Careers

Great internships can make great people and the difference in attitude between your average undergraduate before and after eight weeks in industry is remarkable. Quality internships don’t just give students a flavour of the working world, they can really bring out attributes that are indispensable to large companies and, if you’ve invested time and money in your intern, it makes sense that you want to keep hold of them!

Once a good intern leaves and goes back to the world of university, though, they are back at the mercy of the graduate recruitment rush and a good portion of interns move elsewhere when they finally graduate. So, save from offering them a job, how can you make sure you turn interns into recruits?

Keep them Working

Over an eight or twelve week period it’s quite likely that your intern will have got involved with an ongoing project or perhaps even started up something new of their own. Don’t let that go to waste; why not keep your intern working remotely? Social media and marketing initiatives can easily be run remotely and students will be glad to keep a tie with their potential new employer.

Use them as Recruiters

One clever way of keeping an intern interested is to ask them to help you in finding the next batch of recruits. Interns can be involved in writing web copy to attract students like themselves and at careers fairs and events. Of course, this does rely on there being something at the other end for the student so make sure you’re appropriately rewarding their efforts.

Keep in Touch

Communication between managers and juniors is sometimes tough, but before your intern leaves it’s important to ensure a lasting connection. The exit interview is a vital tool to gauge your intern’s expectations and aspirations going forward, but it’s not enough on its own. If you’re really interested in keeping an intern, make sure you stay in good contact online and don’t be afraid to talk business; a good intern will be more than happy to know he or she is wanted back.

The hardest thing about turning interns into recruits is making sure you keep them engaged. Staying silent for eight months won’t endear your interns to your way of working so make sure you’re using all the right tools to keep them interested. Ideally, giving your interns remote responsibility is a great way of keeping them active, but if that’s not possible you should use all the online tools you can to stay in touch.

With the right programmers, top designers and expert copywriters, your corporate website can be made to do just about anything. That’s a great opportunity, of course, but the freedom to create can be overwhelming at times and it’s no wonder that so many top recruiters end up playing things safe. Usually a job description and an application form does bring in applications, but if you want to target the top cut of graduates you need to start thinking creatively. If you’re stuck for ideas, why not take a look at some of the industry leaders when it comes to online recruiting?

Red Bull Racing Internships

Though it’s currently offline, the flashiest (if you’ll excuse the pun) recruitment site I’ve seen directed potential applicants towards an interactive ‘challenge’, including memory tests and spatial reasoning exercises. Only then are applicants allowed to see the application form. It’s a great way of pulling in hits, but also works as a sort of screening process.

Marks and Spencer

Another popular graduate recruiter is right on the mark with a Flash-based site which is simple and designed for the user. The smartphone-like dashboard is a great way of getting users to the right information with the minimum of fuss. It’s creative without being overly ornate.

Nike Design

You’d expect an site looking for product design interns to be top-class and Nike’s is. Putting function over form, Nike offers interns a chance to link a resume, portfolio and a website and allows the applicants creativity to shine. Plus, it allows a link to Facebook which allows recruiters an all-telling look at their applicants pages!

Random House Publishing

Publishing is incredibly in demand from graduates looking for creative roles and, as such, Random House (amongst other publishers) use Facebook almost exclusively for recruiting interns. A post asking for CVs a week before an internship starts will guarantee a committed intern who will have plenty to do!

Ernst and Young

When something a little more formal is required, E&Y are leading the market. It’s on brand and easily identifiable, but most importantly the site layout is incredibly efficient. This sort of model is ideal for large recruiters who offer lots of roles year on year and can easily be tweaked and updated when the branding changes.

Of course, these recruiters are all big brands, but there’s no reason this sort of web estate can’t be generated by smaller recruiters. A well modelled recruitment site is a valuable asset and can stay with you for a long time so it’s worth developing well and looking after.

An old boss of mine used to be infamous for bemoaning modern business dress standards and he was always complaining that nobody wears ties anymore. He’s got a point, however, and it’s now perfectly acceptable in most offices and boardrooms to wear an open necked shirt and trousers. Even for interviews, going tieless is generally acceptable.

Of course, we could blame changing taste or attitudes towards business, but a lot of it has to do with making a good first impression. In the past, a sharp suit and tie was guaranteed to impress, but now everyone, including prospective employees, is getting their first impression of you before they’ve even met you: via your website.

Much like walking into a interview situation with a suit that was once fashionable in the ’70s, an out of date website is the worst possible start you can make, so you need to get into good habits with your web copy as soon as you can. Here are some simple ways to ensure you don’t make a web based faux-pas.

Always Check Your Dates
It’s absolutely vital to ensure that any dates or deadlines on your page are up to date. On seeing ‘applications close in June 2011’ on a page, prospective applicants will assume you’re no longer recruiting, even if the copy itself is fresh. Ensure the main recruitment page ties to any linked pages, such as an application form, too.

Spring Clean Copy
However dynamic the recruitment business is, the specifics of a job role don’t always change that much and it’s reasonable not to rewrite this with every new intake. Applicants will, however, spot copy that reads the same as previous intakes, so make sure you freshen up areas that can be reworked.

Insist On Quality
You wouldn’t accept spelling mistakes in an application form, so applicants won’t accept spelling mistakes on web copy. If there are mistakes on your page, most graduates will simply close the browser window: it really does matter!

Take on Help
Writing copy is time consuming, so why not outsource it? Copywriters work either with marking organisations or freelance and are usually happy working remotely. Beware, though, quality copy costs: pay good fees and you will be rewarded.

