it’s backed up with a good reward!

Finally, it’s worth remembering your best bet for guaranteeing good attendance is to hold a top-quality, innovative event. No amount of marketing can beat organising something that people really want to attend!

Students are burdened with a lot of stereotypes and though some of them are most definitely true, many of them are just myths. Aside from the obvious, students are well known for being one of the brightest, most tech-savvy groups in society. Any lecture theatre in the UK will be full of tablets, ultra-thin laptops and, yes, plenty of smartphones all online, almost all connected simultaneously to Twitter, Facebook and multiple e-mail accounts, collectively downloading more information than was being downloaded from the lecturer.

It was surprising, then, to see the results of a survey conducted by a top student forum, The Student Room, that claimed that students don’t find university social media particularly trustworthy or especially useful when compared to emails, meetings or university newsletters. Given that the average university is planning to increase spending on social media by 60%, it’s a worrying thought and it’s a problem for all those looking to attract attention to recruitment by social media.

A part of the difficulty is that undergraduates, as do all of us, consume social media at a remarkable rate. The smartphone allows us to flick through maybe two hundred Twitter updates in less than thirty seconds and there’s almost no possibility of saving or flagging a particular tweet for later: it demands our attention and it wants it now! This ever-changing environment makes it extremely hard to relate what we see and consume online to an actual real-world process.

We also know how easy it is to update a social media account; it takes about ten seconds and one individual. As opposed to a thoughtful, composed email that has most likely been checked by other members of your recruitment department, it’s too easy to assume that information posted on social networking sites is due to be updated and amended at a laster date or, worse, just inaccurate.

Because of this, we struggle to treat important information exclusively posted on social media sites with the seriousness it deserves. Whether that’s a call for applications or the announcement of an office open day, we consume it and we forget about it almost immediately. It’s no surprise that even students, the great experts of social media in our generation, are struggling to trust what goes up on social media sites.

Of course, there’s no need for this to be a limitation to your social media use. So long as your feeds link to permanent, official and accurate corporate web capital with, preferably, an RSS subscription for updates, you can ensure that social media is just another way of getting to the final message, without being a goal in itself. This takes away the content from your transient Twitter feed and confidently sets it in web-based stone, there to be checked, used and revised for as long as it’s needed.