For most businesses recruitment is a challenge. Normally, there are plenty of applicants, and many of them have very good qualifications, at least on paper.
They have worked hard to educate themselves and in many cases attended good universities with sound reputations. For most sectors, finding recruits with high-grade Bachelor degrees is not that difficult. The high percentage of people who go to university ensures that there is a large pool of highly qualified graduates entering the job market every year.
The problem comes when these new recruits actually start work. An awful lot of newly qualified graduates have very limited experience of working in their chosen profession.
The experience gap
Fortunately, many have worked, so have a good level of work experience. They have good general skills, but lack familiarity with their chosen field. This means that they often lack confidence, and have not had the chance to hone the skills they specifically need to be fully functioning members of your team. When you recruit a new graduate with very little experience of working in your industry it takes several months before they can work completely independently.
However, there are also graduates out there that do have several months of relevant experience. This type of recruit can become fully-fledged team members much more quickly, so they are the ones you need to find. Here are a few ways to do so.
Look for the right degree programs
Gradually, universities and colleges are responding to the fact that the business community values experience so highly. Work experience has always played an important role in degree courses, but these days it is becoming a bigger proportion of the program.
Find out which universities and colleges put their students through a high level of work experience and try to recruit graduates from those establishments. Those recruits are far more likely to have a practical understanding of your business.
Take on interns and summer staff
Taking on students is a great way to give yourself a good recruitment pool. It takes effort to have graduates on your payroll, but it is well worth doing so. In the long term, both you and the students you employ benefit greatly from this symbiotic relationship.
You get to know them and they gain the practical experience they need. Later, if you offer them a full time role they already have most of the skills you need and an in depth understanding of your business and its culture.
Become involved with local colleges
Getting involved with local colleges and universities that teach courses that are relevant to your sector or industry can also prove beneficial and make recruitment far easier. By bringing your practical experience to the classroom, you help students to gain a better understanding of how to apply what they are learning.
It also gives you the chance to spot those with talent and enthusiasm and become involved in developing them and their skill set. These students are often the ones that make good interns or temporary staff. They learn fast and, because you are helping them, they work hard and apply what they are learning quickly helping to bridge the experience gap faster.
Finding experienced staff with good quality qualifications is always going to be a challenge, but knowing where to find these kinds of recruits will help to make things easier.
