Top 5 Challenges in Recruiting Fresh Graduates
Whether you are a small startup or a large global business, adding new talent to your team can be really exciting. Employers are always on the lookout for a new breed of workers, and will often partner with schools to provide fresh graduate jobs to the best and brightest students.
As new additions to the workforce, fresh graduates bring with them a fresh perspective that could potentially be invaluable for business, but it is not without its own unique challenges.
Competing for top talent
The hiring game rules have changed in recent years. Thanks to technology employers find it more difficult than ever to grab the attention of candidates and keep them interested. It's good to actively assess your sourcing strategies to keep candidates engaged. By keeping them interested, you can maintain a talent-rich pipeline for key job openings aside from offering higher pay and attractive packages to stand out from the competitive industry.
Managing expectations
Fresh graduates are usually positive and enthusiastic. They have idealistic expectations of getting their dream job and may set unrealistic expectations. This is why communication with candidates from the get-go is important. Employers should lay out the job responsibilities early on and discuss the potential career path of a particular job, to keep candidates interested.
Talent retention
Fresh graduates prefer to keep experimenting with their work and career. They often change their jobs constantly in meeting personal job life aspirations. This happens when they’re not getting the satisfaction and fulfilment that they’re looking for in a job. Offer opportunities for growth and career development, provide constant feedback and show them that their opinions and efforts are heard and valued. Successful HR strategies require constant adaptation to the evolving needs and demand of every employee, you need to find innovative ways to keep employees interested and motivated.
Job misfit
The term 'culture fit' is often thrown around in the recruitment business. It describes the idea of values alignment with the candidate and the employer. Fresh graduates are almost always prone to this because they are more concerned about finding a job. On the other hand, employers might also be less worried about "fit" and more concerned about finding someone capable of adequately performing the job. These priorities can result in job misfits and could affect productivity and engagement.
Longer learning curve
It's a given fact that fresh graduates lack real-world experience. But there’s a good way to view this concern, think of fresh graduates as an appreciating asset. The more you nurture their development, the greater contribution they will be in your company. Invest more time and effort to train fresh graduates to get them up to speed. The learning curve tends to be longer compared to professionals with experience. Still, employers can be assured that by providing new graduates with training and development can quickly contribute to the culture and build the skills the company needs.
Hiring new graduates is a great addition to your workforce. They bring a new perspective and balance out your senior staff, which leads to a stronger internal talent pipeline for your organization. It will require additional effort, but will ultimately lead to a stronger organization.
As employers, remember that you should always keep continuous connections not only with students but also with career development teams in universities to be able to understand the needs and expectations of new graduates. This way, you can avoid possible challenges and have future leaders among your team.
Start recruiting fresh graduates now! Use JobStreet’s Talent Search and find the best candidate for the position. Visit JobStreet’s Employer Insights page for more information into the competitive job market and strategies you can utilise to address common hiring challenges.
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