Once you’ve established a system which keeps your pages furnished with top quality copy it will be with you for life; it’s getting into the habit that’s hard!

The term ‘social networking’ is so ingrained in our daily life that it’s easy to forget why it started out that way. Of course, social networks don’t deliver tangible products or services, rather they allow you to socialise with others on a level that wasn’t possible beforehand. These may well be people you know, but they could just as well be people you’ve never met: perhaps they’re just people you’d like to know.

The reason social networks are so successful are that they bring people with common interests together and get them talking which, if you’re trying to interest people in your corporate site, is exactly what you need. Trading information allows people to become better informed about your opportunities and you about theirs. One of the finest ways of doing this is by creating your own social network online: a forum.

Questions and Answers

Whichever side of the table we’ve been on, we have all been through that interview where the applicant isn’t very clued up on the role. This is particularly common for difficult technical positions and, really, it’s understandable: the fine details of a role are what you learn on the job. Forums can be fantastic ways of allowing applicants or even recruits to talk with each other or current employees about the role and to help themselves prepare for that big interview or the big first day.

Letting Networkers Network

Using a homegrown forum allows new or potential recruits to talk to and find other people who could well be useful to your business in the future. Whether interviewees get the job or not is not important – connections are useful inside and outside of your firm. If you think about the number of people you’ve met at interviews alone, you’d be amazed at the expertise available at your fingertips: a forum can do that on a huge scale.

Innovation in Moderation

It’s true that forums need to be closely moderated and that anything inappropriate should be removed, but it can also be interesting to see what potential applicants have to say about a role online. Beware – candidates will talk much more openly on a forum than in an interview, but a forum could even be a useful pre-interview tool for seeing who does and who doesn’t have the right online communication skills.

A good, well moderated and active forum can be an invaluable tool for a recruiter. It can draw in applicants or introduce recruits to one another and can act as a useful SEO tool.  If  you’re still unconvinced, take a look at sites like thestudentroom.co.uk to see just how useful the right forum can be.

When asked “what do you want to do when you’re older?”, most young people will tell you that they have absolutely no idea. This response isn’t surprising, and it would probably be not too far away from the answer you’d get if you asked most professionals.

However, one thing that we all share, young or old, is that we want to experience the world, we want to try out different ideas, different careers and different ways of working. It’s because of this that so many young people are seeking internships and placements to get them started on the career ladder. Of course, work experience is a two way relationship, and companies stand to earn a lot from taking on young talent straight out of school.

The Accountancy Model

For a long time accountancy firms have led the field with youth recruitment and ‘Big Four’ firms have been taking on undergraduates for years. The normal practice is to issue a contract which includes a work experience element during a gap year and then offers support and work experience throughout university. After graduating, employees often rejoin.

The beauty of this model is that it takes in the top talent very early on and also provides these firms with an essential resource: a voice within a university. This can be a very powerful tool and can really help encourage applications.

Filling the Role

It’s not always easy to mould a role for a seventeen or eighteen year old in a company packed full of talented and motivated graduates, but it’s actually a wonderful opportunity to bring in fresh ideas. Even your average school leaver has the sort of social media knowledge that some SEO experts would die for, and often a clever head for marketing.

Of course, it’s important to interview stringently for such a role: it’s likely that your candidates will already be a step ahead of the competition just by virtue of having thought so far in advance about their careers, but a lot can change during university years. Trying to retain talent you take on is important, but if you select well and invest in their development you are likely to be rewarded.

Recruiting early can be a risky business, but it can also be immensely rewarding if you pick the right undergraduates. The important thing to remember is to treat very young recruits as an investment: don’t expect them to be perfect out of the box, but do hone their skills. Not only can they then act for you as a valuable marketing tool but they may even turn into fully-fledged, and exceptionally well trained, employees.

It’s easily forgotten that the recruitment process is a two sided affair. Though it’s primarily a way of attracting appropriate people into your business, it’s also your chance to make a good first impression. Many graduates will have had only a taste of the sort of workplace they’re applying for, and the type of application form or interview experience they receive will really set their expectations.

If thought is given to the recruitment process, the benefits can be twofold: not only are your applicants given a positive impression of your company at the outset, but you’re more likely to appeal to creative and thoughtful graduates. Here are a few tricks that market leaders are already using to appeal to the top talent in the country:

Allow your Recruits to Flourish

Most people are familiar with the form of an ‘open question’, but even they generate rigid and homogenous answers. Anything can be done with the right technology, so why not request your applicants to upload a portfolio to a Tumblr feed, post a trial blog article on WordPress or just show off their organisational abilities using a spreadsheet master.

Don’t be afraid of Flash

Flash elements in web pages can get incredibly complex and be a great hindrance to an interviewee, but when done well, an interview process that integrates Flash can work wonders. Consider using Flash to simulate the sort of tasks your recruits might be doing and to test cognitive ability. Always make sure anything you use is well designed and compatible for all users.

Try Twitter

It might sound mad, but creative graduates will pick up a call for applications on Twitter and they will respond quickly. Even in 140 characters you can ask applicants to send through a CV or portfolio and provide an email address. This both encourages applicants to act quickly and it shows that your business is dynamic and a little bit bold.

Keeping the application process creative demonstrates from the off to your recruits that you’re prepared to invest time and thought in finding the right people for your organisation. At the same time, it’s possible to tailor a task that allows you to see through the CVs and get a feel of the individual behind the application.